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Galibier Stelvio II, Durand Kairos with Lyra Kleos (HEAVEN)

First I want to thank Thom Mackris owner of Galibier designs for his excellent support.

I bought a Stelvio II from him back in November 2017 after numerous phone conversations to familiarize myself and him with my musical reproduction goals. 

It was built and arrived last week with the Durand Kairos tone arm that I acquired after considering numerous other options. I'm so glad I went this route. I had the Lyra Kleos so this was part of the reasoning. They match beautifully.

Buying a Stelvio includes a setup support visit from Thom himself. This by itself is well worth the price of admission.

He arrived Monday for a two day support visit and we wasted no time going over the setup.

I had already assembled the turntable and had my Abis 1.2 with Benz cartridge playing as the secondary arm.
My tuning sounded good to me but after working with Thom I realized I was only on the putting green, a good five yards from the hole.

Move forward to the support and expertise of Mr. Mackris and I am now in the hole and WHAT A DIFFERENCE that makes.

I bought my first turntable around 1976 (a Technics) and evolved through the years to where I am now. Never stopped listening to vinyl and holding up to my records from way back. ( Not all of them due to loss or some actually got stolen but thats a different story).

What I have now is the best by far.
Renditions are detailed, full, airy and most of all fun and enjoyable to listen to.

He got the Durand Kairos - Lyra Kleos combo sounding at its best.

By Tuesday we had the Benz Abis also fine tuned and

I'm listening to some Miles Davis as I write this and can't stop tapping my foot and swinging to the beat.

I highly recommend Thom Mackris service. He will help you set up any brand system so you don't necessarily need to buy one of his awesome turntables to benefit from his expertise.

Just wanted to share my experience with the community and (DISCLAIMER) I am not being compensated in any way except with the satisfaction of an enjoyable music system making it the best I've had in 40 years of evolution.

Cheers,

Luis D. Paret
Keller, TX
128x128eldonparet

Showing 2 responses by folkfreak

folkfreak's avatar
folkfreak
1,349 posts
 
Also congrats on a great setup. Do take the time to get to know the Kairos yourself (despite the great job I'm sure that Thom did in set up). The first time you clumsily knock the arm you'll potentially throw it off its pivot so knowing how to set that (by feel) is important, plus of course mastering the VTA, pivot bar and azimuth is all key -- and they're all really easy adjustments to make.

Finally be careful never to over-tighten the cartridge bolts as the CF material of the arm deforms easily

I'm a big fan of getting the table on some form of active isolation (my EAR DiscMaster sits on a Herzan)

folkfreak's avatar
folkfreak
1,349 posts
 
Why did Joel go with a detachable cable on a straight DIN for the Kairos over the captive I the Talea?

Possible reasons
a) price (arm w/o cable is less), esp. if you already own a suitable cable
b) let user choose cable that works best for them, I bought my Kairos with the Durand supplied cable but subsequently changed it to a AQ WEL which to my mind sounds better
c) resonance and dressing, maybe, the Kairos has a grub screw to lock the DIN in place, just remember to undo it before trying to swap the cable 🙈
d) safety - installing a unipivot with a captive cable risks straining the connections, much easier if the cable is detached but in the downside it means the arm remains linked to the base unlike in the Talea where the two can be seperated so it’s six of one ...
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