VPI Traveler and Lyra Delos


Is the Delos overkill on the Traveler? I have a Dynavector 20x2M currently, but I'm keeping an eye out for a replacement sooner rather than later. 
analogphotog

Showing 1 response by larryi

Jonathan Carr, the maker of Lyra cartridges has stated that his cartridges require a high quality arm because they transmit a lot of vibrational energy to the arm.  This energy must be damped or dissipated properly and the arm bearings must be very rigid so that the arm does not rattle.  Basically, he believes that higher quality cartridges tend to also require a higher quality arm.

I don't know if the arm on the Traveler meets the requirements of the Lyra Delos.  I would guess that the arm would be adequate, and any improvement in that area will result in improved performance, but, the Lyra won't be "wasted" in the Traveler.  I do know that an extreme mismatch is ill-advised.  A friend who was just getting into vinyl at the time (he has since bought hundreds of records), bought a $300 project table and an Ortofon Per Windfield cartridge.  Another friend machined and supplied the counterweight needed to make the combination work.  The cartridge sounded pretty good in this set up except for some noticeable inner groove distortion on a few records.  A few months later he bought an EMT table/arm combination and the inner groove distortion issue was solved.  The VERY cheap Project arm was not enough.