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Breezer
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Actually Sunnyboy in my case my rebuild cost was going to be more than a new cartridge. I bought my Delos approx 6 years ago and am looking to have it retipped as I love it. Someone suggested Alistair Patrick at Audioquest. He quoted me 1595USD whereas my dealer quoted me 1800CAD for a new cartrige. I think thats highway robbery and would hesitate to buy another Lyra because of this.

I am having my Kleos rebuilt now by Lyra. I have an internal problem with the cartridge. I am the 2nd owner. It is costing me just $100 over 1/2 price of a new one to rebuild it.

I consider basically half price for total rebuild is good value. I do however think Lyra should have a Re tip policy which would be substantially quite a bit lower than a total rebuild price.

I have read that the cantilever on the Delos is an off the shelf part where as above the delos model they are exclusive to Lyra and are a custom part.

Even so, Lyra should have a standard Re tip charge just like Soundsmith has which shouldn't cost an arm and a leg to get done.Perhaps Johnathon Carr could set a standard Re tip charge for each Lyra cartridge and have this posted on the Lyra website.

I know I for one won't be paying a total rebuild charge for a simple Re tip down the road when the needle wears out.I think it is at that point when Lyra owners are looking at Soundsmith or pack it in entirely and switch to another brand such as read in the above post.

I realize the Lyra cantilever above the delos model would probably cost more than the Soundsmith model, but keep the price within reason so you retain a loyal customer instead of giving them no option but to switch to other brands due to the re tip charge now in place.

Moonguy: All of the Lyra cantilevers are custom designs which are unique to Lyra. I personally draft every one of the drawings, and visit the Namiki and Ogura factories when they can't figure how to make what I want. We also supply Namiki and Ogura with materials, components and processing, when they don't have the required capabilities.

What you are probably thinking of is not the cantilever design, but the stylus profile. The Delos uses a Namiki Microridge stylus profile, while the Kleos, Skala, Etna and Atlas all use a stylus profile which is unique to Lyra but manufactured by Ogura.

In all cases, however, the stylus diamond blocks (width, length, height) are custom designs and specified exactly in my drawings, as are the glue joint arrangements, glue types, metallurgy etc.

How the cantilevers are mounted to the cartridge body are also different depending on the specific model. For example, a Delos or Kleos cantilever will not even fit into an Etna body.

Rather than trying to standardise on the majority of the parts, historically I've preferred to design custom parts for each cartridge model, so that each model can be uniquely itself.

Historically, Lyra has never done retips, as the suspension characteristics change over time, and doing a retip on a suspension with altered characteristics will not result in as-new performance (which is what we always strive for). Rather, we do full rebuilds or replacements with new cartridges - new replacements in most cases, rebuilds if the customer specifies that they want the same exact cartridge body. This gives us a chance to include any model improvements which may have been introduced during production.

A rebuild means that the cartridge is taken completely apart, inspected internally, deep-cleaned, and usually all of the parts other than the cartridge body will be replaced with new components, and even the cartridge body may be repolished and re-silkscreened if it has scratches or scuffs. For what it is worth, it is more work for us to rebuild a cartridge than build a new one.

Finally, Lyra pricing is determined by our distributors in each country rather than ourselves, and this is true for rebuilds as well as new purchases.

hth, jonathan carr

Hi Johnathon,

My dealer was told it would be quicker turnaround time
getting my Kleos rebuilt rather than using mine towards a
credit on a new kleos.

My dealer was told 10 to 12 weeks for the rebuild and
longer if I choose a new Kloes. My cartridge was sent back
this week with the rebuild option due to that being the
shortest turnaround time to get back to me.

Since you said it takes longer to do the rebuild, I am not
sure why my dealer was told getting a new Kloes would be
even longer. I would have preferred the brand new cartridge.

If you wish, you can get a hold of me at
[email protected]

Thanks for the clarifications on why a rebuild would be
necessary, not just a retip.It makes sense.