Brand new Lyra Delos - skewed cantilever

Great thread!  

@anthos314 I have used three different Lyra's over the past several years. I started with a Delos, then an Atlas and now an Etna SL.  Haven't had the chance to listen to a lambda version in my system.  They all share a "house" sound and the Delos is an amazing cart.

I wanted to briefly address the issues that you and others with Lyra carts have brought up, the unique sound of their carts and the impression of being a little lean in sound.  While I don't disagree with adjusting your cartridge loading but this has a very subtle effect with my phono pre (PASS XP-27). I have found that I get a more full bodied sound without sacrificing the amazing top end clarity when I have the SRA/VTA optimized. My lyra is mounted on a Kuzma 4point 9. I use the Wally Reference tools to find the level at which the cart is parallel to the record and then a USB scope to adjust the SRA to 92 degrees. When you get the SRA close to 92 degrees, you can make further small adjustments by listening.  You will find the meat on the bone you are looking for.  

Enjoy.

Hi everyone,

thank you for all your very useful advice and info.

I am very happy with my Lyra, some surface noise which was present with my old Hana sl has disappeared and it is very nice!

However, something I did not expect: a couple of my records have a skip or a loop that was not there when I used to read them with the old cart. It happened this morning on one record I had never had problems with, so I took the antistatic brush and brushed the record again (my records are clean and stored in antistatic sleeves, but you never know) and everything was fine. So it seems the cart is very sensitive to dust in the grooves, even tiny particles.

I took two pictures of the stylus with my phone just to be sure it wasn't the stylus (it has 20 hours under its belt now).

Photos are nicely done but useless for evaluation of the stylus tip, nevertheless I’d suggest a cleaning.

@lewm , I just got a WallyScope and plan on publishing pictures of styluses once I get use to it. 

@jcarr , Thank You for your input. I have already ordered a Channel D Seta Plus which will provide both a voltage and current input. It is a very wide band version of the circuit used in the Lino C which got uniformly rave reviews. I ordered it with an RIAA board but I also have the option of using digital RIAA correction.  I plan on ordering an Atlas lambda SL shortly. Thank god you did not mount any diamonds on it :-)

OK now I don’t know what to do. Another record, another skip.

Now I’m afraid of listening to another record for fear of damaging it.

Is there any product I could use to completely clean this stylus?

I’m wondering if it is a problem with the stylus, my records or my setup. Arm is parallel to the record, antiskate is 1.75, VTF is also 1.75 and I have tried to set the tonearm and cart very precisely.

Maybe I should send the cart back to Japan for an inspection of the stylus? I am really confused.

All my records used to be fine before I had all those skips. Now I've got to replace 2 of them!