Retip lyra delos and upgrade

I am wondering to do with groove tickler, Joseph Long. Do you know him?

best

jorge

There should be no concerns using Joseph Long, I have followed it for many years now.

I also know a recent build carried out by him on a Kontrapunk C, where new parts are added, has blown the new owner/user of the Cart' away, it is claimed by the individual who informed myself, that it is now preferred in use over a much more expensive Cart'.

His Work is going all over the World and here in the UK, the Boron Cantilever with a FGS is a recommendation that can be seen regularly and those that adopt it are very complimentary in their appraisal.

I have become a fan boy of Ogura Vital Styli with a Beryllium Cantilever, I have heard this in comparison on same TT>Tonearm as a A/B to a similar Cart' but much more expensive from the same Brand/Family with a FGS added to the Cart' and I am more than happy with the choice I have made.

I have also A/B compared my Cart' in the same manner as above to a Cart' from the same Brand, with a Boron Cantilever and Ultra Polished Replicant Styli, and again am very pleased with the choice I made.  

I would do nothing but give the cartridge back to Lyra to re-build.

Sending back to Lyra is an expensive option, but you will end up with a Delos.  Retipping with Joseph will cost $600-$700, but you will have a different cartridge.  I have had more expensive cartridges retipped by VAS and to me it did not make a difference - it was good as the old one.  A lot will depend on how much of a purist you are.  

An "upgrade" is nebulous because the cartridge was designed as a complex interplay between a very specific set of parts. A ruby/sapphire rod is a lot heavier than boron; I would avoid that for sure. The exact stylus cut is probably far less impactful than nearly DOUBLING the specific gravity of the cantilever material, and both Gygers are very good. As others pointed out, retipping on the existing boron rod might be a good way to go, but I don’t know if or how that might compromises the mount/bond (which IS important). Lyras usually use a very clean looking interface mount and I doubt that’s what you’ll get unless you do an exchange with Lyra themselves.