My cost for a total Soundsmith rebuild and an upgrade to a Boron cantilever & Nude "Contact Line" diamond (a low mass design) was about 22% the cost of buying brand new, for the same cartridge. The pricing depends on the amount of damage and work that needs to be done & choice of cantileve/stylus-diamond. After an evalution - Peter discussed options vs cost before preceeding.
Is it worth getting an 11 year old cartridge re-tipped?
Hi - I have a Lyra Kleos which is 11 years old with about 1500 hours use. It now mis-tracks on a few LP's that play perfectly on a friends system. My dealer had a look at it through his USB miocroscope and said that the stylus was rounded and suspension seemed a bit flat. He said he didn't think there was much life left in it.
So, I could send it away to be re-tipped, but given its age I am wondering whether or not I shoukd just get a new unit in case the damper/suspension is beyond repair...
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- 24 posts total
OP if I were in your shoes, I would, provided you know who is doing it. If it gets messed up, well there it goes. but if goes well, A Lyra Kleos will always be a Lyra Kleos. if you like its sound signature and synergy, I would keep that going. However, if you are looking to find out what is out there, well this is the good time to switch
Good luck |
allenf1963I noted on Peter's webpage = he does have a Koetsu Urushi Gold rebuild listed for sale....he has worked on these. The price is tempting ... https://sound-smith.com/articles/sale-cartridges A eval & tune up would be a significantly more cost effective than new. Not sure which version you will be acquiring. A good review comparing four in the Koetsu line. https://medialux.blog/2019/07/08/4-koetsu-compared-japanese-art-part-ii/
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OP - please let us know what path you go down...(if you decide to rebuild, who you use, and how it sounds). I have a Lyra Kleos SL (only ~ three yrs old) I keep as a backup and still has good life left, but will likely not bother with a factory rebuild when the time comes. VAS and SS sound like reasonable alternatives. |
Dear @bazb : I owned the Kleos and other Lyra cartridges along top other cartridges from different designers. Don’t make the mistake to send the Kleos to any re-tipper but directly to Lyra that not only will return a NEW Kleos cartridge but one Kleos with all Lyra up-dates till today and these facts can’t do it by any re-tipper. @jcarr you can be in toich with the designer through Agon or wait for Jonathan to chime in this thread. Here the Lyra site and if you have enough gain in your phono stage the you can ask a interchange for a new Lyra Kleos SL that’s even better quality performer:
https://lyraanalog.com/kleos.php
Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS, R.
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- 24 posts total