Hi! After battling with Lyra and OHFC ive been able to enjoy my brand new Lyra Delos that they shopped from Japan earlier in june. Its a true killer cart! However, how long should i expect it to last, as i currently play 1-2 hours each week - wtf set to 1,7gr
OHFC = Oslo Hi Fi Center? Why did you need to battle with them? Good to hear you have quite a few years of enjoyment ahead, at only 1-2 hours play a week, your Lyra will probably outlive many of us around here
Long story... But they sold me two defective Delos-cartridges, the second one had to take a trip to Japan and was replaced with a new one.
Hello Ola, Strange, can you explain more what went wrong please. Defective Delos, two defectives ? I ask as happy user of this cartridge for a while. How many hours can we expect from this nice cartridge? I asked my dealer this same question, not a number of hours (so depending ...) but my ears would tell that after hearing some weird things (not with my Delos till now) in future I can trade in, 20% off new Delos.
Jonathan Carr told me you can expect around 2000 hours if your records are very very clean and you clean the stylus every record. So realistically probably 1500.
Mine had over 1800 hours when I sent it to VAS be re-tipped. Nothing wrong with it at the time, but I got paranoid because of some discussions here regarding stylus longevity . I clean my records with an RCM and clean the stylus with Onzow Zerodust every two sides. Once in a while, I clean the stylus with the Lyra SPT.
I had one sound good for over 2,000 hours and another I didn’t get much over 1,000. The one with 2,000 started to distort in the high end details and got progressively worse. The one that went out at 1,000 just blew up. I thought something catastrophic happened elsewhere in the chain as the cart wasn’t close to being something to worry about. there are those that will tell you all you can get out of a cart is 700 hours, you can’t hear that it’s gone bad but it’s silently damaging every record. These people are nutty. If you don’t trust you can hear a worn out cart, you can certainly see damage or wear with a USB microscope and I look at mine a couple times a year. If you can’t hear a problem, there isn’t a problem. Failure to follow that mantra is a path to madness. so…it can vary depending on many different factors. Play clean records on a delos that is properly set up and you would get at least 1,500.
I would define “clean” as clean playing vg+ Or better. Howard Hughes like OCD cleaning of a roached out record will still gobble up stylus life.
Mine is probably around 1800-1900 hours, still sounds excellent. I'm gonna let it go awhile longer. About 6 months into having it I sent it to Japan for JCarr to inspect a very slight channel imbalance. He adjusted it, reset and pretty much sent me back a bench queen!! All my records are VG+ at minimum, with most NM to M and all cleaned on Project VC-S and a cheapo ultra sonic cleaner. I'll probably look to get a new one sometime next year.
Highly unusual for a stereo phono cartridge to blow up. More importantly, was there any structural damage to the house?
The stylus essentially collapsed. The micro line profile was replaced with divot, like devil horns. One of the more unusually things I’ve ever seen or heard of. I’ve heard of the bonding giving up and the stylus dropping off the cantilever but not a stylus shattering or breaking apart.
Thanks everybody. So I can count on 1,500 to 2,000 hours before hearing some distortions, if the cart is used with care. I might profit more hours of music from now, untill now I tend to use this nice cart sparsely.
This is pasted from the email I received from Jonathan. Cartridge wear depends on the cleanliness of the LPs and stylus, in addition to the hours clocked. Assuming that your LPs are kept quite clean and so has the stylus, if you have been playing LPs for two hours each day (arbitrary example), that will be 730 hours per year, times three years would be 2190 hours. I wouldn't expect the stylus to last too much longer beyond this in normal use. If your LPs are kept scrupulously clean, with both an ultrasonic and vacuum suction cleaner, and the stylus has likewise been kept scrupulously clean (cleaning it after each LP side, or at least after each LP), somewhat longer stylus life may be possible.
Probably to keep cost down, the Lyra Delos has a line contact stylus sourced from Namiki. Re-tippers can source and install a similar (probably the same) Namiki stylus to your Delos for around $450. It is difficult to compare a before and after, but I could not tell something amiss with the re-tip. As long as the suspension holds, I will keep sending my Delos to VAS to be re-tipped every 1,000 hours. Just FYI, VAS sent me the following before sending back my Delos:
Could you go into a bit more detail on the one that blew up? Did you ever discover what actually went wrong with it?
Not much Detail to give, it was set up properly and on a VPI tonearm. Everything was fine and suddenly it wasn’t, like having a tire blow on the highway. I’d chalk it up to a flaw or weakness in the diamond.
Thanks...interesting. Seems an unusual thing to have happen, but I had something akin to it happen to me none the less.
I clean my stylus after each side, and I use a pc of ME simply up and down 2-3x and the diamond is sparkling....with loupe I can see light thru it. I suspect I'll end up around 2,500-2,600 hours........I'll check in next year and let ya'll know!
I believe most industrial diamonds are made in a lab and bought in bulk by cartridge manufactures. There must be some variance in quality or tolerances. Seems reasonable but I have no idea.
3000 hours, provide you keep your LP's & stylus clean. So that's about 35 - 38 years. Perhaps when you retire you will listen more. I listen about 4 to 5 hours / day!! Cheers
Good thing with Delos is the "protruded" cantilever, to see if the diamond needs cleaning, and Boron cantilever. At first, I fear it breaking down so tiny tip, but after cleaning with care with the furnished brush many times, I'm confident now.
I clean all my records with a Audio Desk US cleaner, brush my stylus after every side, and use a liquid cleaner after every record. I have a Lyra Atlas SL coming in the next month or so. I plan to do whatever I can to get maximum life out of it.
The cartridge will be toast 4-5 times over by then. I’ve had MR styli unacceptably worn (both audibly and as verified by microscope) tracking at 2g in 600 hours, with VPI record cleaning machine and regular cleaning of the stylus after each side. You should hear the distortion way, way before 3,000.
Are we talking about Lyra Delos ? In my view 1,500 to 2,000 hours not that bad, but as said my ears will tell when replacement time arrives (hours number independant!)
Not specific to the Delos, which I understand tracks a bit lighter than 2g, but 1,500 hours is way too much. You’ll hear it with your ears well before then, believe me.
