As a test. Try 250 or 500 ohms. You may get a little more midrange there. Delos does not have much weigh in the upper bsss/lower mids.
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The bass is fine. It was not originally. The lower midrange is still not there. Hoping it gets a little better. I am loading at 100 ohms. Had it at 91 at first but it did not sound right. 100 seems like a good starting point
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I can only go by what I am told as my friend has had a Delos and it sounds fantastic in his system. He said it takes a while for the Lyra to settle in. The dealer said the same thing. One thing I know is it is definitely not rolled off thats for sure. Older recordings on six eye, living stereo, Mercurys, Londons do not sound bright at all. They sound amazing to say the least. They sound spooky real through the Delos. I still think it will settle in somewhat but after 50 hours I think I am clearly starting to hear the personality of this cartridge on my system. If I had a collection of primarily newer releases, the Delos would not be my first choice. I may look into some of the more neutral cartridges mentioned in this thread. |
It really depends. Lyra cartridges certainly are truth tellers.
Great recordings will sound great, bad invariably will sound bad unless the rest of your system is appropriately voiced and full range.
If your system is slightly lean or you use small two way speakers that don’t really go low in the bass frequencies, Lyra will not be for you.
If you have a neutral or slightly warm system and want more detail, Lyra will probably be a revelation.
J Carr has voiced the Delos to have a slightly bright top end to match more warm systems that need some detail.
I own the Delos, Etna SL and Atlas SL and have owned the Kleos and Atlas over the last 7 years so they have many hours on them. All Lyra carts are good for at least 2500-3000 hours if looked after.
Personally I could not think of a worse sounding cartridge than a rolled off Benz - but some like that sound.
choice your poison and enjoy. |
I'm not a big fan of the Delos (despite being a fan of JCarr, and higher up Lyra's when in the right systems) and tend to agree with some of the comments vis a vis it's tonal tilt, but will ask if you're pretty certain it's dialed in, optimally loaded? How do you find the bass / lower mid-range weight? Just curious... |
Delos is tipped up in HF, no two ways about it. Benz is tipped down. The relatively less voiced carts are typically Ortofon, Shelter and EMT to name a few. A shelter 901 mk2, EMT TSD-15 Sfl or Ortofon Cadenza Blue are all very good carts without much voicing. |
Lewm, That is exactly correct. My take is the Lyra just is not very rolled off. It is very extended and it seems as though older recordings were so well recorded that they are so revealing through the Lyra and the Benz tends to veil in comparison. On more recent hotter reissues, the benz sounds better at the expense of mistracking sometimes in comparison to the Lyra which really just tracks just about anything with ease. I just hope it melows a little bit more as it is still a bit edgy but also only has about fifty hours or so on it. |
tzh, I would have thought that the Cardas cables would somewhat mitigate any tendency for the Lyra(s) to sound "clinical". Cardas ICs and speaker cables tend to the Benz view of things, in my own experience on my system. For me also, however, the Cardas wires tended to enforce a certain blandness or sameness. (Obviously, this is a completely subjective opinion. Anyone else is free to have a different one.) |
Where did you get the Van den Hul?
I bought the Black Beauty directly from a European dealer, and the Frog from a local dealer here in Australia. |
I found the Delos to sound a bit etched in my system. It was like they designed a cartridge to sound kinda digital.
Lyra is very system dependent and just wasn't good in mine. My friend has multiple Lyras, so go figure.
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It will be interesting to hear your comparison to the Michell. I really think that table can be just magical. |
The SME 20 is very good no doubt |
Where did you get the Van den Hul? i agree the Benz and the Lyra are polar opposites. I have been told that the Lyra needs well over 100 hours to settle down. Thats a lot. The Benz works well with newer recordings and the Lyra works really well with older vinyl, especially from the golden age. The thing with the Lyra is it just about tracks anything perfectly. Old records I thought were worn are obviously not. I really love the sound of the benz but they just do not track very well on many recordings IME but they can sound just wonderful.
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It's difficult finding a cartridge with the right balance of virtues for your tastes.
I have owned a Lyra Delos, Kleos and most recently an Etna SL. I sold all of them within a relatively brief time. The Etna SL was obviously the best and it did not have the exaggerated top end of the less expensive Lyras, but it was still (IMO) over-priced and overrated.
I have also owned a Benz LPS, Ruby Z, Glider, L2 and L0.4. I have kept the Glider and the L0.4. The LPS and Ruby Z were nice cartridges but always sounded a bit too dark and closed in for my tastes - as someone noted above, the polar opposite of Lyra. But I do like the lower priced Benz cartridges, such as the Ace, Glider and the entry level wood cartridges, which I think are the best value in the Benz line up. Not quite the resolution of the Ruby Z or LPS, but they sound great on their own terms and sound a bit more neutral than the higher level cartridges, though still with the characteristic Benz warmth.
Currently I am enjoying a Van den Hul Black Beauty, which I think has the speed and dynamics of a Lyra without the shrill top end, and some of the warmth and richness of a Benz. It has become my favourite cartridge, and it is a bonus that they have a long life of 2500 hours and are inexpensive to retip. At a lower price the Frog is also an excellent and well balanced cartridge, so I highly recommend checking out the Van den Hul cartridges.
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@lewm I couldn't agree more. I was using a Benz Wood SL and bought a Delos while the Benz was in for service. The Benz was a bit too soft for 80s Thrash Metal but the Delos was a bit too hard. My current Kiseki Blue NS is a very good balance of both those cartridges. |
@tzh21y I did not listen to the 10 nor to the 15. Just blind ordered the 10. What do I have to lose? I'll compare it to my Gyro SE.
I did listen to the Model 20 some time ago and it was the best turntable I've ever heard.
I'm using SME 309 tonearm.
I'll post some thoughts when I have it up and running.
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In my mind, the Benz cartridges and most any Lyra cartridge are polar opposites, in terms of the words I might use to characterize the two brands. This is not to say that you can't like both. I find both to be too "biased" (for want of a better word) on the opposite sides of the spectrum, in the way in which they play music; one can be a bit "clinical" (Lyra) and the other tends to the euphonic (Benz). Although I have heard the Benz LPS on a very fine system (underwhelming IMO), I must admit that I have not heard the latest, greatest Lyra TOTL cartridges. My neighbor, who sold the Benz LPS in order originally to buy ZYX UNIverse(s) (he had 3 in rapid succession), now has a Lyra Etna. I must go listen to it, not that I would ever spend that much. |
I am going back and forth between my Benz Ref s and the Delos. Both are great cartridges in their own right. Let me know how the SME works out for you. Did you listen to the 15? If so, what did you think was the difference? I still like that michell table. What arm are you using on it? |
I put between 80 and 100 hours on a Delos and then sold it at a huge loss. It's not for everyone. |
Maybe you should try an SME turntable? I have an SME Model 10 on the way :)
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My system is as follows
Merlin loudspeakers cardas golden reference speaker cables
MC275
Technics 1200G
Pass labs X1 and Xono
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The older recordings sound great, better than they ever have. I have never had a cartridge track like this one. My old vinyl sounds new. I am thinking that it is just so revealing that newer recordings are just really overdone somehow. When I put on an old living stereo, it just sounds so analog, beautiful. when I listen to a reissue, it sounds very Hi Fi'ish to my ears at least. Maybe I need a different type of cartridge for these as I do have two Benz the Glider and a Ref wood body but they just do not trck like this one. Not even close. |
I'd agree with others that it's slightly tipped at the top end. I owned a Delos for many years, admittedly loved it during this time but until I compared with other MC's, I had no idea that it was slightly etched. I listened to Transfiguration and Benz carts that were much more neutral and now own a Transfiguration. Just my opinion and experience. |
If you don’t fing love the DELOS something is wrong. New recordings are awful, and most are pressed horribly and warped. stick with old, clean ,not scratched up , original used records and you’ll be much happier.
What is your system??
Matt
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I heard an Ortofon Black some time ago. It did sound very good. |
Bright and over exaggerated detailed effects show. Like most modern MC cartridges. Ortofon 2M Black destroys it.
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+1 @rossb ,
Another alternative is an EMT cartridge |
The Lyra Delos is a bright, lean cartridge with an exaggerated top end. It might improve a bit as it runs in, but if you don't happen to like that sound, then it is unlikely to get better. Try a Benz instead.
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