LYRA DELOS CARTRIDGE TOO BRIGHT, THIN AND SHRILL SOUNDING

But it isn’t tweaky  and complex, if you establish a routine and follow it, and leave it alone once you have set it up to your satisfaction. It is tweaky and complex to people who cannot stop tweaking or who approach the issues inflexibly.

I was guessing that Pindac's native language might be German.

It IS possible that Jeff has been out in the Las Vegas heat for far too long, thus frying his brain and making him cranky.  Jeff, apologize to Atmasphere.  He is too good for you, and you don't know what you are talking about if you criticize his amplifiers based on bandwidth and bass response, provided the speaker is a good match. Beyond that, you don't know anything about tube electronics if you don't know the potential bandwidth of a properly set up triode.  Allen Wright was able to measure a bandwidth out to 750kHz with his RTP3C tube preamplifier.  What limits the bandwidth of a typical transformer-coupled tube amplifier is the transformer, the absence of which is the core advantage of OTL amplifiers like those made by Atmasphere.

Can we keep the old, boring, and endless MC vs MM/MI debate out of this thread, 3 easy?There does seem to be a consensus already that the OP’s experience with the Delos cartridge is very atypical and that he might want to consider having the cartridge inspected for defects. Now he was invited to do that by the guy that makes the cartridge. You can’t do better than that as an endpoint.

Jeff, Tube phono stages per se do not "roll off" highs.  Perhaps a tube phono stage may have an audio bandwidth out to 100kHz.  Whereas a solid state equivalent might go out even farther, but you are not going to hear that particular difference.  You'd be more likely to hear a difference in bass definition, but such generalities are dangerous if taken as gospel.

Before you give up on this cartridge, unless you already have given up on it, I recommend that you send it to SoundSmith or any retipper who offers an inspection service. As someone else said, these devices are made by humans, and it is quite possible that there is a fault in the construction of your particular sample. For the nominal cost of inspection, it is well worth it to make sure you do not have a defective cartridge. Typically such defects can be easily and cheaply corrected.Alternatively, send it to Lyra for inspection. Surely there is no one more qualified.