MC cartridges new vs. old

As I read your OP, and I read your mention of the Spectral, I thought to myself "Oh, oh!". Then I saw that you use the EAR 834P. Given the EAR's warm and lush character and generous gain, the Spectral might be a great match. I owned the Spectral years ago. It is an incredibly detailed and fast cartridge, but lean and a little dry and colorless (the natural kind of color is a good thing); very unforgiving. I also owned the original Clavis and I consider the Spectral a better cartridge. Never heard the Delos, but perhaps you can extrapolate some useful information from the above. Good luck.

Geropaa, the arm was an Eminent Technology ET2 air-bearing straight-line
tracking tonearm which, if anything, tends to exibit a character to the lush
side of neutral compared to the pivoting arms that I have used. I did not try
the Spectral with a pivoting arm during the time I had it and can't opine on
its compatibility with the Benesch arm.

Lewm, there are two versions of the 834P: with and without switchable MC
capability (built-in SUT's). One of the criticisms of the 834P has sometimes
been that it has too much gain (46db/MM, 70db/MC if memory serves, but I
am certain I am within 1 db or so) and one of the reasons that I am able to
get such great results using a passive pre with either MM's with + 3 mv or
MC's with + .5 mv output going into a pair of Manley tube mono's. With the
additional gain of an active preamp, in my setup, MC's with .2 mv output
have not been a problem. Given the fact that Geropaa has been using a
Delos, I assume he is talking about the MC switchable version of the 834P
and with an active pre.

BTW, imo, the EAR is inherently better sounding in MM mode and one of
the reasons that I have been using vintage MM's over the last few years.
Of course, one has to consider the potential superiority of any given MC for
possibly better overall results.