Soundsmith Optimized Contour Contact Line Stylus for Rebuild

Dear @dgarretson : Yes, the Fe5 is very good performer better than the Clavis DC but different than the Helikon that's too a good cartridge.

I think that you have to mount in your system cleaning perfectly the stylus tip and give at least 4-5 hour of playing before serious listening tests. If what you experienced with and even that has 2K hours then you will know if still is worth to be retipped or not. Btw, I remember the original stylus shape is Ogura LC in boron canrilever.

R.

Dear @bpoletti :  That cerralloy made it more harm to the quality cartridge performance than anything for the better.

That's why, even that I like Lyra designs, never bougth it and only after I found out one with out stylus tip I pull the triger and imediatly send it to retipp asking in specific for boron.

Why boron and not sapphire/ruby?, well I owned in that time too the Audioquest Fe5 that's a truly great performer and both cartridges were made more or less in the same time by ScanTech and the main difference in between was the cantilever build material that in the Audioquest is boron.

When I received rettiped with boron/Gyger that Clavis DC was really in a way different league.

In cartridges cantilever makes a more critical differences than stylus tip because it's the cantilever whom transmit the stylus tip grooves modulations for those movements be converted in electrical signal but the cantilever tends to resonates by it self adding its own developed " vibrations " that puts several colorations/distortions/deviations in the final cartridge signal.

As I said before almost all top cartridge manufacturer models use boron not ruby and Lyra is one of them whom in the Atlas or Etna you can see that boron. Even there is not enough boron material for the manufacturers and in other thread J.Carr comments that he bougth enough material for his cartridges and future cartridge developments.

Now, I'm not saying that a retip Lyra with ruby will sounds bad what I'm saying is that boron is way better and its self material resonances makes less harm to the cartridge signal and that's why I  posted here in agreegment with dgarretson but not with lewm because you was looking for advise.

R.

Dear @lewm : I always try to really help to any OP like in this ocassion.

First than all you have to have the first hand experience with the Clavis DC to understand my meaning.

Even that the OP will be satisfied with that ruby cantilever he took the wrong road for that specific Lyra model.

This is not rocket science but common sense: do you think that if ruby cantilever was or is better than boron JC was wrong because he choosed as almost all top cartridge designers boron?, cantilever build material is way more important than stylus tip shape but this is for other ocassion discusion.

I owned the Clavis DC with boron and even today is a superlative performer that with ruby can't even it.

That's the problem from my experiences and point of view. Did you heard your Grace with boron cantilever? no? why don't make a test about and you will learn in this regards.

R.

Dear @williewonka : Have you idea of the quality level performance or owned the Lyra Clavis DC?

You are speaking of the 103 that no matter what is a cartridge that belongs to the mediocrity area against the Lyra the OP is mentioned.

Same for you lewm. Grace is no challenge against that Lyra one.

R.

Dear @bpoletti: I made the retip of my DC using boron cantilever and as @dgarretson pointed out is the best way to go with that specific Lyra model. I did it with other re-tipper but at the end the issue is that the cantilever must be boron.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.