Lyra Delos suspension aging?


Recently I noticed that my anti-skate requirement had "drifted" (hadn't been adjusted for 2 years).
Found it hard to blame the tonearm because the weight is still at the same point that I set it to and positionally the thread controlling the pulley+weight looks equally correct and stable.
Other possibilities occurred such as relaxation of the arm wiring with settlement. (Arm was installed at the same time as the cart.)

Finally, I turned my attention to the cart's suspension. Has anyone noticed their cart in need of an "anti-skate reboot" over time? The cart has done less than 800 hrs.

Of course, AS could be a red-herring altogether. It's also possible that metallic debris may have been attracted inside the generator and ended up fouling the cantilever.

Theories?
Needless to say I'll be watching it more attentively from this point. Forewarned is forearmed. ;^)

Now that I'm officially retired I'll have plenty of time to investigate matters such as this :)
At the moment I'm listening to an old magnetic tape recording of a Genesis' live performance of "Twilight Alehouse" broadcast by the BBC on FM radio 40 years ago.
That track seems somehow very appropriate to my new circumstances ;^) :)
moonglum
Hi Moonglum: If you have any worries about the condition of your Delos' suspension, you can send it back to us (preferably via the dealer that you purchased it from). We will inspect it, and if the cartridge's condition requires it, clean out any debris, and readjust the suspension.

kind regards, jonathan carr
Perhaps the anti-skate was actually not necessary from the very beginning in your particular case. If there's a way to measure VTF using sophisticated or simple scale, than it's far more sophisticated to measure actual anti-skate.

To achieve perfect anti-skate I first balance completely cartridge with counterweight with anti-skate set-up at zero and TT perfectly leveled. Then I bring tonearm closer to the middle at approximate location of the deadwax and see if it will return back by itself which indicates that anti-scate is already there and likely not necessary to set from zero which happens with lots of arms I've dealt with.
I have nothing else to add, with the exception of, congratulations on your retirement. It's great, is it not?

Regards, and enjoy,
Dan
Dear Jonathan,
Many thanks for your kind offer. Do you think the suspension could be an issue in this case?

Kind regards...
Dear Czarivey,
I can simplify matters by saying yes A/S was necessary (or appeared so). That's an interesting suggestion you've made. I didn't deliberately check for any "latent" A/S after balancing but I would have noticed if the arm moved of its own volition after doing so, so I can safely say that it didn't.
Actually I've often used tiny induced degrees of A/S to check the condition of gimballed bearings when signing across the LP.
The arm mentioned here is a unipivot and has very low friction therefore I was alert to the arm reacting to any stimulus.
Regardless of this, thank you for ideas you've put forward.

Thanks Dan :)
Astonishingly I've yet to manage to clock more hours on the system per week than when I was working - in fact I'm sure it's less(!)
Boss No 1 (wife) and Boss No 2 (daughter) must be keeping me more gainfully occupied than anticipated :)
My new jobs are : Chauffeur, housekeeper, gardener, interior decorator, financial advisor, financier etc....

Apart from that it beats the old routine ;^)
All the best m8.
Dear Moonglum:

If the anti-skate setting was too high or too low, it is possible that the constant side-force would cause the Delos suspension to take on a "set" after some time. When we ship new cartridges, we make the cantilevers as straight as possible, but when customers send us back those same cartridges later for inspection and servicing, more than a few have cantilevers that have become tilted to one side (although not all of these are due to improper anti-skate settings - undoubtedly some of these tilted cantilevers occurred because the cartridge received an impact).

It is also likely that some amount of debris has been gradually sucked into the vicinity of the generator coils, but if the Delos' tracking abilities remain similar to what they were when the cartridge was new, probably not enough debris has collected for it to be a problem.

kind regards, jonathan carr
Hi Jonathan,
Initially when the cart was set up on the Phantom jig. The cantilever (not unusual for any cartridge) was very slightly skewed to one side (this before the stylus had ever touched down on the T/T) so the jig was aligned against that angle.
It would be interesting to get it back on the jig and see if it has altered from the original setting.

The symptoms of the problem were "excessive A/S" where albums which tracked perfectly on Day 1 were now showing L channel mistrack on moderately intense cuts. Over the last few weeks/months I've been doing what the doctor would recommend and "treated the symptoms" rather than look for a specific defect, although the sudden appearance of this problem was a wee bit bemusing.
Best regards,
Dear Moonglum: If you are now getting mistracking on albums that previously had no problems, there is a chance that dirt build-up has proceeded to the point that it is starting to foul the cantilever.

In any case, my suggestion is that you send your Delos back to us (via your dealer), so that we can take a thorough look at it and correct anything that may be amiss.

kind regards, jonathan
Hi Jonathan,
Your kind feedback and attentiveness to customer problems is peerless. Many thanks once again. I will attend to it ASAP ;^)

Best regards,
Hi Jonathan I have a Delos that is 5yrs old what is the cost for a rebuild or exchange and where do i send it.The Delos is a wonderful cartridge. Thank you.
Hi Digital3: I don't know what the cost of a rebuild or exchange is for the following reasons: Prices are determined by the distributor in each market rather than Lyra. My strengths are in the field of engineering, not business.

My recommendation is to get in contact with your dealer and have him send it back to the Lyra distributor in your country, or if your dealer is no longer available, feel free to contact the Lyra distributor directly. It always helps us if you could include a short note with the cartridge, clarifying what you want to have done. For example, you could ask us to inspect the stylus, suspension and dampers for wear, and rebuild or exchange the Delos if the wear has proceeded too far; but if the stylus, suspension and dampers still have some life in them, that we clean and adjust the cartridge so that you can get a few more months of usage before actual replacement.

kind regards, jonathan carr