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VPI Traveler and Lyra Delos

Is the Delos overkill on the Traveler? I have a Dynavector 20x2M currently, but I'm keeping an eye out for a replacement sooner rather than later. 
analogphotog
inna
5,245 posts
 
Agreed, you would do better by upgrading table/arm first and cartridge/phono second. At least I think so.
paraneer's avatar
paraneer
818 posts
 

I disagree with the others.

I know a guy who runs a Delos on on Pro-ject 9CC tonearm, part of  a $1200 Pro-ject turntable.  It sounds awesome through his system and he is very happy.  I don't see why the 10.5" gimbaled bearing arm on the Traveler couldn't handle a Delos either.

The Delos' compliance is 12 @ 100 Hz so about 20 at 10 hz.  Its weight with mounting hardware is about 7.8 grams.  The effective mass of the Traveler tonearm is 12 grams.  Calculate all this together and you come up with a resonant frequency of 8.  Right in the green!

Matching components isn't always about the price tags they carry.  Its about what works well and compliments one another.  This looks like a great match so go for it - I'll bet it will sound wonderful.

larryi
1,972 posts
 
Jonathan Carr, the maker of Lyra cartridges has stated that his cartridges require a high quality arm because they transmit a lot of vibrational energy to the arm.  This energy must be damped or dissipated properly and the arm bearings must be very rigid so that the arm does not rattle.  Basically, he believes that higher quality cartridges tend to also require a higher quality arm.

I don't know if the arm on the Traveler meets the requirements of the Lyra Delos.  I would guess that the arm would be adequate, and any improvement in that area will result in improved performance, but, the Lyra won't be "wasted" in the Traveler.  I do know that an extreme mismatch is ill-advised.  A friend who was just getting into vinyl at the time (he has since bought hundreds of records), bought a $300 project table and an Ortofon Per Windfield cartridge.  Another friend machined and supplied the counterweight needed to make the combination work.  The cartridge sounded pretty good in this set up except for some noticeable inner groove distortion on a few records.  A few months later he bought an EMT table/arm combination and the inner groove distortion issue was solved.  The VERY cheap Project arm was not enough.
yogiboy's avatar
yogiboy
2,678 posts
 
+1 taters
syntax's avatar
syntax
2,033 posts
 

Jonathan Carr, the maker of Lyra cartridges has stated that his cartridges require a high quality arm because they transmit a lot of vibrational energy to the arm. This energy must be damped or dissipated properly and the arm bearings must be very rigid so that the arm does
not rattle.
 True. It works best with stable Arms which also have a rigid bearing and superior energy transfer. Otherwise it lacks bass, is thin sounding and is far away from its abilities.
Of course you can try it and when you spent the money you will be impressed but I think, you will hear only 25% (max) what it can really do.
when you look for an alternative for your combo, check out Zyx. They do not reflect so much  and will work better in this Arm.

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