Lyra’s exquisite phono cartridges are the beautiful result of a collaboration between a remarkable trio: Jonathan Carr, the American conceptualizer and designer, Yoshinori Mishima, the Japanese master-craftsman whose watchful eye ensures state-of-the-art manufacturing and assembly, and Norwegian Stig Bjorge, the business head, who ties the enterprise together.
Lyra’s mission is to create long lasting products that combine original thinking, advanced engineering, and ideal materials application. Lyra’s cartridges are built 100% from the ground up in Japan, with the artisanal craftsmanship that Japan is revered for. The result is a family of transducers that extract an unprecedented level of revealed texture, transparency, and dynamic contrast from an analog music collection, ensuring maximum immersion and emotional involvement in the music.
The Atlas λ Lambda is Lyra’s new flagship phono cartridge.
Lyra remains the only cartridge manufacturer to mount the cantilever assembly directly into the cartridge body thereby achieving a seamless, totally rigid connection between the cantilever assembly and headshell. The effectiveness of this system has been enhanced as a result of the asymmetrical structure of the Atlas λ Lambda. Different-shaped structures on the left and right sides of the cartridge body suppress the formation of standing waves within, resulting in a significant reduction of resonance-induced colorations.
The Atlas λ Lambda retains the yokeless dual magnet system, diamond-coated boron rod cantilever and variable-radius line-contact stylus of the prior Atlas.
The Atlas λ Lambda is also available as an SL (single coil) version and a special order Mono version.
Sharing its name with Sicily’s majestic Mount Etna, Etna λ Lambda the cartridge is an impressive monument in its own right, one that melds tried and true Lyra design tenets with designer Jonathan Carr’s very latest thinking on phono cartridges.
While Etna λ Lambda is second from the top in Lyra’s line, one listen will demonstrate that this cartridge’s performance would define the very top of any other cartridge line. Atlas has a very refined, elegant and voluptuous sound while Etna λ Lambda personality is more outgoing.
Etna λ Lambda uses a yokeless dual magnet system, diamond-coated boron rod cantilever and Lyra-designed variable-radius line-contact stylus. It is also available in a Mono version.
The Kleos is the lowest cost Lyra cartridge to feature the full fledged Ogura manufactured boron cantilever and coil system with Lyra original line-contact (3 x 70μm) stylus. This is similar to what is employed on even the most expensive Lyra models.
We firmly believe that the Kleos is capable of extracting more information from the vinyl grooves than it’s predecessors, and that the reproduction of music is both more dynamic, more detailed, and more natural than the models preceding it. We also are of the opinion that the Kleos will set a new standard for sonic performance at it’s price point.
The Kleos is not only hand made, but each cartridge is listened to extensively and “voiced” by the master cartridge builder, like the finest musical instruments.
Conventional MC cartridges have been designed so that the angles between magnetic circuit, signal coils and core become aligned only when tracking force is not applied. The result is that during playback, the required tracking force causes the angle between magnetic circuit, signal coils and core to become misaligned. This limits the cartridge’s resolution, tracking ability and dynamic range.
When no tracking force is applied to Delos, the shape of the asymmetrical dampers forces the signal coils and core into a more upright angle than the magnetic circuit. When tracking force is applied, however, the force of the stylus pushing on the LP causes the asymmetrical dampers to be deformed into a symmetrical shape, and when this happens the angular discrepancies between magnetic circuit, signal coils and core all disappear.
The Delos also has a microridge stylus on a boron cantilever for outstanding tracking, a non-parallel solid machined metal body for low resonances, and 6-N high-purity copper coils and nude construction for greater clarity. The result is clearly improved sound quality, particularly resolution, tracking ability, dynamic range, transient impact and immediacy.
Stig Bjorge of Lyra talks about the company’s founding, mission and philosophy at The Audio Salon in January, 2017
Designer Jonathan Carr gives a technical presentation on MC cartridges at The Audio Salon in January, 2017