I've been using Lyra carts exclusively since 1999. I'd love to move up to an Atlas or Etna but I put 700-900 hours on a cart every year. That makes for a pretty expensive maintenance cost every 12-18 months, so I limit myself to a Kleos.
I have gone through a Lyra Argo (i), two Lyra Delos', and now use the Kleos SL, which is really a very nice cut above the Delos. I use the Luminous Audio Technology ARION II phono pre (64 dB) with fantastic results. I'm putting on ~600-700 hrs/year, and I get a lot of hours out of the Lyra's, I but still can't justify the Etna SL or Atlas SL at such a consumable rate at this point. But who knows what mood I'll be in when replacement time comes...
While I'm thinking about it...technical question: The Lyra's are hand-tuned...does that mean there is no real "break-in", as the cartridge's sound has been established at Lyra? If there is actual break-in, won't that impact the desired sound? FWIW, each Lyra I've installed over the years sounded great immediately and I never really noticed change over 50, 100 hrs,
That is an excellent question. The cartridges are hand tuned to a specific sound. That the benchmark for when they leave the factory. The cartridges do improve with breaking over the first 100 or hours. Jeff
Great cleaning tip at the end!
I've been using Lyra carts exclusively since 1999. I'd love to move up to an Atlas or Etna but I put 700-900 hours on a cart every year. That makes for a pretty expensive maintenance cost every 12-18 months, so I limit myself to a Kleos.
I have gone through a Lyra Argo (i), two Lyra Delos', and now use the Kleos SL, which is really a very nice cut above the Delos. I use the Luminous Audio Technology ARION II phono pre (64 dB) with fantastic results. I'm putting on ~600-700 hrs/year, and I get a lot of hours out of the Lyra's, I but still can't justify the Etna SL or Atlas SL at such a consumable rate at this point. But who knows what mood I'll be in when replacement time comes...
While I'm thinking about it...technical question: The Lyra's are hand-tuned...does that mean there is no real "break-in", as the cartridge's sound has been established at Lyra? If there is actual break-in, won't that impact the desired sound? FWIW, each Lyra I've installed over the years sounded great immediately and I never really noticed change over 50, 100 hrs,
That is an excellent question. The cartridges are hand tuned to a specific sound. That the benchmark for when they leave the factory. The cartridges do improve with breaking over the first 100 or hours. Jeff