Symmetry Latest News

Lyra have been designing and hand crafting moving coil cartridges for over 30 years. Constant evolution of the designs has ensured Lyra are the cartridges of choice for the connoisseur and lovers of analogue playback. Lyra is pleased to announce it’s latest works of art: Etna λ Lambda and Atlas λ Lambda.

A seldom-mentioned yet key factor in defining the performance and sound of a phono cartridge is the suspension and damper system. A cantilever’s materials, dimensions and constructions all affect the sound in unique ways, and unless the dampers and suspension are engineered to be a suitable match to the cantilever chosen, the sound and performance will not be optimal.

For Lyra’s post-2008 New Angle models (Delos, Kleos, Etna, Atlas) Lyra developed tapered dampers to pre-load the cantilever downwards when it is in the rest position, so that the application of vertical tracking force (VTF) will bring the coil angle into alignment with the magnets when the cartridge is in the playing position.

Click here to download the 2 page news release.

Lyra’s Etna SL is a denuded (bodyless) cartridge based on the company’s second from the top Etna moving coil, which is itself based on the range-topping Atlas. The top Lyras are asymmetrically-structured, so that the mounting of the front magnet carrier could be moved out of the way of the mechanical path connecting cantilever to headshell.

The differently-shaped structures on the left and right sides limit the formation of standing waves inside the cartridge body itself. Etna (standard or SL) features a yokeless dual magnet system, diamond-coated boron rod cantilever built directly into the titanium body structure, and a Lyra-designed variable-radius line-contact stylus. The Etna SL (or ‘single layer’) is a custom-ordered variant, with a 0.25mV output, 1.52Ω self-impedance, and a 1.9μH inductance.

In our test, Alan Sircom found that “Some cartridges excel at some things and are simply ‘OK’ at others. Routinely those considered ‘the best’ are remarkable at one or two aspects of a performance, and don’t mess up the others. The Etna SL is balanced because it excels in all aspects of performance.” He concluded that, “the Lyra Etna SL sets a standard against which all other top-end cartridges should be referenced.”

Click here to download the review from Hi-Fi Plus.

I had intended this to be a long-winded review, but then realised the shortest, simplest review is all that’s needed.  The Lyra Etna SL is, quite simply, the best cartridge I have ever used. There may be better cartridges out there (including at least one more from Lyra itself), but I haven’t heard them yet. Best of all, one of the Etna SL’s strong points is you don’t feel the need to hear those products discussed in hushed tones. It’s all you need.

The Etna SL is a denuded (bodyless) cartridge based on the company’s second from the top Etna moving coil, which is itself based 

on the range-topping Atlas. The top Lyras are asymmetrically-structured, 

so that the mounting of the front magnet carrier could be moved out of the way of the mechanical path connecting cantilever to headshell. The differently-shaped structures on the left and right sides limit the formation of standing waves inside the cartridge body itself. Etna (standard or SL) features a yokeless dual magnet system, diamond-coated boron rod cantilever built directly into the titanium body structure, and a Lyra-designed variable-radius line-contact stylus. The Etna SL (or ‘single layer’) is a custom-ordered variant, with a 0.25mV output, 1.52Ω self-impedance, and a 1.9µH inductance.

Click here to download the review from Hi-Fi Plus.