Buying a Lyra Helikon

Mint sauce, mint sauce,.......

Oops sorry, I thought you said you were ordering a 552/500

TC - did a cd arrive?

Hi Malcolm,

Yep, yesterday as it happens. I completely forgot to private mail you. Thanks for that - is there anything you're after in return, by the way? I don't have a list, but you never know what might be lurking in my collection...

John

TC '..'
"Girl, you thought he was a man, but he was a Muffin..."

Buy it....I have no regrets

Laurie S

PS I have the "standard" version. IMHO it is perfectly matched to my K prefix

Laurie S

John,

The Helikon is a no brainer. Lyra make the finest cartridges I know. I have been using the Parnassus Mk. 1 for the last several years and have recently taken delivery of an Olympos, which may be the single biggest upgrade I have ever made to my system. Not only are the Lyra cartridges wonderful musical transducers, but the people behind the company are great too.

Good luck.

Evan

I've had a Helikon fitted in my LP12/Ekos/Prefix/Geddon/52/135 for the past 3 weeks (replacing a Clavis DC) and it is superb. You will be delighted with it.

Evan--

I've heard of the new Lyra Titan, but nothing about the Olympos. Could you give us some details?

Also, what are your impressions of the DPS turntable? What arm are you using?

The Olympos is a limited production all out assault on cartridge design by Lyra and is based on the platinum pole pieces from the original Parnassus. I have the SL version (low output), of which there are only 3 worldwide. It is truly a magnificent transducer and I am really grateful that I was able to obtain it. The dps is a fantastic table and I used it with an Aro. I had a Schroeder Reference on order to replace the Aro, but as fate would have it, I had the opportunity to evaluate a Basis Debut Mk. V Vacuum with Basis' new Vector tonearm. I had previously heard an older, non-vacuum Debut in a friend's top of the line Naim Wilson WAMM system, and to this day, it's probably one of, if not the finest system I have ever heard. Nevertheless, as a died in the wool flat earther, I never imagined owning a Basis. Needless to say, the moment the stylus descended onto the record, I was hooked. It's presentation is stable, seamless and organic, yet extremely musical. My preconceptions were shattered.

Evan

Does this mean you've gone for a Basis?

Regards,
Frank.
All opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of any organisations I work for, except where this is stated explicitly.

Frank,

Yes, I purchased the Basis and I would recommend their lineup to anyone looking for an alternative to an LP12. There is a lot of solid engineering behind these tables as well as superb precision and build quality. And best of all, they are set and forget.

Evan

Evan,

That's interesting reading. It's been a while since I've heard a Basis but for many years an Ovation was high on the wish-list. There were some accusations in the '80s UK press that the Basis T/Ts lacked some Pr&T but I can't say I concurred from what I heard. How do you think the Debut compares?

I'm going back to N.H. in '05 so may make a point to visit them.

Richard

Richard,

The Basis/Lyra combination has complemented my system (552, 500, 2 x 300, DBL) in such a way as to produce the most compelling and emotionally involving reproduction of music in my home that I have ever experienced. For context, in a Naim based system, I have owned a LP12, Voyd Reference, Immedia RPM2 and dps - all tables know for "PR&T."

Evan

Evan,

I take that as an emphatic "thumbs up" then...

My old school is not too far from the Basis HQ (at least it was last time I looked...) so with a planned reunion in '05 I'll definitely take some time out to visit.

Thanks,
Richard

Richard,

I recommend a visit. AJ Conti, owner and designer for Basis, is good people and knows his stuff.

Evan

quote:

---

Originally posted by Evan D. Jay:
The Olympos is a limited production all out assault on cartridge design by Lyra and is based on the platinum pole pieces from the original Parnassus. I have the SL version (low output), of which there are only 3 worldwide. It is truly a magnificent transducer and I am really grateful that I was able to obtain it. The dps is a fantastic table and I used it with an Aro. I had a Schroeder Reference on order to replace the Aro, but as fate would have it, I had the opportunity to evaluate a Basis Debut Mk. V Vacuum with Basis' new Vector tonearm. I had previously heard an older, non-vacuum Debut in a friend's top of the line Naim Wilson WAMM system, and to this day, it's probably one of, if not the finest system I have ever heard. Nevertheless, as a died in the wool flat earther, I never imagined owning a Basis. Needless to say, the moment the stylus descended onto the record, I was hooked. It's presentation is stable, seamless and organic, yet extremely musical. My preconceptions were shattered.

---

Hi Evan,

I heard the Debut at an pure analog show, where a certain piece of vinyl was put on different turntables one after the other:
http://www.aaanalog.de/termine/aforen/aforstut/afstutmb.htm and I definitely preferred the Pluto best and the Simon Yorke S7 close second. I definitely had the impression that the Debut was boring. Some months later I bought a used "midrange" Pluto 10A and last year a Schröder No.1.

kind regards,
Hartmut from Munich