Any experience with Lyra Lydian Beta and Ekos?

JC

You're putting words in my mouth. The LydianB would not be my first choice of cartridge, but I didn't say I didn't like it! It has some very definite strengths and some weaknesses:

Strengths: For the money, it has excellent timing and pace. Very upbeat, open sound with good life.

Weaknesses: Only one sonically - harsh treble. Although it's an open sounding cartridge, it does suffer from a harsh treble (for the money). Note that I am comparing to the 17D2 which has a very sweet treble indeed, so this is why I find it difficult to live with the LydianB. I know people who couldn't live with the worse timing of the 17D2 against the LydianB so I know I am not necessarily 'right' about my choice on this.

Mechanically, the Lyra isn't the best tracker in the world, but for most records, it should be fine, particularly with a decent arm like an EKOS.

JC, you have a tendency to go with your dealer in France who seems very pro-Linn. This makes sense in your scenario since there appear to be so few dealers catering for your situation in your area.

But JayBar is in New York, and there's bound to be more than one dealer there!

I concur that the Klyde is a safe bet - not my choice once again, but safe. I find the Klyde to have a warmish balance, a bit lumpy in the bass and a bit slow by comparison to the 17D2 as well as the Lyra of course. It's a very 'nice' sound, however.

One other option in this price range, with which I was very impressed indeed, is the new Ortofon KontrapunktA. The 'A' retails for £500 and has better pace than the 17D2 and Klyde. Caveats:

1. I haven't compared it directly to the Lyra.

2. I haven't tried it on an EKOS. However, I have tried it on the ARO and the Rega P25/RB600. It had the same effect on both these (very different) platforms. It has great pace and rhythm for the money, as well as good tonality (big change for Ortofon), and real tunefulness.

The real 'value for money' cartridge at the moment has to be the Ortofon Kontrapunkt B (£750). This is superior to the A in every way, but now I am comparing this cartridge to much more expensive (and fabled) ones such as the Troika, XX1L (similar bass, a bit more neutral and open, not quite such a sweet treble) and my own Te Kaitora (nowhere near the same mid-range and treble quality, but similar or better timing and bass in the same league). This is a fantastic cartridge!

The Ortofons are very dependant on azimuth and VTA. Get it wrong and they sound totally useless, but get it right (they have an interesting way of setting up the cartridge properly) and it sings.

Regards,
Frank.

"BTW, how long is the average life of a klyde, submitted to 5 hours listening per week?"

Hi jean-christophe,

At that rate of play the cartridge should last about 11 years! I've been using a rebuilt Klyde since last May and it easily averages about 5 hours of play a day which calculates to about 1,800 hours. The cartridge to me still sounds stunning and has no tracking problems whatsoever. It's mounted to an Ekos and the table is setup perfectly on a few levels of Mana.

In the past with Linn MC cartridges I've always gone about 3 years or about 3,000 hours before replacing them. We'll see how it goes with this ES rebuilt Klyde as I plan to have a Troika rebuild ready to go when the Klyde does finally give it up.

Cheers,
John

[This message was edited by John Gilleran on TUESDAY 24 April 2001 at 16:00.]

"BTW, I am setting up a room under the roof, Which will host a TV set and solve a part of the problem. The first problem however will not be solved before circa 20 years ... "

I understand completly, I have two little ones as well. I also have 4 rooms with TV/VCR's and 3 listening rooms all linked to the main source to sneek off to for listening.

"Nevertheless, I have heard that not only the amount of listening hours matter, but also the age of the cartridge itself (ageing of the suspension...)"

I have heard the same, so 11 years is probably pushing it quite a bit. I'm not really sure.

Wishing you more listening time in the future.
John

Even in NYC, very few dealers support analog with meaningful choices, BUT that is NOT the issue for me. Try as I might, I only tend to get about 1000 to 1500 hours on a cartridge. My apartment house borders on the Brooklyn Bridge, which yields a picture view of the NYC skyline, but the amount of grit and carbage that comes in through the windows is phenominal, which I am sure does not help.

I resent Linn's cartridge policy. Their two optiopns are rebuild and buy the sucker again at full price. They do not offer an exchange credit. This is no longer acceptable to me.

Although I listen more to CD's now that I got a Naim CD5/Highcap, Vinyl still is my primary source. I have 300 CD's and 2500 LP's. To my ears, NO CDP has ever equalled a high-end TT.

I simply do NOT want to be without Vinyl for 4-8 weeks to have a cartridge sent to the UK, Europe or Asia to have it rebuilt and returned. Nor can I afford to spend $1500-$2500 every year for a new one. I was also not that smitten with the Arkiv A.

Both Lyra and Dynavector have an exchange policy, where you get a new cartridge at a discount when your's dies. Of the two, Lyra is more easily attainable from Dealers around NYC. The question is the Hilikon that much better to warrant spending twice the Beta. One or two prople who have heard both have siad no. Any input guys.

Thanks,

Jay

jay:

quote:

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I resent Linn's cartridge policy. Their two optiopns are rebuild and buy the sucker again at full price. They do not offer an exchange credit. This is no longer acceptable to me.

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i wouldnt go so far as "resent", but i would say their new policy is a serious marketing mistake. they could have offered something reasonable in return surely -- if not token, just for the feel good loyalty factor. i am in the market for a new cartridge, and if linn still did their trade ins, my choice would have been very heavily weighted towards an arkiv B. as it is, the field is wide open. and i might for for an ortofon, unless the xx2 appears soon.

quote:

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Both Lyra and Dynavector have an exchange policy, where you get a new cartridge at a discount when your's dies.

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is this true, everywhere, even in the UK?? i didnt know this?? can someone confirm?? what is the level of trade-in for cartridges around the GBP1000 mark??

enjoy...

ken

I would be surprised if the policy differed by distributor.

Jay