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Vinyl Heaven : Lyra Atlas on a Durand Talea 2

I am not usually given to expletives but WOW....this is sooo effing good I can't believe it. The Atlas has less than 6 hours on it.The Atlas replaced a Titan i and initially, I was a wee bit underwhelmed, as the cart loading was at 100 ohms,the same as the Titan. Switching to a 1000 ohmn loading was a revelation.The 1000 ohmn loading resistor on my Nagra VPS phono will presumably require some break in.
My quick and evolving first impressuions of the Atlas vs the Titan i : the Atlas does everything the Titan i does, except it does it a whole lot better. The traditional Lyra agility and speed( the Atlas is my 4th Lyra after the Helikon, Skala and Titan i)is there in loads except there is now an organic wholeness to the music with a longer sustain and decay of notes. In every respect, IMHO, the Atlas is way way better than my previous favorite cart, the Transfiguration Orpheus L.There is so much more detail being extracted from the grooves. Does the Atlas make all recordings sound good ?Far from it. It made me realise how crappy the Pink Floyd reissue of WYWH is.
Should point out that at the time the Atlas joined the party, the TT,a TW AC 1, also benefited from a major upgrade with the Black Night PSU and 3 motor unit.
If you ever contemplate an upgrade to the best, that the state of the art has to offer,you will do yourself a favor by auditioning the Atlas and the Durand Talea 2.
I have no relationship with any manufacturer.
Cheers
Pradeep

128x128sunnyboy1956

Showing 3 responses by jfrech

jfrech's avatar
jfrech
1,816 posts
 
excellent news ! I am getting real close to making a impulse purchase here! The
recent reviews and comments all seem outstanding!

I did try a E.A.R. MC 4 step up transformer with my Nagra VPS. It's a nice
addition (currently using a very low output (.18mv) Allaerts). I know the Lyra
allows me to skip this...

What arms did you use before your talea 2? Did you use a Tri Planar (like I
currently have) Any comments on the arm change? Thanks !!
jfrech's avatar
jfrech
1,816 posts
 
Hi Pradeep, I have a Atlas in my system now. I am still playing around with
loading. I only have a few loading cards (33, 100, 330, and 847ohm) I can
order more. I also have a EAR MC 4 Step up transformer and a moving
magnet card for the 2nd input.

I just put in my 847 ohm to card to listen to...I seem to like this or the EAR
MC4 using it's 12ohm tap. But I can't use the SS gain on the Nagra with the
MM&SUT seems like it overloads...and just to much gain on the volume...

Are you using the solid state or just tube gain? Are you still on the 1000 ohm
card? Thanks.

And yes this Lyra Atlas is good ;-)
jfrech's avatar
jfrech
1,816 posts
 
It's ok...my wide accuses me of much more ;-).

I searched all over....100, 300, 837, 1000, I've gone back to my EAR MC SUT and using a MM input card on the Nagra. Seems to add more weight to the notes, more life, bigger deeper wider stage. Using the Nagra MC card seems a touch more transparent and the bass tigher..but the SUT maybe a goes down a bit lower.

This EAR MC 4 is the first external transformer I've tried...It's pretty special in combo with the Nagra VPS...I thought for sure when I got the Lyra Atlas and it's higher output..I'd go back to the Nagra direct...but as a of now...nope...I am still going back and forth some...
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