JC3+ With Kleos SL?

I’m with Catcher. With 90%+ of the systems out there 64 dB will be plenty of gain for a .25 mV cartridge. You could drop to .2 mV and likely have no problem for lack of gain unless you’re running a system with a passive preamp or horribly inefficient speakers.

.25 mV would be considered low output, but hardly ultra low output. I'd reserve that for cartridges outputting less than .15 mV. Regardless, it is all about proper gain matching and 64 dB will be plenty, and most likely a bit more than necessary, not less.

Thanks Folks,

I think I am going to go with the SL. The JC3+ and the CP-500 it is connected to are both quiet. The Classe CP-500 has input level adjustments so I can even the levels of the connected sources.

daveyf, I believe the only way to drive a high quality phono pre into distortion is to overdrive it on the input side.

Much appreciate the responses,
Robert

Keep in mind that the rated output of a phono cartridge is only a representation of what it does at one particular stylus velocity (3.54 or 5.0 cm/sec). When you are playing actual music the stylus is moving faster than the standard velocity most of the time. Therefore the actual output of that cartridge while playing music is going to be greater than its rated output most of the time. And the difference between 64db and 65db is of course trivial. In other words, no problemo.

Good points lewm.

Lyra is using 5 cm/sec as stated here:
http://lyraanalog.com/kleos-sl.html

And again they mention rigid bearings.

Thanks,
Robert

Have both the Lyra Helikon and the Lyra Helikon SL, the SL is quite a bit better than the higher output standard model and yes 64 db of gain with your J3 should be fine, go for it.