Soundsmith - Hyperion vs lyra ETNA

@karl_desch 
I also have a broken Lyra Helicon setting in a shelf because it was going to be 1700 and 6 months to rebuild it. 
@dodgealum 
I own the emt 6.0 I dont know how to explain it. I can best compare to Harbeth speakers. They tell me the same things. Very clear and yet British, but I would not call it warm. Honest dynamics.
I got to hear it back to back against an Etna. The first 5 mins the Etna beat it in every way. It was more dynamic more clear more wow, but after that 5 min I wanted the EMT back. Maybe a part of that was 3k I would save. I was just enjoying myself just a little bit more with the EMT. via this thread I have it down to the EMT platinum and the SoundSmith. I just dont know what you get and lose between the 2. 

@dodgealum I also had the non-ES version of the MIMC star.  My initial impression was positive but I also felt like it sounded a little "closed in" for lack of a better term.  Very clean and low distortion but not the expansive soundstage I was used to hearing form my other carts. I'm wondering if this is why some people are turned off from SS carts? For me though, the clarity and focus of the MIMC made me continue to listen. Something great happened around 50-75 hours of playing time (hard to know for sure cause I rotate carts) and the MIMC became more expansive, super clear and just sounded very natural.  Its like a sonic magnifying glass was applied.  I started hearing lots of new musical lines in complex music. Master tape-like without hiss.  It was after I noted this breaking in that I became interested in hearing what the fancier SS carts could do.  

I traded the MIMC in for a Sussurro MKII ES and I've had it mounted to the same Mørch DP8 arm as the MIMC.  The Sussurro already sounds as good as the broken in MIMC. Not "closed in" at all and very low distortion.  Amazing channel separation, musical information and natural frequency balance.   I have maybe 20 hours on the new cart and I am hopeful that when it breaks in, something even greater will happen. I am already quite pleased with the Sussurro. I have no idea what part is the Sussurro engine and what part is the ES.  As I understand it, the Sussurro extends the low mass concept design even further than the MIMC. 

I can only imagine that the Hyperion would be even better. 

If anyone here is attending the CAF Show next weekend, we will be using the Soundsmith Hyperion cartridge. Please stop by to check it out. We are in room 504. Obviously it's difficult to separate the cartridge from the rest of the system, but it's worth a listen.

Last year at CAF there were two identical VPI HW-40 turntables being demonstrated in the VPI room.  One had a SS Hyperion and the other a Lyra Etna if my memory is correct.  I listened for quite a while during multiple visits to the room and greatly preferred the SoundSmith as many others may have as it seemed it was usually the choice of those spinning the vinyl by the end of the show.  

@drrsutliff
I would say that would be so with the VPI combo. They are known to be a good match. I have heard that VPI and Lyra can be too much of the same thing.