Has anyone tried the new Lyra Kleos?

I am a lyra fan and love the titan i for its intensity and lightening transient: not only for the attack but also for how fast it can release the notes. Before optimizing the Kleos, I initially thought the designer went for a warmer, slower sound in the Kleos because the titan was criticized for a lean tonal balance or aggressive treble.

After optimizing the setup, the Kleos is also very fast and actually illuminated some details that I did not hear with the titan. It has a very natural transient that makes me I wondered whether the titan release the notes too fast. I am still not sure which one is more correct but I enjoy both tremendously. The titan is still more resolute in the low bass and macrodynamics and portray the scale of the large orchestra more convincingly. The Kleos excels in chamber music with its beguiling presentation and microdynamics. Both are able to portray a strong sense of recording space.

I have sold my Koetsu & more since I have acquired the Kleos.

I have installed the Kleos on a variety of arms including two unipivot arms without issues: Phantom 2, centroid. Also tried it on gimbal bearing: FR 64 & dyna 507. This cart is not as picky on arms as the titan.

IMHO, the Kleos need proper antiskate setting to showcase its ability ( sure, which cart doesn't). I have tried the minimal to no antiskate and this crippled the Kleos more than any other cartridge I have used. The overtly warm and slow sound in my initial setting may resulted from distortions from unopposed skating force.

A great performer in its own right but amazing considering its price.

Some of our customers have voiced a preference for the Delos over the Kleos. Compared to the Kleos, the Delos has a somewhat more exuberant treble which seems to work better in certain kinds of systems. At the same time, the Delos has greater resolution, wider dynamics, a wider timbral range, and a more natural tonal balance when compared to the older Dorian, Argo and Helikon models.

Compared to the Delos, the Kleos has a less resonant body structure and matching voicing which results in a somewhat sweeter, less dry-sounding cartridge than with previous Lyras, yet without giving up the dynamic strength, aliveness, resolution and speed that Lyra cartridges are known for.

Overall, I consider the Kleos to be a more versatile performer than the Skala, and a better "buy" for the price.

In comparison with the Titan, my opinion is that the Titan is still the better overall performer, but the two cartridges have strengths in different areas, as GLai has pointed out above. I can easily envision that some listeners and systems would prefer the Kleos over the Titan.

Both the Delos and Kleos redefine the level of performance that can be had at their respective price-points, IMHO, and they aren't particularly quirky in terms of sonic personality, nor very demanding to set up. I think that it would be difficult to go wrong with either one (grin).

Although the following doesn't affect the cartridges themselves, I should mention that our distributor for the North American market has changed from Immedia to Audioquest.

I would like to publicly thank Immedia for nearly 20 years of friendship and efforts on our behalf.

I am also happy to be reunited with our old friends at Audioquest, whom we previously worked with on the AQ7000, AQ7000 Fe5, and AQ7000 NSX models.

Like Immedia, Audioquest places great emphasis on good dealer relations and customer service, so I fully expect that Lyra customers in North America will continue to receive top-notch service. And should any Lyra customer encounter an issue regarding their Lyra cartridge which they feel is being unsatisfactorily handled, they are welcome to bring it to my attention in an email.

I believe that Audioquest welcomes dealers that retailed Lyra products for Immedia, so if there are any Lyra dealers who have doubts as to their present standing, I encourage you to contact Audioquest.

regards to all, jonathan carr

Jonathan, thanks for your regular polite, informative and objective postings, they are so welcome here!

Are there any plans on a successor of the Titan i, or are there no public-conform news yet?

I purchased a Lyra Delos recently and have been playing it in my Sota Cosmos IV with Audiomods arm and SimAudio lp5.3 phono preamp and am at a loss to find any problem areas. The Delos seems to be quick when it should be, smooth and tuneful with no particular emphasis at any point in the range. Very expressive midrange, defined treble and tuneful, tight and clear bass. Much like my Dyna 17d2 but with stronger bass and a little smoother throughout the range, but maybe not quite as quick. It also seems very quiet in the groove, which allows low level details to come through.
So if the Kleos is better than the Delos, it has to be an awesome cartridge.

Dear Breezer:

The Titan i will stay in our lineup, because it is a nice performer for the price, IMO.

At the same time, it is true that I am working on a new cartridge model, but for a higher price-point.

This is a much more complex and radical design than the Titan i, and will therefore be priced somewhere between the Titan and the Olympos.

The weight should be a little less than 12 grams, making this a more heavyweight design than the Titan.

The Kleos made serious inroads on the performance and sound of the Titan i, IMHO. The Titan i remains the better performer overall, again IMO, but in some areas the Kleos performs and sounds better.

Regarding the new design, we are committed to ensuring that it becomes the best-performing, best-sounding cartridge that we have ever made.

As of now, initial measurements look good (actually really good), also the sound is better than the Kleos and Titan in most respects, but not all. We had hoped to launch the new cartridge earlier, but we are spending extra time to improve and refine it, so that its performance and sound clearly supersede both the Kleos and Titan in every area.

We plan to start deliveries in October.

kind regards, jonathan carr