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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
downunder
1,329 posts
 
I have had my Atlas for close to 3 months now and it is a wonderful cartridge.

I have mine at 500 ohms with tubes and 320 ohms with SS phono.

JFrech, you know you want one :-)

enjoy
sunnyboy1956's avatar
sunnyboy1956 OP
424 posts
 
Actusreus
It's not even close to 20k, way below thanks to a competitive trade in package in Singapore .Thankfully , I don't believe that more $$ equals better sound.
Now for that crappy bit. I thought I may have let my exuberance get the better of me. I revisited side 2 of the lp twice. IMHO the sparkle is missing. The music, particularly the vocals ,are overly compressed. The sound is congested , almost congealed . This is astonishing music, probably the best rock ever recorded, IME. The last track on side 2, Shine On Your Crazy Diamond, is a pain. This is music i have loved and cherished for 30 yrs or more. The cd is way superior. Just my 2 bits. YMMV.
From everything i have read I am sure that the Telos is a better arm. But at this level, I suspect, the improvements are miniscule. Telos owners will rightly disagree .
Jfrech
The Triplanar was my original arm and the Talea was intended as a second arm. I found the Talea to be way superior to the Triplanar and ended up trading it in for a motor and PSU upgrade for the TT.
Peterrayer
Couldn't agree more with your approach. That's the sensible way to go. It was not feasible for me as I had traded in the original TW PSU and motor. I did , however, spin a few lps with the Titan I on the Talea I before mounting the Atlas. I played the same lps( Patrica Barber- Nightclub, Shelby Lynn, etc) with the new cart and wow couldn't believe the improvement. There was nothing amiss earlier except now there is so much more detail and musical enjoyment. I have had the Talea in my system for 18 months. All that has changed is the cart and an improved motor and PSU for the TT.
Cheers
goldeneraguy
442 posts
 
Sunnyboy , In your response to Peterayre you state that the "NEW" cartridge(Atlas)was an immediate major improvement over your Titan i.Did I read that correctly ?
Usually it takes me many hours before making a statement as to which top notch component is better.
The Atlas must be one hell of a cartridge to better the Titan i straight out of the box.
Enjoy your system
peterayer
1,382 posts
 
Fremer writes the same about the Atlas vs. the Titan i. Better in every way. I've never heard either, so can't comment.
mikelavigne
2,199 posts
 

congrats on the Atlas. i hope to hear one soon.
From everything i have read I am sure that the Telos is a better arm. But at this level, I suspect, the improvements are miniscule. Telos owners will rightly disagree.

the Talea 2 is a fantastic arm. i have one sitting on my NVS right next to my Telos. although right now i have the Miyajima Premium Mono Be on the Talea 2, i have had identical A90's in my system with both arms at once.

the differences between the 2 arms are not miniscule. at this level of performance it is degrees of wonderful we are speaking about. unless you had the 2 arms side by side it might be challenging to quantitate the degree of difference in an objective way, although the difference musically is significant. in my system i use my RTR master dubs as a reference; the Telos looks it in the eye and even spits on it sometimes (especially with the Ortofon Anna); the Talea 2 not quite.

in many ways they are cut from the same cloth; but then the Telos goes to a higher level at things.....and has a way of sounding real in a unique way which needs to be heard, words fail me.
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