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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
sunnyboy1956's avatar
sunnyboy1956 OP
424 posts
 
I am revisiting this thread to retract some inelegant words I used to describe the reissue WYWH lp. With a Hydra Triton( still breaking in with less than 40 hrs on it) replacing a Hydra VRay power conditioner, the Pink Floyd album is ,IMHO quite a musical treat with the compression/congestion reduced to a point I can happily live with.
Cheers
Pradeep
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 ;-)
sunnyboy1956's avatar
sunnyboy1956 OP
424 posts
 
Hi John
Congrats on your Atlas. I have been using the tube gain on the Nagra for many years now after you suggested the possibility.I have alternated between 470 ohm and 300 ohm but honestly its not a day and night difference or a clear preference either way. Each loading card , I suspect requires some break in. For the present am sticking to 470 ohms . I will switch to the 300 ohm at some point. There are way too many system dependent variables.
THe reviews of the Atlas eg Tone Audio suggest a 1k loading, if I am not mistaken.
The 1k card did not work for me.
This a great cart and I am sure you are going to have a ball.
I heard the Rockport Aviors in Singapore a couple days back and was mighty impressed.
Cheers
Pradeep
sunnyboy1956's avatar
sunnyboy1956 OP
424 posts
 
John
Must be old age or dementia setting in ! I have done a fair bit of to and fro between the 300, 470 and 1k loadings and the 1k is my preferred setting. Sorry for the confusion.
Cheers
Pradeep
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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