Lyra Delos or Helicon versus Soundsmith Zephyr

Just picked this thread up again. Since posting this thread, I picked up the Lyra Kleos. IMO, the Kleos is much better sounding cartridge than the Zephyr or the Delos in my system. Having said that, the Zephyr is a very nice cartridge that I hold onto as a back up.

About 6 months ago, I sent my Kleos back to Lyra in Japan for a check up and adjustment, courtesy of J Carr. I really missed my Kleos and was very happy when it came back 6 weeks later.

My facility in audiophile-speak is a bit stunted, so I apologize that my use of audiophile adjectives is not as descriptive as I would like it to be. But I think the Kleos has a much rich and open sound. The mids and treble are more open and transparent. I thought the Zephyr was a bit thicker, maybe darker, than the Kleos.

My bottom line: Kleos over the Zephyr. I am curious how the next Lyra cartridge up the line sounds as compared to the Kleos. If anyone has tried the Atlas or Etna, please post your comments.

Cheers,

BIF

I have a Scoutmaster and just moved up from Zephyr Mk II to Paua. I really liked the Zephyr--very musical and involving. The Paua is that but better--lower noise floor, more resolving, and sounds wonderful. I don't expect to buy another cartridge in the future. You may want to consider it if you already like the Zephyr. Rest of my system: Herron VTPH2, MuFi KW500, MuFi A3.2 CDP and TriVista 21 DAC, transparent reference cables and power, Wilson Sophia speakers.

Bpoletti I have a herron2 phono and a Lyra Delos on a Vpi TNT with a jmw12. It is phenomenal! And I have heard a ton of good combos. IMHO I would put mine up against almost any of them. In the beginning after the dealer set it up it was just good, then I got a mint tractor and fussed over it for a while and improved it a lot. Another thing that made quite a difference was using a cinemag SUT into the mm of the Herron. Like the bobs devices one but if you get a parks audio one it looks identical with the same trannies for quarter the price.

Still interested in a head-to-head comparison of the delos or Helicon vs. ANY Soundsmith moving iton cart.

Since posting this thread, I bought the Lyra Delos and then moved up to the Kleos. Ain't no comparison. The Kleos is the best.