Please evaluate the Lyra Helicon phono cartridge

The simple answer is it's one of the best value's in a top end cartridge. Excellent all around. A little finicky on setup. I love mine....

The sound chararacteristic is on the light side, sort of the other end of the spectrum, compared to, lets say a Koetsu, very dynamic, a good bottom end and pristine highs. I run one side by side with an Insider at about 6times its price and it holds its own very well indeed. As Jfrech rightly points out, it is one of the best values in a top end cartridge, I have it on a highly modified Souther tagential tone arm and found its setup uncomplicated and easy. I like it best loaded at 47k and run it through an Aesthetics IO. The resolving power of this combination is outstanding, however I find the Insider, Goldmund, Jadis combination, especially for complex classical music, a tad closer to the real thing.

I agree with both Jfrch and Detlof....great bargain! Clean, non fatiguing and very fast cartridge. It sometimes reminds me of the original Decca Gold 5?
I did have a bit of a problem with my original Helikon...I lost the cantilever (probably my fault) but the new one was a breeze to set up! And it is working quite well with my VPI 10,5 arm, which I am told, is not the optimum match. If I had one negative a would say, like Detof, a little on the light side (??). Well worth the money!

You can get 80-90% of the performance, in the right system, with a well setup Kontrapunkt B, IMHIO. They have a similar design matrix. You can surpass it with an Ikeda but the setup is formidable.

I am using a Lyra Helikon on an Oracle Delphi MKV SE. Properly loaded, the sound is rich and "full" and certainly not on the "light" side. Most people who characterize the Helikon as "thin" invariably use the standard 47K loading. Try loading from 100-1000 ohms (depending on phono preamp) and the sound will definitely not be "thin". In my system, there is no loss of air and extension with 100 ohm loading.