Lyra Atlas Moving Coil Phono Cartridge

Lyra’s new flagship phono cartridge, the Atlas, features a revolutionary new asymmetric design. By literally misplacing the “barriers” to great sound that are present in every other cartridge today, the Lyra Atlas achieves a number of important performance benefits. Different-shaped structures on the left and right sides of the cartridge body suppress the formation of standing waves within, resulting in a significant reduction of resonance-induced colorations. Music comes through the Atlas with a greater purity and sense of purpose than standard-model MC cartridges are capable of producing.

The Atlas’s asymmetric construction offsets the front magnet carrier and its associated mounting system so that it is no longer in line with the cantilever assembly. This opens up a direct, solid path between the cantilever assembly and tonearm headshell so that vibrations from the cantilever can be quickly drained away once they have been converted into electrical signals, again suppressing induced resonances.

The Atlas uses Lyra’s “New Angle” technology, which mechanically pre-biases the signal coils so that they are perfectly aligned to the front and rear magnets when LP playback takes place. This equalizes out discrepancies in vertical and horizontal compliance, and enables the Atlas’s coils to move with equal ease in all directions for optimal performance.

Lyra remains the only cartridge manufacturer to mount the cantilever assembly directly into the cartridge body, thereby achieving a totally seamless, rigid connection between the cantilever assembly and headshell. The effectiveness of this system has been enhanced as a result of the asymmetrical structure of the Atlas. Control over spurious resonance is further assisted by the use of a narrowed mounting area, which couples the Atlas more tightly to the headshell and facilitates the transfer of vibrational energy into the tonearm.

While the Atlas retains the yokeless dual magnet system, diamond-coated boron rod cantilever, and variable-radius line-contact stylus of the Titan, the rigidity of the double knife-edge cantilever assembly mounting structure has been increased, and the signal coil system is completely new. Rather than a square, the coil former is in the shape of an X, which allows each channel to operate with greater independence from the other. This gives better tracking, tighter channel matching, improved separation, and lower distortion due to crosstalk.

At the same time Lyra was able to increase both the performance and efficiency of the generator coils. The Atlas has 12% higher output voltage than the Titan, but accomplishes this while reducing the amount of wire in the coils by 22%. This reduction in mass further improves tracking performance, while the enhanced output and electrical characteristics allow phono stages to perform more efficiently.

Specifications

• Designer: Jonathan Carr
• Builder: Yoshinori Mishima
• Type: Medium weight, medium compliance, low-impedance moving coil cartridge
• Stylus: Lyra-designed long-footprint variable-radio line-contact nude diamond, slot-mounted
• Cantilever System: Diamond-coated solid boron rod with short one-point wire suspension, directly mounted into cartridge body via high-pressure knife-edge system
• Coils: 2-layer deed, 6N high-purity copper, cross-shaped chemically-purified high-purity iron former, 4.2ohm self-impedance, 11uH inductance
• Output Voltage: 0.56mV@5cm/sec., zero to peak, 45 degrees (CBS test record, other test records may alter results)
• Frequency Range: 10Hz – 50kHz
• Channel Separation: 35dB or better at 1kHz
• Compliance: Approx. 12 x 10-6cm/dyne at 100Hz
• Vertical Tracking Angle: 20 degrees
• Cartridge Body: One-piece machining from solid titanium billet, with reduced-surface higher-pressure headshell contact area, predominately non-parallel and asymmetrical shaping, phase-interference resonance-controlling mechanism, and body threaded directly for mounting screws.
• Cartridge Mounting Screws: 2.6mm 0.45 pitch JIS standard
• Distance From Mounting Holes To Stylus Tip: 9.5mm
• Cartridge Weight (without stylus cover): 11.6g
• Recommended Tracking Force: 1.65 – 1.75g (1.72g recommended)
• Recommended Load Directly into MC Phono Input: 104ohm – 887ohm (determine by listening, or follow detailed guidelines in user manual)
• Recommended Load via Step-Up Transformer: 5 – 15ohm (Step-up transformer’s output must be connected to 10kohm – 47kohm MM-level RIAA input, prefereably via short, low-capacitance cable)
• Recommended Tonearms: High-quality pivoted or linear (tangential) tonearms with rigid bearing(s), adjustable anti-skating force, preferably VTA adjustment