Lyra Atlas Lambda Moving Coil Cartridge

Lyra Atlas Lambda Moving Coil Cartridge

Lambda The Next Level Up.

A seldom-mentioned yet key factor in defining the performance and sound of a phono cartridge is the suspension and damper system. A cantilever’s materials, dimensions and constructions all affect the sound in unique ways, and unless the dampers and suspension are engineered to be a suitable match to the cantilever chosen, the sound and performance will not be optimal.
For Lyra’s post-2008 New Angle models (Delos, Kleos, Etna, Atlas) Lyra developed tapered dampers to pre-load the cantilever downwards when it is in the rest position, so that the application of vertical tracking force (VTF) will bring the coil angle into alignment with the magnets when the cartridge is in the playing position.
But Lyra’s continued research into dampers and suspension systems has now led to the next level up - Lambda.
Lambda separates the tapered dampers of the New Angle cartridges into flat elastomer discs (for damping) and an additional support “pillow” to serve as the cantilever pre-loading element.

This division allows the use of more specialized materials that are better suited to their individual tasks.

The Lambda Atlas and Etna thereby continue the New Angle benefits (coil and magnet angles become aligned when the cartridge is in the playing position), but stability and sonic performance are significantly improved.

The Lambda improvements apply to both the single coil layer models (Atlas SL, Etna SL) and the standard double coil layer models (Atlas, Etna). Likewise for the Atlas Mono and Etna Mono models.

Despite the revisions to the damping system, the cartridge body structure of the Atlas remains unaltered, likewise with the Etna. There for all Lyra Etna and Atlas cartridges that are returned to Lyra for rebuilding will automatically be upgraded to the latest Lambda specification.

Lyra Atlas

The Atlas is Lyra's new flagship. It is also the first time that anyone has made an asymmetrically structured phono cartridge. Why asymmetric? Because, by literally misplacing the barriers to great sound that are present in every other cartridge today, it confers a number of important performance benefits.

First, having differently-shaped structures on the left and right sides suppresses the formation of standing waves inside the cartridge body, thereby creating a less resonant, more neutral cartridge body. Second, the asymmetric construction offsets the front magnet carrier and its associated mounting system so that it is no longer in line with the cantilever assembly. Doing so 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 resonances.

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

While the Lyra Atlas retains the yokeless dual magnet system, diamond-coated boron rod cantilever and variable-radius line-contact stylus of the Lyra Titan, the double knife-edge cantilever assembly mounting structure has been revised for greater rigidity, 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 were able to increase both the performance and efficiency of the generator coils. The Lyra Atlas has 12% higher output voltage than the Titan, but accomplishes this while reducing the amount of wire in the coils by 22%. The mass reduction further improves tracking performance, while the enhanced output and electrical characteristics allow phono stages to perform better.

The Lyra 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 compliances, and enables the  Lyra Atlas' coils to move with equal ease in all directions for optimal performance.

As with the Lyra Titan and Olympos, the Lyra Atlas uses a body that is meticulously carved from a solid billet of titanium, through a process that involves both contact (for the exterior) and non-contact machining (for the interior body structures). But by making most of the Lyra Atlas' body surfaces non-parallel, avoiding dimensions that are multiples of other dimensions, and adding a pre-stressed phase-interference resonance-controlling system, resonances have been inhibited further.

Lyra firmly believe that the Lyra Atlas represents an important step forward in LP playback.

The Lyra cartridges are special order.