LYRA Skala

From Our Readers (21-2)：Craig S on LYRA Skala, A phono cartridge

Editor: As usual from Craig, this is a deceptively simple article with some thoughtful observations. The third to last paragraph is particularly brilliant.

I hope I am not too familiar when I suggest that we all know what a phono cartridge is. I always thought it was a tiny box of mysteries with a little stick protruding therefrom. And there are all the brands we know, Shure (if you are old enough) Decca (even older), Ortofon, Blue this or that, and of course Grado. You may have kept abreast and that is admirable.

While I was asleep, 1990 to 2018, a huge craft industry of phono cartridge manufacturers emerged and uncoiled like ferns in a dark wet forest at springtime. Now we have Hana, DS Audio, and Lyra. It is Lyra that I would like to write about today.

My ever-patient audio dealer saw my Ortofon 2M Black, the safest choice ever, mounted on a Clarity Arm, attached to a Clearaudio Performance SE, and sighed. “You could do so much better”, he said. But don't they all say that? Turns out, he was right.

From my many years of reading Listener, a true joy when a new edition appeared in the mailbox, I was brainwashed into the idea that low output moving coils were the gateway to nirvana. They were more lively, tracked better, were cooler, were handcrafted, etc, etc, and anyway they are just better, I was told. With a dozen of such cartridge articles under my belt, none of which I owned or even heard, the brainwashing was complete. So when my dealer nudged me to a Lyra Skala (barely used of course), I said yes.

Well, what a difference. And it is differences that sell, isn’t it? That cartridge replaced my Ortophon 2M Black which was perfectly satisfactory, and here is my story with the Lyra:

Tracking. We have to admit, this is a big deal in the enjoyment of vinyl. No record is perfectly flat, or at least none of mine are. Suddenly skipping forward seven bars during Whole Lotta Love just because your wife walked in at the worst possible time, is a bit on the nose. You see, I had a bouncy wooden floor in an old 120 year old house. Before I go to the sound may I tell you what I did about that? Thank you: A carpenter friend (who worked at Tannoy Kitchener) came up with a cunning plan: instead of 12 million dollars spent on stands and isolation devices, he went to the basement and installed heavy steel pillars that reached from basement floor to underneath the audio rack above. Essentially, now the rack sat upon concrete. All my floor walking problems were gone and I could now approach my playing turntable like a real man, rather than the wide-eyed, creeping, slipper-wearing thief that I was before.

So tracking matters. This Lyra Skala seems to be an unmovable tank. Everything is set up to factory spec by my dealer so anyone else can get similar results. May I offer some advice here? Do not let your cleaning lady go near your stereo. This goes double for ex wives, cats or other possibly careless do-gooders. They will ruin it.

Then there is the loading. We played around with different loading settings on my McIntosh C22, which has loading adjustments for MM and MC, and ended up at 100 ohms, though I think this is largely a flavour thing and ymmv.

Okay, everything is set and I am dropping the stylus on my “hot stamper” version of Name of This Band is Talking Heads. Golly! The tightness, the energy is far more acute then I have head with this familiar track, digital or vinyl. Ultra clear and punchy, with seemingly more air moving in the room. This cartridge is definitely more fun. I have the the requisite darker backs and much more dynamic range. Very engaging.

Placing some old Bossa Nova in the form of The Warm World of Joao Gilberto I hear much the same, an engaging, tight presentation that leaves pretty well zero to the imagination. Guitars are beautiful rendered and voices are legitimate and authentic in my room. It seems that flab is relegated to the basement. Lovely.

Maybe a record groove has a bit of a fight with a stylus. Is that groove life as it presents to us, and your cartridge life as you would like to see it? What is that connection? Good, bad, ugly? Is your stylus and cartridge really your interpreter? I say yes. For those of similar mind this is great way to enjoy “reality”; bouncy, fun, clear, low noise, and smiling, always wanting to please you.

The Lyra has been a zero fussbudget in my application. How nice to have such a stellar performer with no high maintenance downside. I am entirely happy with this cartridge until the next time my long suffering dealer comes around. What else have I been missing?

For those invested in HOMM, try LOMC and see if it can improve your life as well. It did for me, plus you can torture your friends with these acronyms.