Lyra Atlas experiences


A few years ago, I invested in a Lyra Atlas cartridge / pickup. I have moved up, from Lyra Clavis in the early 2000s and Lyra Titan i later. The Atlas was expensive, but I have not looked back. Yet I wonder, can something more be done, to optimize the Atlas, in my system, and others. How can this remarkable pickup run its best. What are the best phono preamp and system matches. Should the system be rearranged. Have anyone done mods or DIYs to their systems to get the "reception" right? What happened? Comments welcome. You dont need to own a Lyra Atlas but you should have heard it, to join this discussion. Comments from the folks at Lyra are extra welcome - what is your experience.
Oystein
Ag insider logo xs@2xo_holter
0_hotter....when you say demag every second month....you only use the Cardas (or similar) disc???    I certainly would check with Lyra if it is wise to do this.  Some high end cartridges have internal wiring that could be melted with some demag treatments.
Stingreen - sorry, did not see your post before - i use the Aesthetix Benz MC Demagnetizer. The Lyra Atlas manual says periodic fluxbusting is ok provided one follows the instructions (I do). 
@  o_holter, Check your loading and sra, of course vta as well.  Your system may react differently than others with loading and gain. Do not expect the Atlas to be the "end all be all", nothing is perfect everything depends upon preferences, equipment synergy ~ critical and listening tastes.   All of my past Lyra's have been tracking champions and their customer service top notch.  
ferrari250, agree, my experience is the same. Working with loading and adjustment is very important. Although the Atlas is so good that it is in a sense also a problem - it still sounds good, even with suboptimal adjustments (to an extent) and loading.

I am sure there are golden ears out there who would dispute this, but this is what I have found, with my average ears, living with Lyra cartridges for many years. I can get them into a very good setup. With each new generation of Lyra (for me: Clavis  - Titan - Atlas), this zone has been widened. If you cannot setup this cartridge to sound good, something is seriously wrong.

This is all very fine. But the challenge starts from there - how to make the cartridge play not just very good, but optimal.

Tracking - I had some early versions of the Clavis with tracking problems. I moved up to the Titan, with less, and then the Titan i, with even less problems. After I got the Atlas, there is even less mistracking. Tracking problems are mainly non-present, appearing very seldom.