Lyra Kleos arrives after eight months. . Worth the wait? First impressions

I have the Etna. See my profile (if you like). With my Reed 3P arm which comes with it's own wire from clips to RCA's and a Manley Steelhead I prefer the 50 ohm setting over 100 or 200. It seems the autoformers in the Steelhead do some unique things compared to more common phono circuit designs. So the fact that 50 ohms works best in my system means little or nothing for others with different cabling and a different phono stage. Don't ignore gain! The Steelhead offers 50, 55, 60, and 65. On paper 60 ought be optimum IIRC but I much prefer 55. The difference is subtle but to my ears with my gear the higher gain setting results in just a bit of stridency and glare that disappears at 55. With my ancillary gear obtaining sufficient volume is not an issue at any gain setting and I remain at the lower third of volume range with my ARC Ref 6 irrespective of gain setting. 

As to SQ, my other deck, My Thorens TD124 with another Reed 3P has a VdH Crimson XGW Stradivarius mounted. Both go into the Steelhead (I love having three phono inputs on my Steelhead!) and by pure coincidence I prefer the same gain and loading with both. I go back and forth as to which I prefer. The Lyra Etna is supreme with the very best pressings but at the cost of being ever so slightly analytical compared to the VdH. The VdH is slightly fleshier, not as lightning quick and lacks the extremely tight bass of the Lyra but the music flows in a slightly more pleasing fashion. The VdH is a chameleon as I can never predict if a particular record will sound amazing or just good, whereas the Lyra is a bit more even-handed with well pressed records. Both are equally finicky as to set-up-when things are perfect you know it. 

Fsonicsmith I wish I’d have the same capabilitites on my Luxman integrated amp’s phono stage to make the adjustments you have tried. For better or worse those settings are fixed for either a mm or mc cartridge on my integrated amp, but that’s it.. There are no adjustments possible. Truthfully I hardly know what most of these or other specs mean anyway. I think I correctly figured out prior to purchase the 100 ohm impedance spec preset for a mc cartridge significantly limited my choice of cartridges. Glad you’re in a better situation.

Mike

Mike, I am the proud owner of a Luxman P-750u headphone amp. I can tell you from first-hand experience that Luxman's product support is way beyond. So perhaps you could reach out to Jeff Sigmund at Luxman USA and ask for a deal on a Luxman phono stage. You have invested good coin in your Lyra. Perhaps an easy modification of your integrated amp would do the job if you were to hypothetically stick to the Lyra Kleos for the indefinite future. Luxman's resident wiz in the USA is Steven at 

The Service Department
30 Unquowa Hill Street
Bridgeport, CT 06604
(203) 331-0671

 

So I know my post is potentially confusing but you could add a dedicated new phono stage with far greater adjustment and great build and sound for the sake of being future-proof or you could send your integrated into Steven with the input of Jeff Sigmund to optimize your integrated for your Lyra Kleos.

Actually Luzmans' top phono stage has very little ability to change the cartridge loading. If he was to invest in a phono stage he would be better off with a different brand - there are many posts on this forum on the lack of adjustability with the Luxman phono.

If it was me, I'd look at the possibility of increasing the input impedance on his integrated amp moving coil to 470k which should work fine with the Kleos.

The EQ-500 has continuously variable loading from the front panel of 30k to 100k Ohms which encompasses what the vast majority of MC cartridges need. I am sorry to tell you this but the vast majority of MC cartridges are happiest at 50-300k Ohms and not 47K. 47K serves MM and step-up transformers. To your other point I do agree that there is no need to be wedded to Luxman. But Luxman does make very well engineered and great sounding gear with amazing product support.