Steelhead vs LP2 etc with Revel Krell and Sota

I have an SL bought from needle doctor. It has been a good option for me since I use a Tandberg 3018A preamp. Its MC sensitivity is 0.05 mV (I believe the gain is 75 db or so) - the best phono stage I've heard so far: clean, transparent, dynamic! What are my exchange/retip options?

I was really hoping Jcarr was going to answer something about this. I believe it is a legitimate question. I have spent more than 2000 USD less than 3 months ago relying in the consistency of Lyra. What happened with the SL version of the Helikon? Is Lyra going to keep offering low output MC cartridges or not? Are they going to do the same thing that most cartridge manufactures are doing: making concessions to mediocricy by making coils longer and degrading the sound just because preamps and phono stages nowadays are nothing, but Shi..... Well, we still have the top of the line Koetsus, The Benz Ebony TR (0.1mV, 1ohm, The Ortofons SPU, some Denons, the Linn Klyde and close to that at 0.28 the Dynas. But I made the wrong decision. I went for the Lyra who had promised a cartrige for real good, high gain preamps. Make no mistakes my friends, if you want real music out of vinyl the only way is with 70 db gain (for an MC low output cartridge) in the phono stage y only a few preamps capable of that have been made. The TR 3018A, the MAC C22 and just a few others. Nowadays you have to pay 20K USD minimum for a Nagra or a FM Accoustics to get that. Everything the reviewers and the manufactures are saying about this issue is just nonsense and garbage. They are either stupid or corrupt. Why Mr. JCarr has not answer anything?

O.K. Sir. First many thanks for your answer and thorough explanation. One important point here is I have no reason to worry since my Helikon SL will always be exchanged or retiped. I understand keeping the same specs meaning 0.22 mV output voltage. I wonder how you can guarantee that! Another point is that you seem to admit that Lyra will no longer offer a lower output cartridge since that Kleos is the last word replacing the Helikon and that's 0.6mV

Yes, that's probably a good achievement if you manage to keep impedance within 5-6 ohms, but if you can do that, at 0.2mV you could put out on the market a cartridge with only 2 or 3 ohms meaning a more neutral, natural and pure sound. So why don't you do that? I can only guess this is a concession to "market conditions" as I stated it above. The sad story here is that those "market conditions" are not imposed by the end user who just want good sound, but by the preamp manufactures who are unable or unwilling to do their job properly.

Trying to put myself in Lyra's feet I guess the Helikon SL, being the best sounding cartridge and the best value in the entire line of Lyra was not precisely a success on the market because users have no phono stages good enough to appreciate it. Quite the opposite, the SL most likely becomes unlistenable in those tubee preamps which can hardly give 50 db, but claim they can handle moving coil cartridges. That's why nobody knows how good an Ortofon SPU can sound!

I have just read a famous reviewer, talking wonders about a less than average cartridge and claiming it sounds better than the Koetsu Urushi Vermilion which sounds dull and lacks dynamics in comparison! When I checked his listed reference gear I found the total gain after adding the phono stage's and the preamp's was just 60 db! The Vermilion's output is 0.2mV! For that you need 75-80 db as per my experience. Yeah, I know "the greater the gain, the bigger the pain" That's the axioma that reigns among contemporary preamp manufactures and for them that applies indeed! That's why cartridges like the Helikon SL are a failure in today's market, but since I don't have the money for a Nagra, an FM Accoustics or and Accuphase I buy a classic.