Which impedance for Atlas?

[gian60]

I have Atlas sl and i use P1 in current

My friend has Atlas with P1 and will be interested to know which impedance you are using because on instruction is written that you can use from 100 to 880 ohm and some use,even if is wrong at 47.000

We tried and sound change,changing from 100 to 300,600,880

Why this difference while other cart raccomand more or less fix impedance?

 

[DaveyF]

Gian,

It took me several hours of experimentation to finally dial in the best impedance for my Lyra. These cartridges are highly sensitive to the most minor changes! Once you hit the best one you will know. The cartridge really shines! Unfortunately, the Lyra is even super sensitive to what type of plug you are using on your loading value. If you are using a dip switch or similar, i suspect that will also impact the SQ. ( most of the preamps that allow for impedance changes utilize these!)
I am certain that there are numerous other variables involved as well, for instance...the preamp type upstream, the room, the speaker type and on and on. ( IOW, the normal high end factors)
In my particular case, the best ( by far) impedance was at 750 ohms. ( Oh, i forgot to mention, the type of resistor you are using also makes a large difference, i listened to about four or five different brands...and settled on a pair of Vishay's)
So, no stock answer, IME.

 

[Vienna]

Hi Gian

My Lyra Etna sounds best with 80 ohms at my system.
A reputable, Canadian friend, well known in the analogue industry and well known reviewer, once wrote me back (on the same question) that Lyras shouldn’t be overloaded and he was right, at least with my setup

 

[PeterA]

Hi Gian

My Lyra Etna sounds best with 80 ohms at my system.
A reputable, Canadian friend, well known in the analogue industry and well known reviewer, once wrote me back (on the same question) that Lyras shouldn’t be overloaded and he was right, at least with my setup

By "overloaded" you mean lower ohm number, correct? That is, the 80 ohm setting is loading the cartridge more than the 47,000 ohm setting. There is basically no load at 47K ohms.

 

[gian60]

My friend found the best at 600 ohm
But always trial more or less

 

[Vienna]

By "overloaded" you mean lower ohm number, correct? That is, the 80 ohm setting is loading the cartridge more than the 47,000 ohm setting. There is basically no load at 47K ohms.

That’s right Peter, I have just seen that I have omitted accidentally a 0.My Etna is set at 800 ohms

 

[jackelsson]

For me 1K ohms loading worked best on all my Lyras: Skala, Titan i and Atlas.

 

[DaveyF]

For me 1K ohms loading worked best on all my Lyras: Skala, Titan i and Atlas.

I think the cartridge is so very sensitive to impedance mismatch, that significant experimentation is warranted. Every tiny change ( never mind gear difference) seems to have an impact. This would lead me to believe that a lot of people have never truly heard the best from these cartridges, unfortunately.

 

[gian60]

I have CH P1 and can change load from 20 to 100K and really can understand the difference with some cart like SPU Or koetsu if you put 100 or 80 ohm
So I am lucky and happy with this phono to find the best load for every cart I have

 

[Barry]

The Lyra loading instructions (early versions as I understand) that came with my Etna were very specific about loading addressing both phono stage input impedance and cable capacitance.

I found very different sensitivity results between my highly modded Pass Labs Xono and my ARC Ref 10 phono stages. The PL was very sensitive to changes of 25-50 ohms. With the ARC, changes of 250 ohms, were audible but required much more careful listening to distinguish differences.

 

[lasercd]

With the ASR Basis I ran the Atlas at 625. I recently purchased the Boulder 2008 phono and after some experimentation I’ve settled on 450 ohms. There is a lot of magic happening.

 

[Catcher10]

What needs to be known to help is the cable capacitance figure on your phono cable in use. Lyra highly suggests using a cable with the lowest figure possible, for sure below 100 pF. This will allow a higher loading at the phono stage which is what Lyra suggests, so the cartridge is not working too hard. Also so the cart compliance is not affected and stiffen the cantilever.
I was using Morrow Audio Grand Reference PH6 cables and they have a high capacitance figure, over 350pF per meter. Had to load in the 100-121ohm range.

Once I installed an AQ Cougar at 40pF per meter, I was able to follow the Lyra mathematical suggestion and now I load at 475 ohms and the sound was pretty much night and day. The resolution and dynamics plus overall volume was so much more refined.
There is like a 4 yr old thread here with JCarr explaining all this.......If I can locate it will post it here.

 

[Catcher10]

Hello
Here is the old thread I was referring to above about Lyra loading and what they suggest and why, very well explained by JCarr....Cheers

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/cartridge-loading-a-misnomer.15077/