Advice on a new cartridge for Michell/Superline/Supercap Set Up

Hello
I have a 500 system with an ND555 and for my Vinyl listening I have a modified Michell Gyro Dec with Orbe upgrades , with a Superline/Supercap Phono Stage.
My current cartridge is a Lyra Delos but that is now at its end of life and mainly due to the attractive trade-in option I was considering moving to a Lyra Kleos SL.
I like to think my musical tastes are fairly broad but 70% of my albums fall into the ‘Pop/Rock’ category and I have read that this isn’t necessarily the forte of the Lyra Kleos SL.
I live in Scotland and approached two different dealers for alternative options and both spookily came back with a recommendation for the Sumiko Celebration 40.
So I’d really appreciate and feedback/ views on :

  • The Lyra Kleos SL and its suitability for ‘Pop/Rock’
  • Any views on Sumiko cartridges
  • Other cartridges in the £3000 price bracket I should be looking at
    Thanks in advance

Hi,

Can’t comment on Sumiko but can recommend either Dyn Rua or pushing the budget Dyn XVS1, superb synergy with Naim and Superline.

Regards,

Lindsay

I have a similar set up to yourself, with an Orbe, Funk FX3 and Houdini. I upgraded from a Lyra Argo I to a Kleos SL. I listen to a wide variety of music from pop, rock to jazz and find it sublime. The cartridge is only a couple of months old and sounds fantastic, plus Symmetry will give you a very good trade in value for your old cartridge which cannot be overlooked.

But not the best for rock….in my opinion.

I went from Delos to Kleos, non SL. I love it. The SL would be too low for my tubes phono.
I had Koetsu Black, Kiseki, Van den Hull but my favourite tends towards Lyra.
The Kleos is fast, dynamic, groovy…but also soft on edges. Never bright or fatiguing. For jazz fusion from the 70’s , it’s a must.
I heard the Dynavector 20 once, but found it a bit dull, however very nice and natural.

Thank you for the feedback and you are of course right re trade in , I just want to make sure that isn’t the driving force of my decision

Thank you for the feedback and recommendation

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I have the Kleos SL with a Superline and love it. It plays all our music well. You should contact Lyra and see what is the best cartridge your arm will support and get that one. I have a Moerch DP6 and they told me that without changing the arm wand to a heavier “blue” version, the Kleos SL was the best I could do. I was upgrading from the Helikon. If you are upgrading within the turntable you have, you should explore what your constraints and options are. In hindsight, I should have stepped further up the Lyra line.

Thanks for opening this thread @Terrysmi !
I am also looking for a new cartridge - it needs to be an all rounder music genre-wise and given that I have the SuperLine E / SuperCap should have an output of 0.4mV - 0.8mV. (the specs recommend output between 0.2mV and 1.0mV but feel that somewhere in between would be best)…
The Kleos is certainly on the shortlist but there are a few others that I have been looking at and would appreciate any feedback from members with any experience with them:
Benz Micro Gullwing SHR
Kiseki Purple Heart NS
ZYX Ultimate Airy (0.48mV)
Sumiko Starling

Thanks
Sten

For more info on Lyra cartridges speak to Nigel Crump of Synergy the UK importers. When I spoke to him on choosing Lyra the SLs have a lower output so you need a phono stage to cope with this, which you have. The SLs have a bigger soundstage and suite classical music better I was told.
Cartridges are the most difficult to demo and good dealer advice is almost a must.

Two thumbs up for the Lyra Kleos SL. I was the catalyst for this cartridge as I was unhappy with my standard Kleos. I reached out the factory and asked if they could build me a low output version and six weeks later I got it. I’m still listening to serial number 001 and it plays everything exceptionally well, including rock music. It’s the perfect match for your Superline/Supercap. Highly recommend.

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In addition to the Kleos I would also consider the Linn Kandid - the Kandid is made by Lyra and trimmed a bit more for a Linn/Naim system - livelier and more dynamic.

While I like the Lyra range I am also more of a fan of the Etna and Atlas over the Kleos which I find to be a little of a departure to the Lyra sound being a bit softer, rounded and less resolving.

EMT is another option for a more rock and universal cartridge but your Superline has too much gain for that.

There seems to be quite a narrow view on cartridges on the forum - the usual suspects tend to come up Lyra, Linn, Dynavector, Rega with Rega TTs etc.
Not sure why that is - is it because those are the best fit for Naim amplification or do people stick with the herd so to speak?
@restock It is therefore nice to see you mention the EMT which I am a huge fan of - I have been using the EMT JSD6 for several years now with the SupreLine E and it sounds great but as others have mentioned there might be a slight lack of headroom and I might get more out of the SL E with a cartridge with a slightly lower output - hence my 0.4mV - 0.8mV range mentioned earlier.
@ChrisBell - this might also be the reason for your experience with the standard Kleos (0.5mV) and the standard SuperLine which is recommended for carts with output between 0.1mV and 0.5mV - you were running a cart at the edge of the SL’s recommended parameters.
Maybe I should have opened a new thread for SuperLine E cartridge recommendations…
@Richard.Dane - Is it possible to move posts to a new thread?
Cheers

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I can move a few but the platform chokes in any more than that. Just start a new thread if you feel the need.

ok thanks - will do!

For variation. I have seen some members using the Hana Umami RED. 0.4mV with their systems.

I run a Hana ML with standard Superline. But I can’t really compare with that many cartridges mentioned as I Iack experience with them.

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Thanks to everyone for their responses here , it’s really appreciated and it’s given me a lot of food for thought. I do have one supplementary question if I may please . My Michell Gyrodec with Orbe upgrades has a Tecnoarm. Is that a good enough arm for this level of cartridge or should i be looking to upgrade the arm as well ? And if so , to what ? Thanks in anticipation

Chris , genuinely exciting to get a post from the guy who was behind the Lyra Kleos SL ! Even more excited when I looked at your profile and saw you are in Seattle. We lived in Wallingford between 2011 and 2017 and had the great guys at Hawthorne Stereo around the corner - I miss them !

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