Vinyl Heaven : Lyra Atlas on a Durand Talea 2


I am not usually given to expletives but WOW....this is sooo effing good I can't believe it. The Atlas has less than 6 hours on it.The Atlas replaced a Titan i and initially, I was a wee bit underwhelmed, as the cart loading was at 100 ohms,the same as the Titan. Switching to a 1000 ohmn loading was a revelation.The 1000 ohmn loading resistor on my Nagra VPS phono will presumably require some break in.
My quick and evolving first impressuions of the Atlas vs the Titan i : the Atlas does everything the Titan i does, except it does it a whole lot better. The traditional Lyra agility and speed( the Atlas is my 4th Lyra after the Helikon, Skala and Titan i)is there in loads except there is now an organic wholeness to the music with a longer sustain and decay of notes. In every respect, IMHO, the Atlas is way way better than my previous favorite cart, the Transfiguration Orpheus L.There is so much more detail being extracted from the grooves. Does the Atlas make all recordings sound good ?Far from it. It made me realise how crappy the Pink Floyd reissue of WYWH is.
Should point out that at the time the Atlas joined the party, the TT,a TW AC 1, also benefited from a major upgrade with the Black Night PSU and 3 motor unit.
If you ever contemplate an upgrade to the best, that the state of the art has to offer,you will do yourself a favor by auditioning the Atlas and the Durand Talea 2.
I have no relationship with any manufacturer.
Cheers
Pradeep

128x128sunnyboy1956

Showing 2 responses by smoffatt

Hi all. Very informative thread. I have a Graham Phantom II with an Ortofon A90. I have just enough funds for ONE upgrade.
What would be the biggest (sonically speaking) ROI ?
Question:
Should i replace the tonearm with a Talea 2 ?
Should i bring the Phantom to Supreme status ?
Should i replace the A90 with an Atlas ?

FYI, TT is Sota Cosmos IV. Just can not live without vacuum hold down.
Phono stage is ARC Phono 2 modded by Steve Huntley.

Word of wisdom anyone??
Thanks Sunnyboy, Downunder and Mike Lavigne. This is the wisdom i was looking for. I think i will stay put for a while on the analog front since i have an ARC Ref 150 on order to replace my old Classic 120 mono's (circa 1990).
You guys "rock".