Lyra Atlas experiences

I am running my Lyra Atlas - it is maybe a total of 14 - 1500 hours by now.

No major problems. The bad spots in my vinyl collection are like before (mistracking, sibilance).

It has become more "slack" than in the beginning, as is to be expected. Mainly it works to the best, sonically (a bit more more rounded, mellow, ambience-tuned, dimensional).

Michael Fremer got problems with the Atlas after four years - his copy was bought in 2013, like mine. But he described "heavy usage". I suspect this means 2500 - 3000 hours or even more. At that point he heard clear signs of wear, especially, more sibilance. So far, this is not a problem on my cartridge.

Generally, yes, the Atlas is a big investment. But I have never looked back.

The Atlas goes so deep that the woofers can pump (subsonic movement), at least in some arm combinations with low resonance, like my SME V. Yet this usually means good sound, it is not very serious, in my judgement so far. See
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/why-are-my-woofers-pumping

Have others experienced subsonic woofer pumping with the Atlas or other Lyra carts? If the answer is no, just a little, or yes - what tonearm do you use? Symptom: you see the woofer cone move in and out, even if you don’t hear anything, playing vinyl records - especially in-between tracks, and in the intro and outro grooves. You need to turn up the volume to do the test. You can also use your fingers to feel the cone movement. Example of test LP: Pink Floyd Meddle.

@o_holter I have been using a long-in-the-tooth Clavis DC on and off for years.  I have not experienced any woofer pumping in my system.  If I may make a suggestion (I'm assuming you are using sorbothane pucks in your HW-19) you might consider using a different Duro rating, maybe softer.  Another potential culprit might be the bearing.  An "oil change" and cleaning may help.  Check the best to see if there is any obvious wear that could be getting into the platter assy.

I used the Clavis DC briefly in my VPI HW-19/III (spring sprung, not pucks) until changing to a modified TNT and then to an Aries Extended.  Arms used include Premier FT3 with Sumiko Analog Survival Kit arm wrap, Jelco 750D and JMW Memorial 12.  Never an issue.  

Thank you bpoletti, very interesting. I still have my Clavis DC on the loft, and should probably take it down to test it for woofer pumping. I dont remember much pumping in the years when I used this now well worn cart, but that was with a different tonearm, the very difficult Souther / Triquarts parallel arm, skating around rather than giving a precise image of the groove (in my system at least), though the arm was so light that there was no resonance problem. The compliance of the Clavis, Titan and Atlas are the same I believe - as given from Lyra - 12 at 100hz.

I am no longer using the HW-19, but instead a Hanss T30 which I find superior in most (not all) respects.

Maybe we share an experience - with Lyra cartridges - even the Clavis, and even more, with the Titan, and the Atlas - changing the player and arm makes a difference.

Bpoletti, from what I read, the Jelco 750D has more effective mass than my SME V - 13.48g vs ca 10.5g. So if there is rumble or subsonic pumping you should notice more.