Lyra Delos or Helicon versus Soundsmith Zephyr

I moved from the Zephyr to a Kleos about a month ago.
I was happy very happy with the Zephyr. My perception of modern hi-fi is that it too often sacrifices the pleasure of listing to music for the clarity of analyzing the quality of recordings. The Zephyr was a pleasure. It soothed the system's high-end edginess that I had never been able to tame.
But I'm an addict. If a $1K cartridge is good then a $3K cartridge must be better.
The Kleos is better at the "hi-fi" stuff: better definition, better clarity, etc. But the edginess has returned and the musical magic is gone.
I'm going to let the Kleos break-in for longer before deciding what to do.

Happy to revive this thread...

I have a VPI Super Scoutmaster and have had a Lyra (Argo) and a Soundsmith Aida, among others (Clearaudio, Benz-Micro) I find the SoundSmith to be amazing. It's the first cartridge I've ever heard that seems to be truly resolving. (I find the comment that it is like "good digital" to be bizarre and completely the opposite of what I hear). The Lyra never sounded right on my turntable - always a bit harsh. The Soundsmith is similar to Grado, sort of old-school "ultra-analog," but much more refined, and extremely natural sounding. It's the last cartridge I may ever buy!

I've got an original Aries Extended with a JMW-12 arm. I used to use a Clavis da Capo but switched to an AT OC9/II. My preference for the OC9/II is based on its weight and richness in the low frequency compared to the CdC. I know the CdC is a thin-sounding cartridge.

How does the Lyra compare to the Soundsmith for imaging, soundstage and detail.

Given that the AT seems fairly close to the proper tonal balance in my system, would the SS end up being too dark? I would not want a "Grado" sound.

All my electronics are current units from Herron Audio. Phono Stage is a VTPH-2.

Svenjosh,

Can you mention the differences between the zepher and the voice sound wise.I was about to order a new vpi table with the zepher 2 cartridge.

The dealer said the zepher 2 would be on the low end of cartridges to put in my system.He suggested an ortofon cadenza black, so I held off ordering.I had read on the forums here that the zepher performs above it's price point.

Just picked this thread up again. Since posting this thread, I picked up the Lyra Kleos. IMO, the Kleos is much better sounding cartridge than the Zephyr or the Delos in my system. Having said that, the Zephyr is a very nice cartridge that I hold onto as a back up.

About 6 months ago, I sent my Kleos back to Lyra in Japan for a check up and adjustment, courtesy of J Carr. I really missed my Kleos and was very happy when it came back 6 weeks later.

My facility in audiophile-speak is a bit stunted, so I apologize that my use of audiophile adjectives is not as descriptive as I would like it to be. But I think the Kleos has a much rich and open sound. The mids and treble are more open and transparent. I thought the Zephyr was a bit thicker, maybe darker, than the Kleos.

My bottom line: Kleos over the Zephyr. I am curious how the next Lyra cartridge up the line sounds as compared to the Kleos. If anyone has tried the Atlas or Etna, please post your comments.

Cheers,

BIF