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Audio Research State of the Art Audio Reproduction

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  #21  
Old 03-06-2013, 07:19 PM
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Originally Posted by BillK View Post
Basically the Atlas excels most notably at retrieval of low frequency information (for both better and worse.)

The good of this is that there is more actual bass being extracted from my LPs than I knew was there with other cartridges I've used - not tubbyness or false bass, but natural bass in the recordings (sometimes also heard on digital copies of the same album.)

The bad is that the cartridge is better at conveying rotational-based infrasonic low frequencies to the phono stage and on to the amp so I now see my woofers making motions I've never seen them make before trying to reproduce excessively low frequencies.

The Atlas also consistently seems to provide more separation between channels than I've heard with other cartridges.

Is it worth the huge price premium over the Kleos? It all depends on what you want to hear on your records, but I've never heard better LF information extracted from my vinyl, and given the price of the Ref 2 SE alone it makes sense to feed it the best signal that you reasonably can.

The downside of course is that if you amortize expected stylus life over the cost of the cartridge, you're paying about $9/hour to play an LP, so you'd best only play really, really good pressings.

(For the first time in my life I understand the efficacy of having multiple tonearms affixed or readily available to swap in and out.)
thank you, bill, for the wonderful insight.

in my universe the atlas is a little bit out of reach (before worrying about hrs usage!), so i think the kleos represents pretty good value if you don't need the last word in bottom-end reproduction. i always find value in the middle-end of high-end, in that you can get great performance for the dollar, but then from there on every incremental step is small but big $$$. i can use those extra dollars elsewhere whilst still eating.. some... cake....
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  #22  
Old 03-06-2013, 07:39 PM
Tonepub Tonepub is offline
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Originally Posted by Etunes View Post
Do you have a favorite or go to cartridge. Seems like the SE update is next on the list.
The two go to's I'm using now are the Lyra Atlas and the Clearaudio Goldfinger; both on AVID Acutus REF SP tables. One with the TriPlanar (Atlas) and the other with SME V (Goldfinger) But again, I've had fantastic luck with almost every cartridge I've used with the REF Phono 2. The Grado Statement and Statement 1 are both an excellent match with this phono stage, as is the Lyra Titan i and the Kleos/Kleos mono.
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  #23  
Old 03-06-2013, 07:47 PM
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Originally Posted by microstrip View Post
Do you know what are the exact changes, other than cosmetics? Are they similar to those carried when going from REF5 to REF5SE?
Yes, along with new faceplate, the main changes are a doubling of the power-capacitor complement, the Teflon coupling capacitors, and a metal remote control.
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  #24  
Old 03-07-2013, 05:06 AM
BillK BillK is offline
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Originally Posted by analog brother View Post
in my universe the atlas is a little bit out of reach (before worrying about hrs usage!), so i think the kleos represents pretty good value if you don't need the last word in bottom-end reproduction. i always find value in the middle-end of high-end, in that you can get great performance for the dollar, but then from there on every incremental step is small but big $$$. i can use those extra dollars elsewhere whilst still eating.. some... cake....
No, the Kleos is definitely the sweet spot in the Lyra line for cost/benefit.

Unfortunately I made the mistake of listening to an Atlas at my dealer.
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  #25  
Old 03-07-2013, 05:32 AM
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I can definitely 3rd the Lyra Atlas.

I have had mine for over 12 months now and it sounds as good now as it did when I first got it. One thing food certain is, it loves tube phono stages. It adds that last bit of "air" that the Atlas can lack sometimes compared to say the dynavector xv-1s.

The Kleos is good , but I found it a bit too smooth. The Atlas is a LOT better. My choice if I could not afford the Atlas would be the Delos or Dyna xv-1s depending on budget.

Have fun choosing a cartridge.
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  #26  
Old 03-07-2013, 10:11 AM
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I'm using a Benz Micro LP-s. Not too shabby either!
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  #27  
Old 03-07-2013, 04:34 PM
Tonepub Tonepub is offline
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Originally Posted by BillK View Post
No, the Kleos is definitely the sweet spot in the Lyra line for cost/benefit.

Unfortunately I made the mistake of listening to an Atlas at my dealer.
Not really. When we compared the Kleos, Titan and Atlas in the same environment it was a pretty linear jump in performance. And that was with Joe Harley of Lyra USA in attendance for the listening sessions....

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  #28  
Old 03-08-2013, 06:15 AM
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One of the nicest features of ARC Reference Phono 2 (SE) is it's features and neutral sound, both of which means good compatibility with wide range of cartridges.
Cartridge choice can be based optimizing cartridge with deck/arm-combo, not limited by RIAA itself. I'm very pleased with current set up of Oracle Delphi mkIV, SME V and Benz Micro Ruby 3 MR connected with Nordost Valhalla.
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  #29  
Old 03-08-2013, 04:45 PM
microstrip microstrip is offline
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Originally Posted by SOA View Post
Yes, along with new faceplate, the main changes are a doubling of the power-capacitor complement, the Teflon coupling capacitors, and a metal remote control.
Thanks a lot. Do you also know what is the type of output capacitor used in the REF10?
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  #30  
Old 03-08-2013, 06:25 PM
Etunes Etunes is offline
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I've been told that the best match is a cartridge with an output voltage of .4MV@ 5cm/s or greater with the REF Phono 2. Please share your thoughts and experience with the REF Phono 2 and which cartridge works for you. My turntables are SME 20/3A which has the V arm and the Ayre/DPS with DPS arm.
Thanks!
Anybody using the MC A90 or the Anna with any success?
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