Lyra - Kleos Moving Coil Cartridge

The least expensive Lyra to get the full Ogura-built boron cantilever and coil system, paired with Lyra’s own line-contact stylus — the same architecture as the models far above it.

The Kleos sits one step above the Delos, and Lyra is direct about what you are buying: it is the lowest-cost cartridge in the range to receive the full-fledged Ogura-manufactured boron cantilever and coil system, similar to what goes into even the most expensive Lyra models. Where the Delos uses a bought-in Namiki microridge profile, the Kleos carries a stylus of Lyra’s own design — a long-footprint variable-radius line contact measuring 3 by 70 microns, slot-mounted rather than surface-mounted so the contact faces can be aligned to the groove more precisely.

The body is a considerably more elaborate structure than the Delos’s. It is machined in one piece from solid 7075 aluminium billet and nickel-plated, with a deliberately reduced headshell contact area that raises clamping pressure, partially non-parallel surfaces, a phase-interference resonance-controlling mechanism, and threading cut directly into the body for the mounting screws. Coils are wound two layers deep in 6N copper on a chemically purified high-purity iron former for 5.4 ohms and 0.5mV output.

Like the Delos it uses New Angle, Lyra’s pre-biased suspension geometry: the coils sit deliberately misaligned at rest and come into correct alignment with the magnet system only once playing tracking force is applied. It is a New Angle design rather than a Lambda one — the later Lambda damper revision has been applied only to the Etna and Atlas.

There are only a small handful of master cartridge builders working anywhere in the world, and Lyra’s Yoshinori Mishima is one of them. His assistant Akiko Ishiyama, who served several years of apprenticeship, handles preliminary build. Every Kleos is not only hand-made but listened to extensively and voiced by the master builder before it ships, the way a fine instrument is set up rather than merely assembled. The design is Jonathan Carr’s.

Three versions are offered: the standard stereo Kleos, the single-coil-layer Kleos SL at half the output, and a dedicated Kleos Mono. The specifications below are the standard stereo model.

Features

• Full Ogura-manufactured boron cantilever and coil system — the same architecture used in Lyra’s most expensive models
• Lyra-designed long-footprint variable-radius line-contact nude diamond, 3 x 70 µm, slot-mounted
• Lyra’s New Angle suspension — coils align with the magnets only under playing tracking force
• Cantilever mounted directly into the cartridge body, eliminating an intermediate joint
• One-piece body machined from solid 7075 aluminium billet and nickel-plated
• Reduced-surface headshell contact area for higher clamping pressure, with a phase-interference resonance-controlling mechanism
• Coils wound two layers deep in 6N copper on a chemically purified high-purity iron former
• Hand-built and individually voiced by master builder Yoshinori Mishima
• Body threaded for 2.6mm JIS mounting screws — no nuts required
• Also available as the single-layer Kleos SL and as the Kleos Mono

Specifications

• Designer: Jonathan Carr
• Builder: Yoshinori Mishima (final build, voicing and testing); Akiko Ishiyama (preliminary build)
• Type: Medium weight, medium compliance, low-impedance moving coil cartridge
• Stylus: Lyra-designed long-footprint variable-radius line-contact nude diamond, 3 µm x 70 µm, slot-mounted
• Cantilever: Solid boron rod with short one-point wire suspension, mounted directly into the cartridge body
• Body: Nickel-plated, machined in one piece from solid 7075 aluminium billet, with reduced-surface higher-pressure headshell contact area, partially non-parallel shaping, a phase-interference resonance-controlling mechanism, and threading cut directly for the mounting screws
• Coils: 2 layers deep, 6N high-purity copper on a square chemically-purified high-purity iron former. 5.4 Ω self-impedance, 9.0 µH inductance
• Output Voltage: 0.5mV at 5cm/sec, zero to peak, 45 degrees (CBS test record; other test records may give different results)
• Frequency Range: 10Hz – 50kHz
• Channel Separation: Greater than 30dB at 1kHz
• Compliance: Approximately 12 x 10^-6 cm/dyne at 100Hz. Note Lyra quotes compliance at 100Hz; many makers quote it at 10Hz, where the figure reads much higher
• Tracking Force: 1.65g – 1.75g, with 1.72g recommended
• Recommended Load, direct into MC input: 95.3 Ω – 816 Ω. Lyra treats this as a guideline to be finalised by listening
• Recommended Load, via step-up transformer: A transformer designed for 3–6 Ω cartridge impedance, its output feeding a 10k–47k Ω MM-level RIAA input via a short, low-capacitance cable
• Recommended Tonearms: Medium to medium-high mass, which covers the bulk of the market
• Mounting Screws: 2.6mm, 0.45 pitch, JIS standard. The body is threaded, so no nuts are needed
• Mounting Holes to Stylus Tip: 9.5mm — the same as the Delos, so the two are alignment-interchangeable
• Weight: 8.8g without stylus cover
• Kleos SL: Single coil layer, 2.7 Ω self-impedance, 0.25mV output. Step-up transformer designed for 1–3 Ω. Lyra publishes no direct MC load range for the SL
• Origin: Made in Japan
• Note: Lyra publishes no VTA, break-in period, channel balance tolerance or warranty term for this model — warranty is administered by the regional distributor. This is a New Angle cartridge; there is no Kleos Lambda