Lyra Etna Low Output MC Cartridge

Please Note: Delivery of this product is 4-6 months from date of order. Lyra again turns the analog world on its ear with the introduction of the Etna phono cartridge. Sharing its name with Sicily’s majestic Mount Etna, Etna the cartridge is an impressive monument in its own right, one that melds tried and true Lyra design tenets with designer Jonathan Carr’s very latest thinking on phono cartridges. Etna was designed with a strong emphasis on engineering efficiency, so that its performance would be as far beyond the sum of its parts as possible. For this reason, although it shares some of its design philosophy with Atlas, the concepts are executed rather differently. Etna employs a solid titanium core structure machined with non-parallel surfaces to inhibit internal reflections whenever possible, but unlike Atlas (and Titan i before it), this is mated to a slightly undersized, asymmetric, mirror-black anodized duralumin outer body that locks over the core like a very tightly-fitting jigsaw puzzle. The core and body are augmented with bronze and stainless steel resonance control rods, then pressure-fit together into a pre-stressed, solid, void-free structure which is comprised of multiple materials and complex internal shapes. The constrained-layer nature of this construction dramatically reduces the resonant signature of each material and creates a far more neutral-sounding body structure than otherwise possible, while the high body stiffness benefits transients, dynamics and resolution. Etna uses a yokeless dual magnet system, diamond-coated boron rod cantilever and Lyra-designed variable-radius line-contact stylus. Lyra remains the only cartridge manufacturer to mount the cantilever directly into the cartridge body to create a rigid, seamless connection between the cantilever assembly and tonearm headshell. Why? Linear transducers such as phono cartridges are inherently inefficient devices, on the order of 5 -10%. In other words, of the vibrational energy that enters a cartridge from the LP groove, only 5-10% will be converted into electrical signal. The cartridge’s internal damping system will dissipate some of the remaining 90 to 95%, but much of the excess vibrational energy will reflect inside the cartridge, creating internal echoes and a general diminishing of fidelity. It is quite easy to hear this with many cartridges- play a highly modulated LP with the power amp turned off, and bring your ear close to the cartridge. The “needle talk” that you hear is excess vibrational energy which isn’t being controlled properly. Etna’s direct-mounted cantilever helps conduct this excess vibrational energy into the headshell, where it is safely dissipated within the greater mass of the tonearm and turntable plinth. Etna utilizes the asymmetric design concept first seen in the flagship Atlas, but moves the screw/screwhole all the way to the front of the cartridge and interposes a bronze damping barrier between it and the mechanical path linking the cantilever assembly to the tonearm headshell. Freed of all obstructions and voids, the rigid, direct path established between cantilever and headshell is highly effective at draining away vibrations once they have been converted into electrical signals, effectively suppressing induced resonances and internal reflections that would otherwise manifest as sonic colorations. A narrowed mounting area couples Etna more tightly to the headshell and facilitates the transfer of vibrational energy into the tonearm, giving even better control over spurious resonances.