Lyra Etna Lambda Phono Cartridge

Lyra calls the Etna Lambda second from the top of its line, with performance Lyra says would define the top of any other maker's range, crediting designer Jonathan Carr's focus on engineering efficiency to get performance beyond the sum of its parts.

It uses a solid titanium core machined with non-parallel surfaces to inhibit internal reflections, set inside a slightly undersized, asymmetric, mirror-black anodized duralumin outer body with bronze and stainless steel resonance-control rods, built as a pre-stressed, void-free structure with no internal resonance chamber. Its diamond-coated boron rod cantilever mounts directly into the cartridge body rather than through a separate joint, and its high-efficiency X-shaped signal coils let each channel operate more independently for tighter channel matching and lower crosstalk.

The 2023 Lambda refresh splits the earlier tapered damper into a flat elastomer disc handling damping and a separate support pillow handling pre-load, letting each material be optimized for its own job.

No field-replaceable stylus; a worn cartridge is returned to the Lyra factory in Japan for a full internal rebuild, or traded in under Lyra's exchange/upgrade program, rather than fitted with a swappable stylus.

Specifications

• Output: 0.56mV
• Internal impedance: 4.2 ohms
• Weight: 9.2g