Lyra KLEOS
The Lyra KLEOS brings cavernous bass, silky treble and a naturally coherent soundstage to high-end vinyl playback. HiFi News found its detail, quiet backgrounds and near-effortless tracking especially persuasive, while its refined midband preserves vocal warmth and instrumental texture. A compelling moving-coil design for systems ready to reveal its authentic musicality and exceptional tracking.
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Deliciously Crispy
Sound Quality
94/100
Build Quality
83/100
Features Usability
83/100
Value for Money
85/100
Pros
Delivers deep, solid bass alongside airy percussion, a sweet refined midband, and silky treble.
Tracks exceptionally securely while keeping individual instruments easy to follow.
Offers quiet backgrounds, convincing soundstage uniformity, and a natural rather than artificially spotlighted presentation.
Cons
Low-output SL version needs a suitably quiet, high-gain phono stage or carefully matched step-up transformer.
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What Reviewers Are Saying
SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 94/100
The Kleos SL is described as an unusually complete performer: powerful and spacious at the bottom end, sweet and refined through the midrange and treble, and notably authentic rather than showy in its presentation. It combines the warmth and humanity associated with moving-coil playback with excellent focus, silence, and control.
Overall Sound
94/100
Ken Kessler heard impressively deep, solid and cavernous bass, balanced by airy percussion and a gentle, refined midband. He also praised the cartridge's sweet top end, warmth, humanity, and silky quality, saying it could soften the edges of aggressive solid-state systems without losing musical clarity.
Tracking Retrieval
96/100
Tracking is a major strength. The review says the Kleos tracks "like a Maglev train," while individual musical elements remained easy to follow; Kessler was also repeatedly surprised by the quiet backgrounds and between-track silences.
Soundstage Imaging
91/100
The review praises a presentation aimed at authenticity rather than artificial spotlighting, with convincing individual instruments and a soundstage noted for its shape and uniformity. This suggests a cohesive, naturally organized spatial picture rather than an exaggerated hi-fi effect.
FEATURES USABILITY PERFORMANCE 83/100
Tonearm compatibility / system fit.
Tonearm Compatibility
83/100
Its medium weight and moderate compliance suit the broadly common medium to medium-high-mass tonearm range. As a low-output moving coil, particularly in SL form, it needs a suitably quiet high-gain phono stage or carefully chosen step-up transformer; the reviewer advises consulting a retailer for appropriate gain matching.
Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.
Build Quality
83/100
The Kleos uses a one-piece machined alloy body, boron cantilever, line-contact diamond, and direct threaded mounting, all of which indicate a carefully engineered construction. The review itself says little about long-term durability or hands-on finish quality.
Value for Money
85/100
At roughly $3,095 to $4,495, the Kleos sits firmly in the high-end moving-coil market. The review makes a strong case for its performance, but does not directly assess whether it represents especially strong value against similarly priced rivals.
Reviews & Sources
Professional reviews and sources for this product's Watt'n Potatoes analysis.
Online Reviews & Mentions
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Specifications
- Designer
- Jonathan Carr
- Builder
- Yoshinori Mishima (final build, 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 (3um x 70um), slot-mounted
- Body
- Nickel-plated duraluminum
- Cantilever system
- Solid boron rod with short one-point wire suspension, directly mounted into cartridge body
- Coils
- 2-layer deep, 6N high-purity copper, square-shaped chemically-purified high-purity iron former, 5.4ohm self-impedance, 9.0uH inductance
- Output voltage
- 0.5mV@5cm/sec., zero to peak, 45 degrees (CBS test record, other test records may alter results)
- Frequency range
- 10Hz ~ 50k Hz
- Channel separation
- Greater than 30dB at 1k Hz
- Compliance
- Approx. 12×10-6cm/dyne at 100Hz
- Cartridge body
- One-piece machining from solid 7075 alloy billet, with reduced-surface higher-pressure headshell contact area, partially non-parallel shaping, phase-interference resonance-controlling mechanism, and body threaded directly for mounting screws
- Cartridge mounting screws
- 2.6mm 0.45 pitch JIS standard
- Distance from mounting holes to stylus tip
- 9.5mm
- Cartridge weight (without stylus cover)
- 8.8g
- Tracking force
- 1.65 ~ 1.75g (1.72g recommended)
- Recommended load directly into MC phono input
- 95.3ohm ~ 816ohm (detailed guidelines in instruction manual, finalize by listening)
- Recommended load via step-up transformer
- Use a step-up transformer designed for 3 - 6 ohms cartridge impedance (step-up transformer’s output must be connected to 10kohm ~ 47kohm MM-level RIAA input, preferably via short, low-capacitance cable)
- Recommended tonearms
- Medium to Medium- High mass arms recommended, which is bulk of tonearm market
- Designer
- Jonathan Carr
- Builder
- Yoshinori Mishima (final build, 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 (3um x 70um), slot-mounted
- Body
- Nickel-plated duraluminum
- Cantilever system
- Solid boron rod with short one-point wire suspension, directly mounted into cartridge body
- Coils
- Single layer, 6N high-purity copper, square-shaped chemically-purified high-purity iron former, 2.7ohms self-impedance
- Output voltage
- 0.25mV@5cm/sec., zero to peak, 45 degrees (CBS test record, other test records may alter results)
- Frequency range
- 10Hz ~ 50k Hz
- Channel separation
- Greater than 30dB at 1k Hz
- Compliance
- Approx. 12×10-6cm/dyne at 100Hz
- Cartridge body
- One-piece machining from solid 7075 alloy billet, with reduced-surface higher-pressure headshell contact area, partially non-parallel shaping, phase-interference resonance-controlling mechanism, and body threaded directly for mounting screws
- Cartridge mounting screws
- 2.6mm 0.45 pitch JIS standard
- Distance from mounting holes to stylus tip
- 9.5mm
- Cartridge weight (without stylus cover)
- 8.8g
- Tracking force
- 1.65 - 1.75g (1.72g recommended)
- Recommended load directly into MC phono input
- Detailed guidelines in instruction manual, finalize by listening
- Recommended load via step-up transformer
- Use a step-up transformer designed for 1 – 3 ohms cartridge impedance (step-up transformer’s output must be connected to 10kohm ~ 47kohm MM-level RIAA input, preferably via short, low-capacitance cable)
- Recommended tonearms
- Medium to Medium- High mass arms recommended, which is bulk of tonearm market
- Designer
- Jonathan Carr
- Builder
- Yoshinori Mishima (final build, 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 (3um x 70um), slot-mounted
- Body
- Nickel-plated duraluminum
- Cantilever system
- Solid boron rod with short one-point wire suspension, directly mounted into cartridge body
- Coils
- 2-layer deep, 6N high-purity copper, square-shaped chemically-purified high-purity iron former, 5.4ohm self-impedance, 9.0uH inductance
- Output voltage
- 0.25mV@5cm/sec., zero to peak, 45 degrees (CBS test record, other test records may alter results)
- Frequency range
- 10Hz ~ 50k Hz
- Compliance
- Approx. 12×10-6cm/dyne at 100Hz
- Cartridge body
- One-piece machining from solid 7075 alloy billet, with reduced-surface higher-pressure headshell contact area, partially non-parallel shaping, phase-interference resonance-controlling mechanism, and body threaded directly for mounting screws
- Cartridge mounting screws
- 2.6mm 0.45 pitch JIS standard
- Distance from mounting holes to stylus tip
- 9.5mm
- Cartridge weight (without stylus cover)
- 8.8g
- Tracking force
- 1.65 ~ 1.75g (1.72g recommended)
- Recommended load directly into MC phono input
- 95.3ohm ~ 816ohm (detailed guidelines in instruction manual, finalize by listening)
- Recommended load via step-up transformer
- Use a step-up transformer designed for 1 - 3 ohms cartridge impedance (step-up transformer’s output must be connected to 10kohm ~ 47kohm MM-level RIAA input, preferably via short, low-capacitance cable)
- Recommended tonearms
- Medium to Medium- High mass arms recommended, which is bulk of tonearm market
Manufacturer's Description — Lyra
The Kleos is the lowest cost Lyra cartridge to feature the full fledged Ogura manufactured boron cantilever and coil system with Lyra original line-contact (3 x 70μm) stylus. This is similar to what is employed on even the most expensive Lyra models.
Nevertheless, the most important element of the new Kleos is it’s sound. We firmly believe that the Kleos is capable of extracting more information from the vinyl grooves than it’s predecessors, and that the reproduction of music is both more dynamic, more detailed, and more natural than the models preceding it. We also are of the opinion that the Kleos will set a new standard for sonic performance at it’s price point.
Today there are only a small handful of master cartridge builders in the world, and Lyra’s Yoshinori Mishima belongs to this elite group of individuals that are capable of crafting the highest level MC transducers on the planet. His assistant Akiko Ishiyama, who has undergone several years of apprenticeship, is also involved in the building process leading to each Kleos. The Kleos is not only hand made, but each cartridge is listened to extensively and “voiced” by the master cartridge builder, like the finest musical instruments.
Lyra offers a unique combination of capable, advanced cartridge design by Jonathan Carr and complete handmade execution by the above mentioned individuals. Investing in a Lyra Kleos through an authorized retailer will offer you an unparallelled analog experience from your stereo microgroove vinyl records.
The Kleos SL is a special, built-to-order, version of Kleos for expert users with very high-gain, extra low noise phono stages, or alternatively a step-up transformer designed for phono cartridges of 2 – 3 ohms or less.
Most users (and phono stages) will benefit from the regular Kleos with much higher output and considerably more energy; resulting in a much better signal-to-noise ratio. If you are in doubt about which version of Kleos that will work best in your system, please go with the regular Kleos.
The Kleos SL may provide extra pure and pristine sound from an audio system that is optimized for a low-impedance, low-output cartridge. However, this may be accompanied with a lesser level of energy and power.
Lyra nevertheless has decided to offer SL models, as built-to-order at a 10% surcharge, for those who are confident that they can extract the benefits from such a low-output MC phono cartridge.
This is a special, built-to-order, mono version of Kleos for real mono playback of monaural/monophonic (mono) microgroove, vinyl records. It is recommended that the Kleos Mono is used with high-gain, low noise phono stages, or alternatively a step-up transformer designed for phono cartridges of 2 - 3 ohms or less.
On mono records, the vertical axis of the groove contains no musical information, but it will frequently have noise, in the form of groove damage and dirt. The Kleos Mono has therefore been designed to be completely insensitive to the vertical axis, which greatly improves the signal/noise ratio without any downside on monaural records.
The coil former is a square permeable plate oriented parallel to the record surface rather than the 45-degree angle used for most stereo cartridges, while the coils are wound so that they only generate a signal when there is horizontal movement of the stylus and cantilever when tracking a record.
Two totally separate monaural coils are used in the Kleos Mono, since most monaural cartridges are used with stereo amplifiers and stereo speakers. The separate coils also help avoid possible ground loops and hum problems that could otherwise be caused if a single coil is fed into a stereo two-channel amplification system, thereby tying the two channels together electrically.
In addition to parallel mono connection to a stereo system (two amplifiers and two speakers), it is also possible to leave one set of connections unattached for pure mono playback with a single amplifier and a single speaker. However, it is also possible to connect the two mono channels in series for additional output when used in a pure mono system. Use a short cartridge headshell lead wire with female pin-connectors to connect either the Kleos Mono's upper right pin with the lower left pin, or alternatively the upper left pin with the lower right pin. Then use the two remaining unused pins for connection to your single amp RIAA input (alternatively a transformer input). The two internal channels are now "chained" in serial-connection for additional output and energy when you only use a single amplifier and a single speaker.
Verified Dealers
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Authorized dealers for Lyra KLEOS
- 3mA Audio — online and in-store — Houston, Texas, United States (website)
- A/V Solutions — in-store — Pleasanton, California, United States (website)
- Accent On Music — in-store — Mount Kisco, New York, United States (website)
- Acoustic Sounds — online and in-store — Salina, Kansas, United States (website)
- Acoustica — online and in-store — Chester, England, United Kingdom (website)
- Ajasom — online and in-store — Amadora, Lisboa, Portugal (website)
- ALAIN CHOUKROUN — online and in-store — Paris, Île-de-France, France (website)
- Alpha High End — online and in-store — Brasschaat, Vlaams Gewest, Belgium (website)
- American Sound — in-store — Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada (website)
- Anagram Audio — online and in-store — Bury St Edmunds, England, United Kingdom (website)
and 86 more verified dealers