Lyra Titan i Cartridge

As a design, the Titan takes the best aspects of the Parnassus D.C.t and Helikon, and introduces further advancements of its own.

As with all other current Lyra cartridges, the only components that create the magnetic field of the Titan are two symmetrical disc magnets. The magnetic field is therefore also symmetrical, and the field distortions created by conventional polepeces and offset magnets have been completely eliminated. The magnets are made of a new neodymium compound that is the most powerful magnetic material in the world. The improvements to the magnetic field result in more accurate conversion of mechanical vibrations into electrical signals; in other words, lower distortion. At the same time, this allows the coils and cantilever to move more freely, leading to improved low level resolution and better tracking abilities, particularly at low vertical tracking forces.

The Titan's body is machined from a single piece of titanium alloy, which has been curved and shaped in a manner calculated to minimize standing waves and internal reflections and resonance. This attention to detail has also been extended to the interior body structures, which are too intricate to be formed by mechanical means. A different process called electrical discharge machining was therefore employed, not only because of its ability to fashion complex shapes, but also because unlike conventional machining, it is a non-contact process, and therefore does not create any mechanical stresses in the machined structures. The superior rigidity afforded by the Titan's solid, intricate, low-resonance body construction helps create a clearly defined reference pivot for the cantilever, which improves the conversion accuracy of mechanical vibrations into electrical signals. The rigid titanium body also creates an efficient path for the vibrations from the stylus to be channeled away from the critical signal generator area and into the tonearm, where this energy can be dissipated effectively. The titanium alloy itself is a different type from that used in the Parnassus DCt, and has been chosen specifically for its low-level of self-resonance and advantageous sonic properties.

Although the Parnassus DCt was a semi-open design, the Titan is fully nude, with a body shape that has been designed to minimize cavity resonance, and also minimize the presence of conductive materials in the vicinity of the magnetic gap and signal generator coils. For similar reasons, the front magnet carrier of the Titan is both non-magnetic and non-conductive. This non-conductive, nude construction prevents the formation of dynamically induced variable eddy currents that would otherwise interfere with the primary magnetic field and distort the signal generation process.

The Titan's stylus rides at the tip of a low-mass diamond block measuring 0.08 x 0.12 x 0.5mm. The stylus itself is a Lyra-designed line-contact, with a major radius of 70 micrometers and a minor radius of 3 micrometers. We first designed a number of different stylus shapes based on theory and calculation, and then subjected the candidates to exhaustive interactive testing. The result is a stylus that is extremely good at tracking and detail retrieval, yet offers ultra-low levels of groove wear, has a very good signal-noise ratio, and reduces the audibility of groove damage.

The Titan uses a compound structure cantilever which has been designed to increase the propagation velocity and self-dampening characteristics as much as possible.

Lyra Titan Literature And Specifications

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