A Lyra moving coil that gets very close to the flagship Atlas, with a multi-material body, a lower noise floor and a natural, full-bodied sound.
The Etna sits just below the Atlas in Lyra's range and borrows much of its thinking. Instead of a single block of titanium, it uses a machined titanium core clamped inside a tightly fitted aluminum outer body, a self-clamping, multi-material construction aimed at a more neutral body resonance. Inside, a yokeless dual-magnet system drives double-layer coils set to Lyra's pre-angled "New Angle" geometry, so the coils line up with the magnetic field under tracking force. A diamond-coated boron cantilever carries Lyra's own variable-radius line-contact nude diamond. The Lambda update keeps the stylus, cantilever and coils. What it changes is how the cantilever is preloaded: new flat dampers on a separate support Lyra calls the "pillow". These are built to tighter tolerances, and the nose piece is made from a stiffer polymer.
The Absolute Sound found the Lambda far quieter in the lead-in grooves than the original Etna. It also heard more fine detail, more powerful bass, fuller orchestral timbres and a deeper soundstage, and recommended it as a top choice in its price range. The Audio Beat heard the original's natural flow and balance, now with more presence, focus and immediacy. Both reviewers found it more sensitive to setup than earlier Lyras: small changes to VTA, tracking force and anti-skate make a real difference, and it benefits from a few days of break-in before final adjustment. It suits a rigid, high-quality tonearm, ideally with VTA adjustment. It needs a quiet MC phono stage with about 60 dB of gain or more, or a step-up transformer.
| Type | Low-output moving coil (MC), medium compliance |
| Output | 0.56 mV (5 cm/s, 45°) |
| Internal impedance | 4.2 Ω |
| Recommended load | 104–887 Ω direct into MC input |
| Tracking force | 1.62–1.72 g |
| Compliance | Approx. 12 × 10⁻⁶ cm/dyne at 100 Hz |
| Weight | 9.2 g |
| Stylus | Lyra variable-radius line contact, nude diamond (3 × 70 µm) |
| Cantilever | Diamond-coated solid boron rod |
| Frequency range | 10 Hz – 50 kHz |
| Channel separation | 30 dB or better at 1 kHz |
| Body | Titanium core with aluminum outer body, self-clamping construction |
| Also available | Etna Lambda SL (lower output) and Etna Lambda Mono |
Pearl Audio is an authorized Lyra dealer. Call or visit our Portland showroom to talk about matching a cartridge to your tonearm and phono stage.
