The low-output, low-impedance version of the Lyra Kleos, built to order for systems with very quiet, very high-gain phono stages or low-impedance step-up transformers.
The Kleos SL shares everything that makes the standard Kleos work: Lyra's "New Angle" coil geometry, which brings the coils into perfect alignment with the magnetic field once tracking force is applied, a one-piece body machined from 7075 aluminum alloy with non-parallel surfaces, and a solid boron cantilever carrying Lyra's variable-radius line-contact stylus. The difference is the coil. The SL uses a single-layer winding instead of the standard model's two layers, which halves output to 0.25 mV and drops internal impedance to 2.7 Ω. Each one is built to order by hand in Japan, with final assembly and testing by Yoshinori Mishima.
Fewer turns of wire means less coil mass and inductance, and in a system designed around a low-impedance cartridge the SL can sound especially pure and direct. The trade-off is signal level. Lyra itself recommends the regular Kleos for most people, because its higher output gives a better signal-to-noise ratio with most phono stages. The SL makes sense if you already run a very high-gain, extra-low-noise MC stage, or a step-up transformer designed for cartridges of about 1–3 Ω. Like the Kleos, it wants a rigid, high-quality tonearm of medium to medium-high mass with adjustable anti-skate, ideally with VTA adjustment. Reviewers have praised the standard Kleos for its smooth, detailed, tonally balanced sound and very quiet backgrounds.
| Type | Low-output, low-impedance moving coil (MC), medium compliance; built to order |
| Output | 0.25 mV (5 cm/s, zero to peak, 45°) |
| Internal impedance | 2.7 Ω (single-layer 6N copper coil on a high-purity iron former) |
| Recommended load | Direct into MC input: per Lyra's manual, finalize by listening; via step-up transformer: one designed for 1–3 Ω cartridges, into a 10–47 kΩ MM input |
| Tracking force | 1.65–1.75 g (1.72 g recommended) |
| Compliance | Approx. 12 × 10⁻⁶ cm/dyne at 100 Hz |
| Weight | 8.8 g |
| Stylus | Lyra long-footprint variable-radius line contact, nude diamond (3 × 70 µm), slot-mounted |
| Cantilever | Solid boron rod, short one-point wire suspension |
| Frequency range | 10 Hz – 50 kHz |
| Channel separation | Better than 30 dB at 1 kHz |
| Body | One-piece machined 7075 aluminum, threaded mounting holes (2.6 mm) |
| Recommended tonearm | Medium to medium-high mass |
| Also available | Kleos (0.5 mV standard version) and Kleos 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.
