Last year, I upgraded my reference system with Lyngdorf’s MXA-8400 multichannel power amplifier. In my assessment, the MXA-8400, which utilizes Purifi Audio’s Eigentakt technology, is one of the most transparent and neutral amplifiers available in its price range, multichannel or stereo. With this amplifier, and the bass management and ARC Genesis room-correction systems provided by my excellent Anthem STR preamplifier, the stereo performance of my system has been stellar. However, the multichannel A/V processor I’ve been using in my home-theater bypass loop, the Anthem AVM 60, though a capable surround processor, is not of the same caliber as the STR preamp. When listening to multichannel content, especially music and movie soundtracks in uncompressed Dolby TrueHD Atmos, I’ve often felt something was amiss.
I saw no great need to upgrade my A/V processor, I must say, since I was perfectly satisfied with the two-channel performance of my system, which I use mainly for music playback. But being the audiophile that I am, I couldn’t help but wonder what the multichannel performance of the system could be like with a top-of-the-line processor feeding the wonderful Lyngdorf amp, something from Anthem or Marantz or NAD (e.g., the NAD M17 V2i, about which I wrote in 2021). I expressed these thoughts in a recent email exchange I had with Roland Hoffmann, Lyngdorf’s director of product marketing. Hoffmann recommended I try Lyngdorf’s MP-40 2.1 processor ($11,299 USD) as it is designed to provide reference-quality performance in both two-channel and multichannel modes. I was intrigued, and Hoffmann arranged for a sample unit to be shipped to me from Lyngdorf’s Canadian distributor, the Watershed Group.
Like other Lyngdorf products, the MP-40 looks good, sleek and uncluttered, and has good build quality. Of course, what matters most is what’s on the inside, and in that respect the MP-40 is top quality. While most surround processors rely on a multichannel DAC chip with an analog output stage, the MP-40 is built more like a high-end two-channel DAC. To be more precise, it’s built like eight high-end two-channel DACs, each with its own output stage. It employs a sophisticated, well-isolated power supply that minimizes noise and interference in the DACs and the many neatly laid-out DSP circuit boards.
I extracted the Anthem STR preamplifier and AVM 60 surround processor from my system and replaced them with the MP-40, connecting it directly to the MXA-8400 power amplifier. The rest of the system comprised a SensaSound TPO-7300 power amplifier, to drive the surround and height channels, an Oppo Digital UDP-205 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player, a Beelink Mini PC running Windows 11 and Roon, an Nvidia Shield TV Pro streamer, an Apple TV 4K media player, a 77″ Samsung S90C OLED television, MartinLogan main, center-channel, and Atmos height speakers—Masterpiece ESL 9, ElectroMotion ESL C, and Motion 4, respectively—Definitive Technology 9080x surrounds, and two JL Audio E-Sub e112 powered subwoofers. I used the MP-40’s online interface to set up the speaker channels and inputs and to run RoomPerfect, Lyngdorf’s proprietary room-correction system. I was amply rewarded.
Enrique Iglesias’s “Bailando,” from the September 2015 Dolby Atmos Blu-ray demo disc, was stunningly clear on all channels. The soundstage stretched outward in every direction and had tangible height, and the imaging was as distinct on the sides and at the back as at the front. The lead vocals of Iglesias and Sean Paul were planted firmly at the front of the room, while background vocals and clapping appeared all around me. The effect was highly realistic, creating a thrilling experience. Throughout the song, a full, bouncy bass beat tracked perfectly between the front speakers, flawlessly integrating into the balanced 360-degree presentation. It was so taut and clean I felt no need to crank the volume up, as I often do, to fully enjoy it.
When I played Elton John’s “Rocket Man,” from the Diamonds SDE Surround Series Blu-ray disc, the MP-40 took things to a new level. The presentation of the opening piano and vocals was mostly in stereo, but the additional Atmos channels slightly expanded the soundstage. The backing vocals and instruments, beginning in the first chorus, extended the soundstage farther, beyond the listening room’s side walls and around, fully enveloping me. Sonic images remained remarkably sharp wherever they appeared. Turning the volume up loud, I could easily tell that the Dolby TrueHD version of this song on Blu-ray was superior to the Dolby Digital Plus versions I streamed from Tidal and Apple Music (the latter via my Apple TV 4K media player).
While compressed Dolby Atmos from Tidal or Apple Music didn’t sound as good as TrueHD Atmos from physical media, it was very convenient to stream Atmos-encoded music directly from the Tidal app to the MP-40. Moreover, some classics—albums by Neil Diamond, Fleetwood Mac, Kim Carnes, Starship and others—are no longer available on physical media, and I had a real blast streaming them from Tidal in Atmos. Speaking of apps, the excellent Lyngdorf control app is easy to use and provides one of the best app-based volume controls I’ve ever used, closely resembling the physical dial on the front of the unit.
Lyngdorf’s RoomPerfect room correction can optimize a system’s sound to its acoustic environment. To tailor the sound to a specific sonic profile, Lyngdorf also offers EQ filters called voicings. Several voicing filters are provided with Lyngdorf components, which users can modify, and new ones can be created. I need to experiment further with voicings to become better acquainted with their effects, but from what I’ve heard so far, the slight high-frequency roll-off associated with the Tilt filter and the curve-flattening behavior of the Neutral filter complement the transparent sound of the MP-40 very well.
As impressed as I was with the multichannel performance of the MP-40, I was even more impressed with its stereo performance. Amii Stewart’s cover of “Knock on Wood (German edit with intro)” from Knock on Wood: The Anthology (16-bit/44.1kHz FLAC, Sanctuary Records / Tidal) was presented with amazingly sharp and distinct images; the pulsating beat and raspy percussion were practically visible right in front of me. For a 1970s-era recording, the sound fidelity was quite good, if somewhat lacking in depth. What floored me was the level of detail the MP-40 was able to dig out from the slightly opaque mix in this track—the kind of detail that captures vocal emotion and soulfulness and infuses a song with commanding presence.
Listening to the Atmos Blu-ray version of Yello’s Point was a revelatory experience. The massive bass was better integrated and more articulate than ever before, even when using Dirac Live or Anthem ARC Genesis room correction; the sweeping electronica swirled around me to a heady effect. I realized that the sound quality of each channel was as good as that of my own system even in stereo. In fact, I’ve come to realize that my system’s performance has reached its highest level yet with the Lyngdorf MP-40 regardless of the audio source. I’ve been so impressed with the MP-40 that I intend to purchase it and keep it in my system.
A notable omission from the MP-40’s feature set is Wi-Fi capability, but a workaround is simple. If you want to use a streaming service but cannot or prefer not to connect the MP-40 to your home network via ethernet, you can connect it to a Wi-Fi-enabled computer using the USB-B audio input, a feature that is becoming less common. Another omission is vinyl-playback capability. Since the MP-40 has no analog inputs, you can’t connect a phono preamplifier to it—unless, that is, you have a phono preamplifier with a built-in analog-to-digital converter, such as the ADept phono preamplifier I just received from miniDSP. I’ve recently acquired a couple of records from Deutsche Grammophon’s The Original Source series, a collection of limited-edition vinyl pressings. Look for my impressions of those recordings and of the Adept’s performance in my upgraded MP-40-rigged reference system in upcoming reviews.
Roger Kanno
Senior Contributor, SoundStage!
