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Lyngdorf Audio MP-50 And SDA-2400MP-50 FeaturesPower output: 200 per channel 8 Ohms; 400 per channel 4 Ohms(watts)Inputs always sense input signals and turn amps on and off asneededIncludes 12 VDC trigger cable in boxProprietary Lyngdorf Class D architectureUltra-low noise floorLow heat generation while in operation1-each 12 VDC input and outputAudio inputs: analog stereo (RCA); analog stereo (XLR); digitalcoax; digital opticalIEC power cord socketStereo pair of insulated multi-way binding posts for outputMP-50 SpecificationsDimensions (WHD In Inches): 17.7 x 2.9 x 14.2Weight (In Pounds): 14.3Power requirement: 115 or 230 VAC 50/60 Hz via slider switchPower consumption: 26 at idle with no input signal; 145 at 50 w/ch;493 at 200 w/ch; Standby less than 0.4 (watts)Frequency response: 20 – 20,000 Hz 8 Ohms -0/ 0.3 dB or -0/ 0.1dB into 4 OhmsFrequency response: -3 dB points at 0.3 Hz and 31,000 HzSignal to Noise: 117 dB, A-weighted, at 200 watts into 8 OhmsChannel Separation: 96 dB at 1000 Hz and 200 watts into 8 OhmsTHD N: 0.004% at 1 watt into 8 Ohms up to 0.05% at 180 wattsinto 8 Ohms, A-weightedWarranty: 2 yearsMSRP: 2399 per stereo ampManufactured In Denmark By:Steinway Lyngdorf600 Congress Avenue, 14th FloorAustin, Texas 78701Phone: 212 588 9330Email: usa@steinwaylyngdorf.comWeb site: lyngdorf.comachieved 90 percent room knowledge after five measurementsequences. The second and subsequent room measurements canbe taken from any positions in the room. I performed seven sets ofroom measurements: main seat; to the left and right of main seat; twomeasurements low and in front of the main seat; and two measurements high and behind the main seat. Since the main seat is alwaysfirst, it is referred to as Focus 1. Lyngdorf allows you to select different seats and assign them Focus 2 or Focus 4, or whatever. Whenyou have a “Focus” selected, the sound for that seat is given priorityover the sound from other seats. Another standard option for focus isGlobal, which refers to having good sound at every seat with, usually, some loss of quality at the main seat. I found that to be true, clearly preferring Focus 1 to the Global setting for solo enjoyment ofmovies or music. For times when I have a full five-person audiencefor a movie, I would consider using the Global option. It is very convenient to switch between those modes. You can save up to 32 totalvoicings. The MP-50 arrived with seven voicings already installed.Each of the 32 voicings can have up to eight filters with adjustablegain and Q. Voicings are set using the Web browser interface from acomputer to make this setup easier than using a handheld remote.To give you an idea of what is behind RoomPerfect, here is aquote from Lyngdorf’s white paper on the MP-50. “RoomPerfect represents one of the largest patent filings in audio history with over 50claims of new technology. This fully automated system measures aminimum of 2 million reflections, creating a three-dimensional map ofthe listening environment.” Something is definitely working rightbecause I’ve never heard any room correction system work as wellas RoomPerfect. Especially notable is the integration of the subwoofer with each individual channel, even if each pair of loudspeakers and the center channel have different crossover points. There are4Widescreen Review Issue 219 September 2017even more setup flexibility-like options to identify the loudspeakers,as there are more sizes than just large or small. The choices offeredare XS, S, M, L, XL, and XXL, and Lyngdorf specifies the crossoverpoint for each loudspeaker size as follows: 120, 100, 80, 40, fullrange, and full range plus LFE if no subwoofer is in the system. Inaddition to those options, there is a Custom setting that allows you topick some other crossover frequency. The MP-50 supports up to foursubwoofers, though there are some complexities around whetherthey are all LFE subs or subs connected to specific channels toextend the bass of specific loudspeakers.When running RoomPerfect here, I got around 70 percent roomknowledge from the first sequence of measurements from the mainseat. After a total of five measurement sequences with the microphone in five different positions (main seat is always position 1), Ihad 90 percent room knowledge. By the seventh measurement, theMP-50 reported 98 percent room knowledge. The seven measurement sequences took between 45 minutes and an hour, but I didn’tformally time the measurement process.Using The MP-50As with most products in this price range, the MP-50 ships with aremote. It can control the MP-50 via RF or IR. The RF control optionworked like a charm for me during the review. The USB audio inputsupports up to 32 bits at 192 kHz sample rate, all other digital audioinputs operate at 24 bits. The digital optical input maxes out at 96kHz sample rate, but other digital inputs use the maximum 192 kHzmaximum sample rate.One of the first things I noticed was the noticeably quieter-thanusual noise floor. I’ve experienced a noise floor that low only with afew other products, primarily five-figure processors from Datasat andTrinnov and amplifiers from Datasat. This made music and moviesound even more dramatic than usual because the room wasdetectably quieter than usual before the entertainment starts. Veryfew other products have demonstrated a noise floor this low in thisroom, and I’ve not experienced anything with a quieter noise floorthan the MP-50/SDA-2400 combination.The MP-50’s startup and shutdown take just a little longer than thefastest processors I’ve used. Inside the MP-50, a small Linux computer “keeps house” and runs the video subsystem, Webserver, andcontrol systems. Audio processing is handled by eight AnalogDevices SHARC processors. The MP-50 doesn’t produce enoughheat to require a cooling fan, so there isn’t one. The MP-50 does produce some heat that needs a place to go, but it’s not difficult to provide the space the MP-50 needs to operate efficiently. There is a videosystem onboard, and you do get on-screen displays for the Setupmenu, volume, mute, and the audio menu that allows you to selectmodes, post-processing options, voicing, and a few other settings.Since introduction, Lyngdorf has added features to the MP-50 viafirmware updates without increasing the cost. The most recent majorfeature added was support for Dolby Vision, something that cannotbe done without considerable available programmable processing orwithout resorting to using Dolby’s own Dolby Vision chip set. Becausethe MP-50 has so much audio and video processing capability,Lyngdorf was able to add Dolby Vision support without having to useDolby’s chip set.Lyngdorf provides easy and quick access to often-used settings,like the post-processing mode and lip sync delay through the Audioand Trim buttons on the remote that both open the same menu ofsettings, but at different “tabs,” so accessing common settings doesn’t even require navigating across the several tabs. As you wouldexpect, the MP-50 supports automation and control systems with anarray of connections and protocol support. The line level outputs ofthe MP-50 are XLR connectors. For short cable runs, using a maleXLR to female-RCA adapter will work if you don’t have interconnects3/5

Lyngdorf Audio MP-50 And SDA-2400with XLR connections. However, longer runs of analog audio cablesshould be terminated with XLR connectors and have three conductors in order to have the lowest signal loss and noise.The SDA-2400 AmplifiersBefore Lyngdorf Audio and Steinway Lyngdorf, Peter Lyngdorfdesigned a modern digital amplifier called the Millennium for its introduction near the turn of the millennium. The SDA-2400 is an updateddigital amplifier with nothing about the sound that would make youthink it was “digital.” OK, that’s not exactly right. The size and weightpretty much guarantee it’s a digital amplifier because I’ve never seenor heard of any non-digital amplifier with 200 watts per channel into 8Ohms or 400 watts into 4 Ohms that weighs as little as the SDA2400. If these were class A amplifiers, they’d probably weigh wellover 100 pounds, and if class A/B, they would likely weigh 65 to 100pounds. On top of that, class A or class AB amplifiers of this powerrating would be 10 inches tall or thereabouts rather than the actualheight and weight: 2.9 inches and 14.3 pounds. Rack mount brackets are available, of course. The front panel has no features exceptthe dim (excellent) power LED, logo and model number. The backpanel has analog stereo inputs with both RCA and XLR jacks, digitalsomething. I’ve had a few products here with spectacularly low noisefloors, and these Lyngdorf products easily join that elite group. Untilthis decade, most every product I used seemed to have noise floorsthat were indistinguishable from one another. Not high enough to beobvious, but when something especially quiet went in the system, itwas easy to tell the noise level in the room was lower than usual. Withcomplex video and audio circuitry inside, designing for low noiseisn’t easy or inexpensive. It takes talent and a fair bit of trial and errorbased on things the designer(s) think might help. Of course, with aprojector sharing the space, the cooling fan is likely to be the loudestnoise in the room, but when listening to music with the lights and projector turned off and/or with the projector sound isolated from theroom, it is a real treat to hear music emanate effortlessly fromabsolutely silent loudspeakers. I’m getting increasingly addicted tothis quality in audio products, so it’s no surprise that I took an earlyliking to the MP-50/SDA-2400 combo.RoomPerfect turned out to be a revelation. I have not had a product in this room with Audyssey where I preferred the sound withAudyssey enabled. Dirac room correction has been in two otherproducts reviewed previously, and at least it sounded better than notusing it and was definitely an improvement. But RoomPerfect doessomething no other automated audio calibration product has doneThere Was Something Magic About The Way SoundWould Transition From Various Channels To The Subwoofer.coax input, and digital optical input. The binding posts are typicalclear-plastic clad posts that are best used with bare wire or bananaplugs. There is an on/off power switch next to the IEC power cordsocket. A 115/230-volt sliding switch makes the amps usable in mostareas of the world just by changing the power cord and voltage slider.A multi-position sliding switch identifies which connection you areusing. The SDA-2400 amplifiers have the option of being turned onand off manually, being turned on and off using 12 VDC trigger connections, or being set to Low Power mode, which causes the amplifier to turn on when it “sees” an input signal and to turn itself off if 30minutes pass without an input signal. All of these power on/offoptions worked as expected. During the review, I never had any sortof problem with the amplifiers. They produce some heat, but not alot, so some reasonable air circulation is needed for these amps tooperate reliably. The noise floor of these amplifiers was extremelylow, on par with the lowest-noise amplifiers I’ve used. While these arenot hot-running amplifies, they do produce a small amount of heatthat needs to be moved away if the amplifiers are in a rack or shelfsystem, so they do need some space around them.SoundComments here apply to the combination of MP-50 processorused with six-channels of amplification from the SDA-2400 amplifiers.The seventh channel (center) and height channels used differentamplification (AudioControl Savoy G3 amplifier, a class H design,which is also relatively cool-running and modest in weight).I used the MP-50 with manual setup, manual loudspeaker distance measurements, and hand-held SPL meter for level setting, fortwo weeks before running RoomPerfect audio calibration for the firsttime. This two weeks of getting-to-know-you listening was veryinstructional. The first thing I noticed was the noise floor was as quietas the quietest products I’ve had here for review, and that’s saying4/5for me: it made the system sound unified and fully integrated fromthe lowest frequencies to the highest. In spite of claims of other roommeasurement and correction products, they don’t do for me. At leastnot in this room. There was always a feeling that the subwooferwasn’t quite “with” the rest of the system and that there were severalother frequency ranges where the sound seemed “different” somehow, rather than sounding like it was coming from very well-integrated products. RoomPerfect completely eliminated that feeling on thevery first try at using it. There was something magic about the waysound would transition from various channels to the subwoofer itwas so much more integrated smooth seamless correct and even seductive. It sounded like there was one full-range (below16 Hz to 20,000 Hz or more) loudspeaker in the room that couldreproduce sound anywhere within the space. I recognized theimprovement immediately after RoomPerfect calibration, but it took awhile to understand why RoomPerfect was so impressive. That partwasn’t obvious since this was the first time I have ever heard performance like this from any home theatre system at any price. And itwas happening right in this same room that seems to thumb its noseat Audyssey. I don’t want anyone to think I had anything like “badsound” before this RoomPerfect experience. It was always entertaining and enjoyable, though, there was always something in the backof my head wondering if this was as good as it was ever going toget. RoomPerfect proved that the sound was not as good as it wasever going to get. Without RoomPerfect the sound was good, amongthe best sound heard in this room, which includes processors sellingfor more than three times the cost of the MP-50. But withRoomPerfect that feeling of seamless integration across the entirefrequency spectrum was intoxicating. That drove the deep dive intothe music collection, to hear everything I love at least once beforethe components have to be returned to Lyngdorf. I wasn’t hearingthings I hadn’t heard before, but it was all better than ever before.One listening session revolved around the 2017 release of the50th Anniversary version of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.Widescreen Review Issue 219 September 20175

Lyngdorf Audio MP-50 And SDA-2400This is a fairly radical remixof the original album, sounding for all the world like itwas recorded better thanyou ever heard it before. Ioften hate reissues that“redo” favorite music, butthis one was sublime, captivating, and glorious. Best ofall, the bass went lower thanthe original mix without getting boomy at all. Hard tobelieve they truncated thatmuch low bass while making the original masters. I would listen toone track on the new release and compare it to the version from the2009 USB re-issue of all the Beatles’ albums in 24 bits with 44.1 kHzsampling rate (released on a USB memory stick). The 2009 versionswere re-issues made from original masters that attempted to captureas much information as possible from the original master tapes. Thisnew 2017 release sounds considerably more Technicolor than theoriginal mix, and the MP-50/SDA-2400/RoomPerfect combo revealedall the colors and new details present in the 2017 remix.The atmospheric track “The Coast of Malabar” from The ChieftainsThe Long Black Veil album with Ry Cooder produced a huge sonicspace in my room. This track is often reproduced with a very largesounding sonic environment, but this time, it was huge, bigger thanever. I’m sure this is a reverb trick, but it works incredibly well on thistrack with the Lyngdorf gear and the Music voicing option. Some ofthe space comes across as breathy and soft, while other times thespace is black silence, but you can still “sense” a large space inyour room. The illusion of that large space was exceptionally complete with the Lyngdorf gear.The MP-50/SDA-2400 did this same thing with movie sound. Thiswas the first time in a long time that there was an unmistakableimprovement in sound quality over similarly priced components whilelistening to movie sound. That same unified and integrated sound Iheard from music was there in spades in every movie soundtrackaside from the least challenging soundtracks that don’t demandmuch from the sound system. Even things you’d think would be simple and consistent, like the sounds of weapons and explosions, wereclearly better with the Lyngdorf gear and RoomPerfect. Even thesounds of cars and other vehicles in Mad Max: Fury Road had arightness that wasn’t quite there with other gear. Scenes with franticaction in tight spaces, like inside Furiosa’s truck cab, were bettersorted than I was used to hearing. It’s not so much that I could hearmore, it was more like I could hear individual elements better, asthough the sounds were more distinct and less homogenized.Another interesting effect happened when changing the threefront loudspeakers from Hsu Research CCB-8s to Vandersteen 3ASignatures and VCC-5 center channel. Of course, RoomPerfect hadto be run again for the different loudspeakers, as you would have torun Dirac or Audyssey again if you did the same thing with someother system. But RoomPerfect made the different loudspeakerssound freakishly similar. Not identical, but very close tonal matchesfor each other. Sonic differences remained, but there was much moreof a “family resemblance” than I’ve experienced when changingloudspeakers in systems using different correction methods. Thatamazing top-to-bottom integration of the sound was easily audiblewith both groups of loudspeakers in the system.Immersive Sound FormatsThe MP-50 supports DTS:X, Dolby Atmos, and Auro-3D, plus theirrespective post-processing options Neural:X, Dolby Surround, andAuroMatic. My experience with movies remains that movies appearing6Widescreen Review Issue 219 September 2017with DTS:X and Atmossoundtracks continue tosound terrible, with extremely poor placement of soundin the height channels.Anybody telling you differently is simply wrong. All youhave to do to hear how poorDTS:X and Atmos soundtracks are (as of August2017) is turn off the amplifiers or disconnect the loudspeaker cables going to thefive or seven “ground level” channels so you only hear the soundfrom the height loudspeakers. It’s really bad. I’d even go as far ascalling it embarrassingly bad for the studios. These supposedly nextbig-thing immersive soundtracks we are getting are just plain lame.They sound as though no human has any involvement in the processof creating these soundtracks, and the automated software beingused to create these soundtracks is not making good choices. Thereare so few movies with Auro-3D soundtracks on disc so far that it’sdifficult to say if Auro-3D is producing better results or not. However,Auro-3D’s AuroMatic post-processing continues to sound incrediblygood. It makes music wonderful and is the only upconverter forstereo music that makes me enjoy the music more than I do withstereo listening. It also does amazingly well at processing DTS-HDMaster Audio or Dolby TrueHD soundtracks to put ambience in theheight channels, producing a more entertaining version of the moviethan decoding the DTS:X or Atmos version of the soundtrack.I always have to add this disclaimer I am not saying that DTS:Xor Atmos are not as good as Auro-3D. I think the things I don’t likeabout DTS:X or Atmos soundtracks (so far) is that they aren’t beingcreated by humans moving sounds into the height channels with anyintelligence. It sounds to me like everybody is feeding 5.1 or 7.1soundtracks into Dolby Surround or Neural:X to get more channels,then labeling the final product as DTS:X or Atmos when none of thecapabilities of either format are actually being exploited. I am sayingthat AuroMatic is far better as a post-processing option than Neural:Xor Dolby Surround. In fact, if I assign a “10” to AuroMatic’s post-processing of stereo music, 5.1 movies, or 7.1 movies, I’d give Neural:Xa “5” and Dolby Surround a “2” on that scale.ConclusionThe Lyngdorf MP-50 processor and SDA-2400 amplifiers haveperformance that matches the best sound quality heard in my roomso far. But add RoomPerfect to the equation and the

Research CCB-8 loudspeakers, Vandersteen Model 3A Signature loudspeakers with Vandersteen VCC-5 Signature center and VSM surround loudspeakers. The subwoofer was the Hsu Research VTF-3 Mk5 HP, which is flat down to 10 Hz in this room, though, anything below 14 or 15 Hz results in lots of mo