Most reviews on the SoundStage! Network concern two-channel components. From time to time, however, multichannel components of outstanding overall design and sound quality draw our attention, and we don’t shy away. Case in point: the Lyngdorf Audio MXA-8400 multichannel amplifier, which Roger Kanno reviewed on this site in June 2024. In the US, it sells for $8999.

As Roger points out in his review, the MXA-8400 represents two firsts for Lyngdorf Audio: it is the Danish brand’s first multichannel amplifier; and it is the first to use Eigentakt class-D amplifier technology from Purifi Audio, which is also based in Denmark. Purifi does not create end-user products, only bespoke parts, such as amplifier boards and speaker drivers. The connection between these two Danish companies is deeper than merely technological: Lyngdorf’s founder and owner, Peter Lyngdorf, is also one of Purifi’s cofounders.

The MXA-8400 combines eight channels of Eigentakt amplifier power with a switch-mode power supply of Lyngdorf’s own design, called PerfectPower. The company claims 200W output from each channel into 8 ohms, 400W into 4 ohms. In bridged mode, the MXA-8400 can deliver up to 800W into 8 ohms from four channels. It is Lyngdorf Audio’s most powerful amplifier to date. Due to limitations in our measurements lab, we were unable to test the MXA-8400 with all eight channels driven, but we did test its two-channel output, both bridged and unbridged and found that it easily surpassed its specified power ratings while maintaining the claimed ultralow level of distortion. Despite its prodigious power output, the MXA-8400 weighs just 22 pounds and has a case that measures a modest 5.7″H × 17.7″W × 13.7″D. With its simple lines and matte-black finish, the MXA-8400’s exterior is quite understated, Roger felt.

Beginning his audition with the MXA-8400 in an unbridged stereo role, Roger found it to be “an accomplished amplifier with ample power and an extremely neutral character.” Even during casual listening he couldn’t help but notice how “controlled, effortless, and musical its sound was.”

The tuneful “Calling Elvis,” from the new SACD release of On Every Street, by Dire Straits, “flowed smoothly from the speakers,” Roger writes, filling him with “a pleasant sense of ease.” Nothing he threw at the MXA-8400 would make it falter: “From classic orchestral recordings to the latest EDM remixes, everything sounded just about perfect.” He detected neither noise nor distortion and felt that the amplifier imparted no sonic signature of its own.

After listening to the MXA-8400 unbridged for a few weeks, Roger switched to bridged mode. In this configuration, he first played “Heat of the Moment,” from a DSD version of Asia’s self-titled debut album. He was most impressed with what he heard: “the Lyngdorf amp reproduced this track flawlessly, giving it a sweeping, thrilling quality, its superclean sound unraveling the subtlest complexities in this high-quality recording.” Next up was “Only Time Will Tell,” from the same album. “The MXA-8400 still had an open, inviting sound,” Roger writes, “but now every sonic nuance stood in sharp relief.” He then played another DSD track, Van Cliburn’s 1958 performance of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Compared to some of his other classical recordings, Roger found imaging in this recording to be “slightly flat,” but also that “the MXA-8400’s powerful presentation, particularly in the final movement, had such immediacy and texture that it brought this album to life.” Roger’s impression of the MXA-8400’s presentation of Madonna’s The Immaculate Collection—an album that features expansive spatial effects created with QSound Labs technology—was no less complimentary: “No other amplifier in my system has been able to reproduce the subtle timing, frequency, and amplitude cues as perfectly—to image instruments and vocals as distinctly.”

To test the MXA-8400’s multichannel performance, Roger inserted it unbridged in his home-theater system, using five of its eight channels: three for the main speakers, two for the surround speakers. He used two music releases, not movies, and recounts the experience:

The voices of Boyz II Men on their cover of the Beatles’ “Yesterday,” . . . jumped out at me with stunning fidelity—from the front speakers, center-channel speaker, and full-range surrounds. The baritone of Nathan Morris on this track was heard mostly from the center speaker. In some setups, it can become congested and not integrate smoothly with the other channels; with the Lyngdorf amp and MartinLogan center speaker, Morris’s deep vocals blended seamlessly with the many voices from the other channels.

The powerful, bluesy voice of Yazoo’s Alison Moyet, from the duo’s 2008 box set In Your Room . . . is embodied mostly in a phantom center image on the DTS mixes that are included with the DVD, but there is still plenty going on in the surround channels. Again, the Lyngdorf sounded amazingly lucid and coherent. On “Anyone,” the percussion was spread holographically through the channels with sparkling clarity. On “Nobody’s Diary,” the backing vocals, in the surrounds, were perfectly matched tonally with the vocals in the mains.

Roger is no stranger to class-D amplifiers: his reference amplifiers for several years have been a pair of Anthem M1 monoblocks ($4000/each), each rated to output 1000W into 8 ohms. Comparing the M1 to the MXA-8400, he found that bass control and authority, were similar in the two amplifiers, but that midrange and highs were not as clean in the Anthem as in the Lyngdorf, resulting in “some loss in image sharpness and soundstage depth.”

Roger also compared the MXA-8400 to a pair of NAD Masters M23 power amplifiers operating in bridged mode. The M23, which also uses Eigentakt amplifier technology, outputs 200Wpc into 8 ohms unbridged. Two M23s operating in bridged mode can deliver 700Wpc, comparable to the Lyngdorf’s 800Wpc in bridged mode. At $3749, the M23 is far less expensive than the MXA-8400, but a pair of M23s, as in Roger’s setup, are also comparable in price to the MXA-8400. After substituting a pair of M23s for the MXA-8400 in his system for a few days, Roger felt that these amplifiers were comparable in performance too, but the MXA-8400 had more “defined and authoritative” bass and greater “sparkle” in the highs.

In his concluding statement, Roger writes that “the MXA-8400 promises a rich, full multichannel experience should it be sought and a truly exceptional stereo sound, especially in bridged mode.” His praise for the MXA-8400 in the review earned it a Reviewers’ Choice award at the time of publication. Roger's ultimate praise for the MXA-8400 was expressed tacitly a short while later, when he purchased the review sample for his own reference system. This month, the MXA-8400 is being presented with our Recommended Reference Component award.

Manufacturer contact information:

Steinway Lyngdorf
Rævevej 3
7800 Skive
Denmark
Phone: +45 9614-5600

Email:contact@lyngdorf.com
Website: www.lyngdorf.com