Lexicon?

[june]

Hello All,

What is the difference between Lexicon's MC1 & DC1? We are looking for a pre-owned unit to upgrade from our Yamaha reciever.

[fauzigarib]

June!

I've been waiting for a Lexicon question... thought i'd pounce all over this one!

I believe the differences are in the sound modes, and that MC-1 had more THX modes in it... But frankly, I don't know that much about the differences.

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Something else I do know is that you will be making a HUGE quality jump from the Yamaha.

Keep in mind however, that you will have spend a little bit extra for that outboard power amp(s).

Good luck, and let me know what you decide!

Fauzi

[june]

Hello Fauzigarib,

Thanks for the help & info. The MC1 v4 & a Rotel 5-channel amp will be a gift for myself after the hoildays.

[Daryl Furkalo]

MC1 and Rotel 1075 are a combination I used for a few years. MC1 lacks analog 5.1 inputs.

That should make a good post-holiday gift.

[David Meek]

June, you might PM Lex and see if he has any insights. He was a Lexicon owner (and may still be) for years.

[fauzigarib]

MC1 and Rotel 1075 are a combination I used for a few years. MC1 lacks analog 5.1 inputs.

That should make a good post-holiday gift.

June,

Good for you! I've been a proud Lexicon MC-8 owner for a long time, and am really happy at all new entrants.

A few questions for you, though:

- Is this for HT / movies, or music? The reason I ask is that, though this processor is brilliant for movies, it does a simply phenomenal job with music. I find myself almost prefering listening to the Lex playing most of my music over my 2 channel setup, just because it does such a wonderful job of steering the right parts to the right speakers. It's a completely immersing experience.

- Which speakers do you have? I find that if you put your Rotel / Lex combo on very revealing speakers, like the Klipschorns that I have, you will end up really showing up the shortcomings of the amp.

- Are you buying this new? I have no idea about prices of the MC-1, but if you can afford it, you may want to consider a used MC-8. The feature set on these is far bigger, and they're loaded with more updated versions of Logic7. On audiogon, they can be had for very decent prices. Check out this link: http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....roc&1165856633

When are you posting pics?

Good luck,

Fauzi

[june]

fauzigarib,

80/20 ht to music. we have paradigm studio 100s v2. my funds are leaning towards a pre-owned mc1. the prices are around $800-$1000.

[Lex]

The DC-1 is the original Lexicon digital processor. (Owned one) It is all digital all the time, meaning there is no analog bypass. For home theater, it's an old technology piece that does not do the latest sound formats (DTS, Dolby Digital for example), useful piece for basic home theater only, no discrete 5.1! It was introduced at a time when Dolby Pro-Logic was considered cutting edge home theater technology, and the internals of the machine were such it was basically a 2 channel machine with the center and surround channels matrixed from the 2 channel mode, as all original dolby pro logic was done. Two channel sound though in it's all digital processing is not very good quality. At the time introduced (what 10-12 years ago now?) it was a very state of the art home theater processor. The next entry that was "supposed to be" the be all end all home theater processor from Lexicon was the MC-1. The MC-1 had some analog bypass capability, or at least was supposed to be able to accept a module for this. 2 channel in the digital domain was much improved over the DC-1. MUCH. Sound quality throughout the processor's sound modes, as well as overall was much improved. They also enhanced the 7 channel experience with the MC-1.

After the MC-1 came out, (owned one) even though they assured us this was "it", that it would be upgradable through the plug in modules, Lexicon apparently realized the MC-1's shortcomings, or recognized shortcomings with what was coming in the marketplace, and developed the MC-12, a completely new design with very high quality chassis and internals, with full 2 channel bypass for analog music to completely avoid the digital domain, as well as an option for XLR capability (MC-12B), and an MC-12 could be upgraded to an MC-12B by Lexicon. Sound quality of the MC-1 2 was MUCH improved over the DC-1 series. IT does Dolby Digital, and a new eprom I believe finally did DTS. The piece did as Daryl noted lack 5.1 analog inputs, so they could not be used for SACD, or DTS Audio, or any other discrete music channeling.

They also upgraded the DC-1 into a model I know little about, the DC-2. As I understand it, same basic limitations of the DC-1, just a few things were improved on.

As to the MC12, front panel is carved out of solid stainless steel, very robust connections, smooth controls, real cutting edge piece. Later, recognizing that not everyone wanted a 9 or 10,000 processor, the MC-8 was introduced, giving everything the MC-12 had, just less input channels to control cost, and a lower entry price tag. Fact is, an MC-8 would have taken care of me, but since I already had an MC-1, I was able to upgrade to the MC-12 at an attractive rate, and I found one less than 100 miles from my house at the time. Lexicon felt a real obligation to give us an opportunity to trade at a good rate, since we were assured the MC-1 was going to be fully upgradable, something that never really came to be.

The menu system is so powerful and easy to use on a Lexicon, they truly are a dream to own and use.

Doug

[fauzigarib]

Nice post!

Lex,

Nice post! Just wanted to tag on a few more pluses on the Lex:

Logic 7: Though the MC1 has an older version of L7, it is still darn good. Logic 7 is Lexicon's proprietary encoding / decoding method that takes any 2 channel source and splits it into surround channels in a very convincing way. My experience with Logic 7 can only be fairly compared with the Trifield mode in Meridien processors... Other than that, in my experience, their performance is unparalleled.

Panorama: I believe this mode started on the MC-1. It is a mode that uses inter-aural cross talk (I think I have that name right), where it creates the illusion of a soundstage that is much wider and sort of curved out in front of you.

2 channel performance: One word: Magnificient.

Setup: Lexicon's menu system is its key performance factor. The menus are so easy to setup for a beginner... But a tweaker's dream!

Upgradeability: Though a lot of current MC12 owners have been ticked off in recent times with the new upgrade policy to the HD version of the MC12, its my view that once you become a Lexicon owner, it's very cost effective to upgrade to the newer products, should you choose to do so.

I'm sure there are tons of other benefits... it's just too late, and it's been too long a day! Good luck though!

Fauzi

[Lex]

thanks on my post. I do have quite a bit of Lexicon knowledge, even if it's a little old now, as I have not truly kept up of late.

I have not investigated upgrade of my unit to anything HD. The way I see it is, I don't need it yet anyway. I'm not going to have all that many video sources, fact is, I don't even need an MC-12, an 8 would actually do me fine. But I have the 12 anyway.

I actually run dual projectors, so I run DVD sourced to one, and TV sourced to another, my preference. So, it reduces the need for video feeds anyway.

Good points you made Fauzi, some of the stuff I've forgotten over the years there about the Panorama mode. I run logic 7 with a 7 speaker configuration and have since the MC-1. Everything you say is right. Ease of use, superlative, but power users delight at the tweaking capabilities. The way I look at it, you can always configure your sound using an analog video feed for menu interfaces, then for performance, switch over to direct. I simply run DVD/CD/DVD changers/Directv now, and for me, I can still get by just fine without feeding HDMI or anything like that.