Musical Fidelity LX2-LPS
FOR Open full-bodied sound; fluid dynamics; MM and MC Musical Fidelity’s LX2 LPS and the Award-winning Rega Fono MM MK3 – the competition for any product entering this market at this price – are split by their differing talents rather than one or the other being in any particular ascendancy.
The LX2LPS is, of course, our focus for this review, though it splits its own focus by offering amplification for both movingmagnet and moving-coil cartridges. Catering for both, especially to do so adeptly, is a rarity at this price given the extra work involved with the latter.
That a decent MC cartridge alone would likely set you back more than double the price of this unit, and that’s not to mention the cost of the rest of a suitable deck, means we wonder how much use will be made of this feature. Still, its presence can only be regarded as positive – if only for the fact it facilitates a second toggle (indisputably king of switching systems) on the front of the unit.
First impressions
This is a classy product. Naturally, as a phono stage, its appearance is clean cut – this is a game played very much behind closed doors – but the build is solid and symmetry fundamentally pleasing.
The LX2LPS also boasts adjustable impedance, which is, again, of near hen-tooth rarity at this price. Rather than a switch, there are two sets of loading plugs on the back of the chassis for you or, more likely, your dealer to do the job manually.
At this price it would be surprising to find many buyers making use of the feature. An entry-level phono amplifier is usually fit-and-forget out of necessary convenience as much as budget and, given the LX2LPS’S native performance, there’s AGAINST Trades punch for sophistication no real need for customisation regardless. Still, it’s of no inconvenience to have the option.
Sounds familiar
Simply put, this sounds precisely like most Musical Fidelity products, and in a tremendously positive way.
Using a moving-magnet cartridge, as we do for most of our testing, we play Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works 85 92 and relish the LX2LPS’S familiarly spacious and full-bodied presentation. There’s a lot of low end, which warms up the performance noticeably but steers clear of becoming invasive or overly corpulent.
There isn’t the punch or rhythmic precision of the Rega Fono MM MK3, which loses it some ground on more driven tracks, but still the music times quite well enough and is far from lacking generally in terms of dynamic reach.
Particular talents
The difference is really that the Rega scores consistently high across the board whereas the Musical Fidelity’s talents are more varied – and it’s with slower, more reflective pieces that the latter is truly able to shine.
Lewis’s L’amour, for example, sounds as though it has been produced especially for kit such as this. The LX2LPS’S creamy, full-bodied presentation buoys meandering piano lines and luscious synth pads, the vocal presented gorgeously with a combination of warmth and dulcet expression that suits Lewis’s croon to a tee. Arrangements focused so considerably on the middle register are a delight through this phono stage, which revels in those frequencies. And yet the talent is more widespread – a combination of that aforementioned space and a generally balanced overall range safeguards against the pieces becoming compressed or insular.
A model of consistency
If you are planning to make use of the MC input, the LX2LPS’S character happily remains the same. We use our reference Clearaudio Innovation Wood/ Stradivari V2 combination, which is certainly not this amp’s ideal bedfellow. But we can’t say the Musical Fidelity is out of its depth – it simply continues to do what it does well, and somewhat justifies the inclusion of moving-coil input.
As competition for the Award-winning Rega, the LX2LPS is perhaps not as versatile sonically, but where it thrives it delivers a more engaging performance, and one that comfortably validates a five-star rating.
“The creamy, full-bodied presentation buoys meandering piano lines and luscious synth pads”