Zippy and fun

Lexicon 212 Stereo Power Amplifier

I find the Lexicon 212 stereo amplifier to be cute and to pack a wallop.

Yes, 120 watts per channel isn’t exactly a bruiser, but it’s a zippy amp with musicality for days.

The bottom end has that elusive nice mix of dry and wet, like an A/B amp over 50 damping factor or a Class D amp under 600.

I could figure out or look up the damping factor for this little guy, but I won’t because I don’t care. It sounds realistic, teetering over the edge of fun.

I kind of snooze when I hear any amp that can’t spread out the soundstage realistically, and keep instruments where they are. That is a system trait, partly influenced by the room and the speakers, but the amp plays a decent role too, I’ve found.

The best amps I hear instantly have that separation and space around instruments. But not all of them are as fun on the bottom as this guy.

The Lexicon 212 should be relatively affordable for its sound, so it could be worth a try for someone who has an amplifier need with something like a pair of KEF LS50s (or those awesome Dynaudio Focus 160s) on stands.

Right now the 212 is lighting up my own DIY monitors in majorly pleasing fashion. These are pretty insensitive speakers, and they have a decent impedance spike in the bass region that I left alone. I found that any impedance equalizing circuit robs them of their realism, dynamics and magic.

Most amps treat them well, and this one in particular kind of makes them shine. This little Lexi is a gem.

And, as an added bonus, the Lexicon’s original owner said he purchased it with the intention of building a 7-channel home theater system, but he never put it together, so this one has less than 10 hours of use. Pretty good score, I think!