Sound quality, price, flexibility

no additional zones

I have owned a lexicon cp-1 before and have longed to own a MC 12 since I was able to demo it last year. But unfortunately I could not afford $10000+ MC 12. When Lexicon announced that they were releasing a less expensive model, the MC 4 I eagerly awaited its arrival, and I was not disappointed. the MC 4 is a stripped down version of the 8 & 12. It does not have some of the features like the extra zones or the mic for calibration but does not sacrifice on the quality of sound. I used to own an Outlaw model 950 and had a chance to do a side by side comparison. The Outlaw when listening to it initially gave a very lively energetic engaging sound. The Lexicon had more depth, transparancy & layering but was more subdued (less engaging). My inital impression was I preferred the Outlaw over the Lexicon and was contemplating on returning it. But I decided to give it more time. After listening to it for the next couple of days, I realized how misinformed and wrong I was. The characteristics of the Lexicon is way beyond what the 950 can do. It just takes a while to get used to. I was more tuned to a forward sounding characteristics from the 950 and missed a lot. The Lexicon gave depth, transparancy and a kind of naturalness that you have to listen to believe. I am happy that Lexicon was able to release a model that is lower in price but did not sacrifice on the sound.