Long anticipated. My ears were drooling upfront. It was bound to happen. What? Lyngdorf Audio and Purifi teaming up to build one of the best (the best?) multichannel power amplifiers on the planet. Serious. The wait was long. Why? The power supply needed to be top-notch, reliable and eco-friendly. I’ve known Lyngdorf for quite some time now. That’s why I can anticipate them truly battle-testing this product before putting it on the market. Believe me, I saw pictures (proof!) of the setup they made to put these amps through hell (24h/8-channels driven to spec). Let’s get real here. An 8-channel power amplifier that can produce 400 Watts (8Ohm) of Purifi power on all 8 channel simultaneously!? That’s what I call a BEAST ! A lot of AV receivers and even multichannel power amplifiers nibble on power output of the surround channels to keep cost down. They often reason that surround channels just contain effects, so there’s no real need for the same power as front, center and right, right? Wrong ! The Lyngdorf Audio MXA-8400 offers 8 identical channels, based on Purifi Eigentakt technology. Channels 3, 5 and 8 should sound the same. What a fantastic starting point for a full blast Dolby Atmos setup, utilizing one or two of these power amps. Let’s rock’n roll !
Lyngdorf, Purifi or the best of both?
Lyngdorf who? Lyngdorf what? Lyngdorf Audio is a premium Danish audio brand known for its innovative approach to high-fidelity sound. Founded by godfather Peter Lyngdorf, the company blends cutting-edge engineering with sleek Scandinavian design. Lyngdorf has focused on delivering pristine, room-optimized sound through advanced digital amplification and its proprietary RoomPerfect™ calibration technology. Catering to audiophiles and home theater enthusiasts alike, their products—ranging from amplifiers to loudspeakers—promise an immersive and authentic listening experience.
Purifi Audio is also a Danish audio company founded in 2014 by a team of industry veterans, including Peter Lyngdorf, Bruno Putzeys, and Lars Risbo, with a mission to revolutionize sound reproduction. The brand focuses on creating ultra-low-distortion loudspeaker drivers and advanced Class D amplifier modules, such as the acclaimed Eigentakt technology. Purifi’s innovations stem from a deep understanding of audio physics, aiming to eliminate technical barriers to pure, transparent sound. Catering primarily to OEMs and DIY enthusiasts, their products are celebrated for setting new benchmarks in performance and clarity.
So much for the little history lesson. Now for the million-dollar question: What’s the link between the brands? While they both share Peter Lyngdorf as a co-founding father, Lyngdorf delivers consumer-ready solutions while Purifi supplies cutting-edge technology to manufacturers and enthusiasts. This synergy allows Lyngdorf Audio to potentially leverage Purifi’s advancements, enhancing its own products with state-of-the-art components. From this synergy the Lyngdorf Audio MXA-8400 was born.
A league of its own
You can totally say the Lyngdorf Audio MXA-8400 is a game-changer for multichannel amps. It’s packed with Purifi Eigentakt tech, Lyngdorf’s PowerPerfect power supply, super quiet and spot-on analog inputs, and a slick 4-layer main PCB that keeps signals clean and grounded.
The Purifi Eigentakt modules keep THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) crazy low no matter the frequency or power, plus low IMD (Inter Modulation Distortion), giving you a crystal-clear, rock-solid sound. Basically, you get super neutral audio with barely any noise or coloration.
From an audiophile’s perspective, the Lyngdorf Audio PowerPerfect power supply is a pretty big deal. It’s designed to tackle one of the trickiest challenges in high-end audio: delivering clean, stabile power to multiple channels without choking under pressure. For someone obsessed with sound quality, that’s huge because even the best amp tech can sound messy if the power feeding it isn’t up to snuff.
What stands out is how efficient this thing is. It’s pumping out a combined 3.2 kilowatts across eight channels and can handle even higher peaks without breaking a sweat. That kind of juice matters when you’re driving complex speaker setups, especially in home theater rigs or high-end stereo systems where dynamics can swing hard. Audiophiles tend to geek out over headroom, and this supply seems built to give you plenty, so you’re not clipping or losing punch during loud passages.
The noise control is another win. It’s got this Channel Balancing Technology, which keeps each channel fed evenly, even when they’re all cranking. Plus, it filters out AC mains junk—stuff that can sneak into your signal and add hiss or fuzz. For an audiophile, that’s gold; cleaner power means less crap muddying up the soundstage or smearing fine details. And since it’s so efficient, it doesn’t need noisy fans—just the chassis as a heatsink—which keeps things dead quiet. It’s also smartly designed—decoupled from the mains so you don’t need extra conditioners, and it won’t mess with other gear in your chain.
The design of the Lyngdorf Audio MXA-8400 is as every Lyngdorf product sleek and minimalistic. You love it or hate it. A small LED light on the front left side hints the operational status of the amp. The middle of the front is characterized by a dark divider offering some contrast to the grey parts of the unit. Down left you can find the Lyngdorf logo, on the right the type number: MXA-8400. Turning over to the back side (from left to right), there’s the service access point, the sensitivity switch, trigger out and in, the power state switch, 8 analog XLR audio inputs, 8 Neutrik SpeakON audio outputs, power switch and socket. Although the use of XLR inputs and SpeakON outputs is more associated with professional equipment, I can sure understand the choice. Let’s hook this big boy up and start pushing its buttons !
Impressive impressions
Let’s warm up gently with some basic stereo stuff, using 4 of the amps channels to power the Lyngdorf Audio Cue-100’s and 2 Lyngdorf Audio BW20’s (crossed at 80Hz). Aurora comes on stage to perform an acoustic version of her Murder song. With the first notes of the acoustic guitar the amp starts to shine: negligible coloration of the metal strings, power and accuracy fill the listening room. Her voice floats mid-air with a tender sweetness that immerses you with a veil of emotions. At round 50 seconds her male counterpoint joins the conversation. The musical and vocal intent of the song is crystal clear. The level of musical embrace is new to me for this type of amplifier.
Let’s explore the next stereo track: Broken boy dreams by Febe and Aram Abgaryan from the album “Broken boy dreams”. This studio recording offers different sounds and throws some heavy low frequency punches around. The sheer precision, control and depth of the low(est) notes is unmatched. You feel the bass waves move through the room, hitting you in the stomach. The same airiness comes over me when she starts singing. Nice job sound engineer(s) ! Double vocals are projected into the room with great separation, yet they blend perfectly. Wauw !
Ok. The warming is over now. Let’s start with some heavy lifting and stream Transformers. Arrival to earth from Steve Jablonsky is a more complex classical score with choir parts. Read: more challenging for the amplifier. The orchestra plays on a big stage, segmented in different heights and layers. Power and dynamics are awesome. At around minute 3 the choir kicks in. Pitch-black background, total silence at first. Then out of nowhere voices are painted in the air with smooth, tender brushes. What a colorful work of musical art !
Engaging full throttle now. Going full Dolby Atmos music. This means that the Lyngdorf Audio MXA-8400 gets the full load now, delivering sound on all 8 channels (4 surround channels added to the mix). The 4 height channels are amplified with 2 Lyngdorf Audio SDA-2400 power amplifiers. Join our 6.2.4 sound experience ! I hear you thinking: where’s the center speaker? No need. The Lyngdorf Audio MP-60 renders a virtual center that stands as a brick house, especially when utilizing their RoomPerfect room correction software. Not so long ago Tidal started offering Dolby Atmos music tracks. Interesting and fun at the same time. Belgian artist Stromae is world famous. Listening to his hit “L’enfer” was enjoyable. There was a time when sound engineers had no clue on how to mix immersive formats. Remember? Drums, vocals, strings and other stuff were coming out of surround speakers. They’ve adapted for sure. The musical space just became bigger. I got the sense of a room in the room. That’s great because you can experience the original room acoustics or virtually created acoustics. Drive and engagement are still top-notch. The piano sounded rich and colorful. Stromae’s voice sounded as good as it can get. Let’s be honest. He’s no Diana Krall or Michael Buble now, is he?
Even more fun while Billy was burying her friend. What an open soundstage ! Low frequencies rolled effortlessly through the space, while her voice remained controlled and spot-on. Without effort, fluent. You are literally surrounded by a virtuoso soundscape.
Putting on the afterburners. Movie time. Even more restrain challenges for the amplifier as the bass load increases. The opening scene from “The Matrix – Resurrections” is a real kicker. Morpheus (who doesn’t know he’s Morpheus yet) arrives at an apartment block with his trolls to pick a fight. All hell breaks loose. Punches are thrown around, accompanied with heavy low sound effects. The Lyngdorf Audio MXA-8400 needs to react quick, powerful, with punch and control. Surprise? He does.
You gotta love Keanu Reeves, as I stay with him to watch a big gun fight scene from John Wick 4. Bad guys and different firearms come and go at a rapid pace. Thanks to the resolving power of the amplifier, it’s very easy to distinguish how the guns fire and sound different. I’ve never heard this before. This contributes so much to a greater experience. The power and impact of the gun shots is insane. At all times it feels like I’m there with John Wick, sensing the room completely and every move they actors make.
Let’s finish off with the epic battle between the big T-Rex and small velociraptor. The scene starts with the T-Rex chasing the little girl down to her room. When he enters the room, he growls … almost scaring the little girl to death. I’ve played this fragment a few times with different guests in our cinema room. Always a source of laughter because the sound is so realistic that the T-Rex is actually present in the room and growling from behind the sofa. Every single time those heads turns. What more do you want from an amplifier? It produces a life-like sound, convincing its listeners with such ease. At all times he shows dominant control while setting up the original acoustic space. This creates the “you are there” feeling, offering the ultimate experience. The amplifier does all this without breaking a sweat. He always keeps cool. No fans, the chassis provides the necessary heat conduction.
Price
9.000 euro per unit
Technical specifications
- Description: 8-channel power amplifier
- Power rating: 8 x 400 Watts at 4 Ohms, 8 x 200 Watts at 8 Ohms, 4 x 800 Watts (bridge mode)
- Power rating at rated THD: 8 x 340 Watts at 4 Ohms, 8 x 200 Watts at 8 Ohms
- Idle power consumption: 29 Watts
- Standby power consumption: <0,5 Watts
- Time to standby mode: 15 minutes (at no input signal, in LOW POWER mode)
- Frequency response: ± 0,1dB (ref. 20Hz-20kHz)
- Max output current per channel: 25 A
- Max output voltage per channel: 58 V peak, 116 V peak (bridge mode)
- Gain high sensitivity: 26.1 dB, 31.7 dB (bridge mode)
- Gain low sensitivity: 16.6 dB, 22.2 dB (bridge mode)
- Signal to noise ratio: 128 dB (A-weighted ref. rated power, low sensitivity mode)
- Damping factor: >1200 (8 Ohms, 20Hz-1kHz)
- Input sensitivity: 2 V (high sensitivity), 6 V (low sensitivity)
- Input impedance: 10kOmhs
- Audio inputs: 8 x XLR analog inputs
- Audio outputs: 8 x Neutrik speakON
- Dimensions (W x H x D): 45 x 14.5 x 34.9 cm / 17.7 x 5.7 x 13.7 inches
- Weight: 10.3 Kg / 22 Lb
- Finish: Matte black
Software
Stereo music tracks
- Murder song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1) acoustic – Aurora – All my demons greeting me as a friend
- Broken boy dreams – Febe, Aram Abgaryan – Broken boy dreams
- Arrival to Earth – Steve Jablonsky – Transformers: The Score
Dolby Atmos music tracks
- L’enfer – Stromae – Multitude
- Bury a friend – Billie Eilish – When we all fall asleep, where do we go?
Dolby Atmos / DTS Master film fragments
- The Matrix – Resurrections
- John Wick – Chapter 4
- Jurrasic World – Fallen Kingdom
Hardware
- Lyngdorf Audio MP-60 AV Processor
- Lyngdorf Audio MXA-8400 8-channel power amplifier (L, R, woofer L, woofer R, L surround, R surround, L back surround, R back surround)
- Lyngdorf Audio SDA-2400 2-channel power amplifier (L front height channel, L back height channel)
- Lyngdorf Audio SDA-2400 2-channel power amplifier (R front height channel, R back height channel)
- Zappiti PRO 4K HDR Audiocom Cinema Edition media player
- Roon Server for bitperfect Tidal streaming
- Lyngdorf Audio Cue-100 speakers (L, R)
- Lyngdorf Audio BW-20 passive boundary woofers (L, R)
- Lyngdorf Audio FR-1 speakers (L surround, R surround, L back surround, R back surround)
- Lyngdorf Audio MH-2 speakers (L front height channel, R front height channel, L back height channel, R back height channel)
- Oehlbach Powerstation 909 multiple socket strip (2 pcs)
- Oehlbach High End Power Cable 4m (2 pcs to feed Powerstations 909)
- Oehlbach High End 8K – Ultra High-Speed HDMI Cable (2 pcs)
- Formovie Theater Premium Utra Short Throw 4K Triple Color Laser TV
- Vovox Sonorus XLR cables
- Devine Neutrik SpeakON 2 x 2.5mm speaker cables
- Standard power cables
Lyngdorf MXA-8400
9.000 euroLet’s not beat around the bush. The Lyngdorf Audio MXA-8400 is by far the best multi-channel amplifier we could get our hands and ears on. Bring out the awards: Golden Globes, Oscars, you name it, the amp deserves it! With an overall score of 9.7 this amplifier receives the highest rating ever awarded (to date) by Best of high end. Obviously the Lyngdorf Audio MXA-8400 receives the “Best of high end AWARD”.
Pros
- Powerhouse
- Fantastic control
- Excellent sound quality
- Minimalistic design
- Price
- Bridgeable to 4 x 800 Watts
- Doesn't get hot
Cons
- Only XLR (analog) inputs
- Only Neutrick SpeakON outputs
