New Bryston or Used Lexicon?

I have total respect for the brains at Lexicon. But.. I did a side by side comparisin of the Lexicon and the Theater Grand 2 from Sunfire and could not detect any difference in sound quality (although I was looking forward to owning the Lexicon!). I went with the Sunfire, and I've been very happy with the performance and versatility. Mind you, I was looking for a combination of stereo and Theater. I expect that I will be blasted by many out there for putting Sunfire in the same class as Lexicon... but this is what I found to be true.

Just to set the record straight, I believe Tomcat is correct about the Bryston/Lexicon relationship. The information I was given was apparently incorrect.

I don't believe Lexicon makes the Bryston SP-1 and Bryston doesn't make Lexicon amps any longer either. The new Lexicon LX series amps are going to be made by one of their parent companies, Crown I think.

DON'T pay $3500 for a used MC-1! They can be had much cheaper than that. Even from a dealer, I wouldn't pay more than about $2500. Keep in mind, however, that Lexicon offers generous upgrade programs on their pre/pros, but each unit can only be traded in once in it's lifetime - it would be worth some extra $$$ to buy one that could be traded in in the future. My guess is that your dealer would be selling you one he rec'd on trade, so then it's really way too much

I owned / loved the MC-1 for 2 years before trading mine in on the new MC-12. It's awesome for movies (which I watch a lot of) and I found it to be excellent for music. I haven't compared it to a lot of other units, but it was extremely well reviewed even for music listening. I don't know if it's better or worse that the SP-1, but I think that at $2500 (esp. if it remains eligible to trade in later), it's a great piece and I would highly recommend it. -Kirk