Steinway Lyngdorf Model C

Steinway Lyngdorf follows up on the Model D with the Model C Music System, a more compact offering that proves their commitment to uncompromising quality

Published in: October 2008

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The most important fact to note about the Model C Music System is related to the most obvious thing about it, compared with the Model D Music System. This is a significantly more compact proposition consisting of two floor-standing dipole speakers, twin boundary woofers and a pedestal head unit.

"The fundamental changes here are in the way the speakers have been built for a more intimate listening environment and (what we have done) for clients who asked for something appropriate for smaller spaces. They (clients who are jazz lovers) also wanted a stronger or warmer delivery of bass in the music that they listen to," said Madhavan.

Everything that made the Model D such a standout is present in the Model C. According to Madhavan and the official Steinway Lyngdorf documentation, there is virtually no difference between the Model D and the Model C, with the exception of aesthetics of course. This means that the Model C, despite its scaled down proportions and lower price is still an uncompromising music system.

"It takes the same amount of time to build either the Model D or the Model C(eight weeks). A Model C client still gets everything he or she would get with the Model D, except that it is in a very different aesthetic composition from the Model D. It is just a more compact composition. Not many homes in Singapore, for example, have ceilings that can accommodate Model D."

This means that the Model C continues to offer the patented three-dimensional room adaptation technology – Room Perfect – and the same fully digital amplification technology as the Model D. Add to this the fact that Steinway Lyngdorf applied the same finishing standards to the Model C and extends a bespoke service for it and one might question the pricing of the product. The Model C is priced at US$148,000 while the Model D is US$188,000. It turns out that the price is really a simple function of size.

"The price difference simply reflects the fact that we used fewer raw materials (components) for the Model C," said Madhavan.

At this level of engineering and craftsmanship, Steinway Lyngdorf actually wondered if they had priced the Model D – and by extension the Model C – too low. Madhavan confirms that the company was told that the Model D should have been priced above US$250,000 but that this was not in keeping with Peter Lyngdorf's purist sentiments. The same applies for the Model C of course.

"Model C is driven by Peter Lyngdorf's desire to give more music lovers the opportunity to experience (aural perfection). He is driven by pure passion. Given the cost of development and such, we could have – and we are told by our clients that we should have – priced it higher. After all, it costs easily above US$300,000 to generate a respectable sound system."

The launch of the Model C serves as an excellent lead into the new Model LS and Model M ranges. According to Peter Lyngdorf, Steinway Lyngdorf has managed to create a home theatre system that improves by between 20-200 percent on any product currently available on the market. But this is an entirely different story ...