Lexicon Model 200 Digital Reverberator
Real Lexicon reverb at a price a working studio could manage. It also boots with a self-test routine that is worth watching.
Overview
The Model 200 is a two-in, two-out all-electronic digital reverberator. Lexicon's own service documentation calls it an economical, general-purpose design aimed at recording studios, musicians, film and video production houses, and broadcasters. "Economical" is the key word. It's the reason the 200 exists: a way into the Lexicon reverb sound without the cost of the flagship boxes.
How it works is simple in principle and fiddly in practice. Analog audio comes in, gets converted to digital, is written continuously into memory, gets processed, and is converted back to analog and folded into the output mix. The point is architectural simulation. The 200 is built to imitate the acoustics of a variety of spaces rather than to be a one-trick plate or spring. Lexicon's own advertising through 1984 billed it as the first economical general-purpose digital reverberator for that studio/musician/film/broadcast market, and the trade press ran the same line. Mix (1984, p.21) described the 200 as satisfying, pure digital reverb at an affordable price. DB Magazine (1984, p.67) carried the same pitch to its readers. That's the manufacturer's framing repeated in print. Lexicon was still shipping software updates for the 200 well into 1985, alongside the 224X, as Mix (1985, p.82) noted.
Living With a 200
There's a self-test jumper at the A/D and D/A converters. It disconnects the analog circuitry from the data memory and the digital signal processor, which splits the machine in half when you're chasing a fault and don't know which side of the conversion it's on. Lexicon's manual is blunt that service work needs a competent technician, that hazardous voltages live inside whenever the cord is connected, and that the unit should sit on an isolation transformer before anyone goes poking around. The internal components are static-sensitive enough that the manual devotes a full page to handling procedure. Keep ICs in their original containers, discharge yourself before touching anything, handle chips by the body, never slide devices across a surface, keep plastic, vinyl, and styrofoam out of the work area, and use only grounded-tip soldering irons. That reads less like boilerplate and more like a company that had watched people kill boards.
One note for anyone hunting parts: the input transformer option is a real, documented accessory. The parts list gives CUST LITERATURE 070-03723 for the instruction sheet, with the transformers themselves as 470-03206, quantity two, designated T4 and T5 and picked and added to the motherboard post-solder kit 024-03191. If a 200 shows up with transformer inputs, that's a factory option, not a modification.
Service, Warranty, and the Reality of Ownership
Lexicon warranted the 200 against defects in material and workmanship for one year from delivery to the purchaser or their authorized agent or carrier. It would repair or replace defective components at no charge, provided the unit came back shipping-prepaid to the factory or a designated service facility. The exclusions are the usual ones: abuse, neglect, alteration, or repair by unauthorized personnel voids the warranty, as does damage from improper use, an incorrect power source, accident, act of God, war, or civil insurrection. Lexicon also reserved the right to change the design without updating machines already sold. That's standard practice, but it means two 200s from different production runs aren't necessarily identical inside.
If you ship a 200 today, follow the manual's procedure to the letter. Lexicon assumes no responsibility for the unit in shipment from customer to factory, in or out of warranty. Shipments have to be well packed, with original packing materials if you have them, otherwise a new packing kit from Lexicon. They also have to be properly insured and consigned to a reliable agent. Before returning anything, the manual says to consult Lexicon first to establish the extent of the problem and agree on a shipping procedure. Include name, company, address, city, state, ZIP, telephone with area code, serial number, a description of the problem, desired return date, and preferred return method. The manual also says explicitly not to include accessories like power cords, manuals, or remote switches. That last one trips people up constantly.
The warranty terms are long expired on every 200 in existence, so what counts now is parts and documentation. The service packet is the prize: specifications, service and warranty information, performance tests and calibration procedures, a troubleshooting guide, schematics and assembly drawings, and a parts list, all in one document. A 200 that comes with the packet and the owner's manual (part no. 070-03567) is worth more than one without. That's not only for resale. Without the calibration procedures and schematics, a fault that the power-up diagnostics can flag is still a fault nobody can chase down.
Calibration, per the manual, requires a specific bench. You need a variable AC voltage source with isolation transformer, voltmeter, and ammeter; a digital voltmeter; a dual-trace oscilloscope with better than 20 MHz bandwidth; an audio-band low-distortion sine wave generator capable of 20 dBm maximum output; a harmonic distortion analyzer with level meter; a noise meter; a high-quality music source; a Lexicon-compatible footswitch and footpedal; and a headphone amplifier with headphones. That's not a casual home setup, and it's the honest reason so many of these end up with a small number of techs who specialize in them. If you're buying a 200 to use rather than to collect, budget for a bench visit at least once.
The footswitch and footpedal requirement shows the 200 was built for working players and engineers as well as for the rack. Lexicon's own description of the target market, musicians alongside studios, film/video, and broadcast, explains the pedal support.
What to Look For
The fact base here is thin on production dates, original pricing, and current market values, so this page can't tell you what a fair price is or when a given unit rolled off the line. It can tell you what the manual says matters. Ask for the service packet. Ask whether the power-up diagnostics complete cleanly. A fifteen-second boot that lands in the reverb programs is the best sign you can get without opening the case. Ask about the transformer option if the seller mentions it, and confirm the part numbers. And if the seller offers to include the power cord, manuals, and remote switches in the box, remember that Lexicon specifically asked people not to ship accessories with a unit going in for service. That says how often those accessories got separated from their machines.
The Model 200 isn't the Lexicon most people picture when they picture Lexicon. It's the one that made the picture affordable. It put a real digital reverb in a lot of rooms that would otherwise have had none, and software updates were still arriving in 1985.
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