Wait, so you've completely removed the internals?
That was actually pretty funny.
My opinion on LPEGs/MPEGs is that as long as you don't ask for a lot out of them, they should be fine, for at least a while.
I would say an A&K S-System is near the top of the heap when it comes to ACM stuff, not on the same level as the AIM M4. While nice, it still falls prone to the pitfalls of ACM MPEGs, like shitty gears, et cetera. I've heard AIM M4s can be made serviceable, but serviceable out of the box, they are not.
At least not by my standards.