Lekato Space Studio Reverb
When I first started playing guitar, reverb was something you had to be very intentional about. Dedicated reverb pedals were complex bits of tech, and because of that, they were expensive. For most players, you simply used whatever reverb was built into your amp — job done.
Then came the likes of Mooer, who brought reverb (and other effects) to the masses at a much more accessible price point. Those early budget reverbs were functional, but they were basic — think of them more as a polite nod to ambience rather than the swirling, immersive soundscapes we know today. Then Strymon showed up and changed the game entirely for portable effects. Their lush, expansive, and textural reverbs turned the effect from background decoration into a defining part of your tone.
In more recent years, we’ve seen some of the budget pedal brands step up to that challenge, aiming to capture that same lush, “studio in a box” sound for a fraction of the price. We recently looked at the rather impressive Gokko Divine Shimmer Verb, and now we have another contender: the Lekato Space Studio Reverb. From what I understand, it shares quite a few similarities with the M-Vave Mini Universe... I'm not making any claims here, but let's just say certain Chinese companies have been known to 'share' their circuits in the past. Say no more.
Rather than dissect every single mode individually, it’s easier to split the Space Studio into two distinct categories: the everyday reverbs and the special effects reverbs.
Everyday Reverbs
The first group is made up of the usual suspects — Room, Hall, Plate, and Spring. These are your bread-and-butter reverb types, and they actually offer more flexibility than you might expect. Each one has a much longer available decay time than the typical “amp reverb,” meaning you can easily go from subtle space to cinematic wash just by tweaking the decay and mix controls.
The one misstep here, though, is the Spring. Despite the label, it doesn’t really behave like a true spring reverb. There’s no splash, no drip, none of that vintage tank character you might expect. It’s not bad-sounding at all — it’s just misnamed. Think of it more as a smooth room reverb with a bit of midrange colour rather than a surf-ready spring.
Special Reverbs
Then we come to the weird and wonderful side of the pedal. This is where things get interesting. Of course, it includes a Shimmer mode — it wouldn’t be a modern reverb pedal without one — but it also adds some more adventurous flavours like Cloud (which I can only assume is inspired by the Strymon Cloud algorithm) and, right at the end of the dial, the absolute wild card: Lo-Fi.
That Lo-Fi mode might be one of the most unusual reverbs I’ve ever heard. It transforms your sound into something reminiscent of a dying 8-bit console — glitchy, crunchy, and full of nostalgic chaos. I’m definitely not the target audience for that kind of sound, but I can easily see experimental players and ambient noise artists falling in love with it.
The Shimmer, by contrast, is genuinely impressive for a pedal at this price point. It’s surprisingly easy to dial in a tone that blends tastefully with your playing rather than sitting awkwardly on top of it — a rare feat for cheaper shimmer verbs.
Parameter Controls
Much like the Caline Mariana Reverb, the Lekato Space Studio features three parameter knobs that change their function depending on which mode you’re in.
For most modes, you get High Pass, Low Pass, and Drift controls. The Drift control adds a subtle modulation to the tail of the reverb, giving it a slight tape-like wobble. Used sparingly, it adds a lovely sense of movement and character. Crank it too high, and things start to get a little seasick — but hey, maybe that’s your vibe.
In Shimmer mode, the parameters change to control the mix of the octave effect and the pitch. This is absolutely essential for getting the shimmer effect to sit correctly in your mix — it lets you balance how present the upper octave is and how high it’s pitched.
For Lo-Fi, things get even more interesting. The parameters control the amount of white noise in the effect and the sample rate. That gives you real creative power to shape the chaos. I can see more experimental players actually using these controls to “play” the pedal almost like an extension of your instrument, riding the controls for expressive, glitchy textures.
Final Thoughts
I really appreciate what Lekato are going for here. No, it’s not the most polished or refined reverb pedal on the market — but that’s not the point. The Space Studio offers an ambitious range of sounds that stretch far beyond the typical “budget reverb” box. Most of its modes are not just usable, but genuinely fun and inspiring to play with.
If you just want a straightforward, subtle reverb for adding a touch of ambience, you might find better options elsewhere — something like the Mosky Spring or Sonicake Levitate Spring would probably get you closer to a traditional sound. But buying this pedal just for its basic reverbs would be missing the point entirely.
This is a pedal designed for getting lost in soundscapes. Crank the decay, turn up the mix, and let it saturate your tone until you’re swimming in ambience. For players who want a taste of those lush, Strymon-style reverbs without the premium price tag, the Lekato Space Studio Reverb is a seriously tempting little box.
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