Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Meridian is known for signal processing. But how about speaker technology?

Sorry for ranting, just hop in the rant somewhere axle got some answers?

I like that name, Phasenoise. I can relate. Your posts are nowhere near a rant. Probably one of the most informative posts. It would have taken me forever to find out. And you have raised some very intersting points.

My passive P350s seem more transparent than my DSP speakers. The P350s show the beauty of a good recording. But they also show the less than beauty of a not so good recording. You can't blame a speaker if the problem was is in the recording. Yet, the DSP5200 always sound good, regardless of the recording. Maybe that observation is not about the speaker so much as the processing. Right now I am playing the P350s through the G57 but without the G68. It will be intersting to see the difference when I get my G68 back from service.

@ JerryL

Sorry if this is a little OT, but would you mind describing how you feel the 8000's sound differs from 10T's. Did you audition the 7000's at the time? If so, how would you say they compare?

Cheers, Ian

The Meridian Approach is a "system". This system consists of Speaker Cabinets, Drivers, Amps matched to drivers (Bespoke if you like, a system within the system)and DSP, again bespoke.
Change one thing, Driver perhaps, then you have to make further adjustments to amps and DSP bringing you back to your original position. Why bother?

Meridian Design Biuld and sell thse things, they put their name on it and they consider its the best thsy can do to date.

So, people listen,(If they are interested in quality) look at their budget and vote with their wallet. Simples!!

Heres the rub, Some people cant afford it, some people dont like it, some people arent interested in the quality, they dont see value and on and on
Then some people just love it and buy. Meridian are doing it their way, with IMHO, Integrity.
Meridian see Passive speaker as fundamentaly floored when compared to active DSP sytems. All of life is a compromised, you takes your pic.

Cheers, Keep Raging, Chris

I agree. But as customers/ hobbyists we all can share our opinions which is what one of the posters said it would be.

Ian,
I can't compare them very well. I also moved to a different house at the same time. But when I heard the 8000s at CES I knew there was a big difference. Going purely from 8-9 year old memory: the 10ts were terrific speakers and I thought the bottom end was enough to make do without a sub but the truth was they did not do that. They were a little "dry" if that makes any sense and I think the treble was a drop more forward than I would like. When I heard the 8000s I thought- gee these image more, sound smoother, and the bass is deeper and possesses an energy the 10Ts would never even dream of. There are so many variables and to be fair to the 10Ts, my room was not the best acoustic space and the house I moved into was much much better. I have fond memories of the 10Ts but to me the 8000s are in a different class. Because I was building my room and I would need long runs of some kind of wire, whether it be interconnect, speaker, or digital, I decided to go with the whole Meridian Digital Theater. No more worries about which amp, whether to bywire or even to do external crossovers etc.

I have previously posted about P350 speakers vs the DSP5200s. My observation was that they both sound great but the DSP5200s seem to be more consistent. Specifically, I observed that the P350s show the difference between a good recording and a bad one whereas the DSP5200 close that gap and show less variation. Example: P350s had a large variation in bass, whereas the DSP5200s always had relatively strong bass.

I have just noticed something very interesting. I switched amps from G57 to G55 and it seemed to improve the sound. That doesn't make sense (unless there is something wrong with the G57, and that doesn't seem to be the case) because the G55 is just a multi-channel and lower power version of the G57. Then I switched back to the G57 and it sounded even better.

I may have to revisit my speaker cable solder joints, which is a big hassle because the cables are in-wall. They are a heavy gauge wire onto thick spade terminals which made flowing solder difficult without overheating the insulation and wicking. It is possible that there is a cold solder joint making an intermittent connection.

Previously, there were loose connections in my house AC power line at the circuit breaker box. Fixing that problem increased AC line voltage by 10V. I measured 0.5 A rms, which equates to 20 ohms contact resistance! Imagine a similar contact problem in the speaker cable. 20 ohms in series with a speaker cable would certainly explain everything.

The variation mentioned above is gone or at least greatly reduced. I feel bad for pointing to the P350s for what is apparently something else. They really are a super speaker.

For those of you who do not know Roy Du Nann,
please follow the link and read:
http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/402roy/index.html

Then buy all the SACDs or XRCDs that you can find.
I tried to buy the DVD-A I couldn't find it.

Top class Jazz + top class sound engineer!

with respect to speaker design, I think the discussion could be useful if people were not biased.
I think there has been a complete revolution in speaker design in the last 10 years, this is particularly true with drivers and cabinet construction (this is most likely due to advanced engineering in materials and software development/measurements)

for example, who has listen to the following?
Magico
Martin Logan
Wegg III
Eggleston Works
JM Lab Utopia III series
MBL
Wilson Audio
Avantgarde
Thiel
Kharma
Avalon
Audio physic
Sonus Faber
etc...

They all have very different sound characteristics but sound wonderful in a good setup, I recommend you listen to any of old or new models of these famous brands.

my most memorable listening sessions where:
- Martin Logan Statement I
- Wegg III Lunar One
- JM Lab Grande Utopia III EM

Now it is true that the M design provides, active speakers with multi-amp setup, the cost of doing this the hard-core audiophile way surpasses the price a pair of 8ks no doubt! (probably several pairs even more than 2 for the previous 3 speakers mentioned)
I'm in the camp that thinks you cannot do everything with DSP technologies just yet, may be in the future. It is a bit like the digital amps, they are getting better, plenty of advantages but not quite there yet in terms of absolute sound.


I think it is fair to say that an all M system cannot be beaten for convenience, in fact I would guess that most people than have 8k have a full setup, no vinyls, and a good home cinema system (on average), obviously most people here are not the average M buyer, this is clear.

Meridian is not what you would call an esoteric audiophile company (for the better, because most are going out of business at some point), it is probably a blend between B&O, hard core audiophile with a bit HT added to the mix.

PS: I hope I haven't offended anyone!

we are too exhausted by this thread to care!

now where's Billie Holidays 'songs for torching' another one Bob might just like.

Roger, Roger, Roger, I have the feeling you need to work on your stamina to improve you "bearing limits" :-)

fbourgoin, your point is well made but isn't this true for anything? There are always improvements made. Btw- No offense is taken