Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Dipping a toe into Meridian waters : speaker quandary....

Rolski,

[From us all] you are very welcome, please do let us know how you get on.

Regards,
Carl

Hi Roland
nice to see you on the forum, to get some more unbiased ;-) comments. All the valit points made by the fellows on the forum. We discussed them already at the dealer.

I see, that you are a bit unhappy, that you didn't audioned the 7200 at your location, even if you didn't point it out here.
There is no doubt, that it is easy for me to demo the 7200 with the dealer in your home. This can be set even next week.

Cheers
Armin

Hi Armin !
Thanks for the reply & nice to know you're on the forum too - and special thanks to you for hosting the all-day demo at & on behalf of my dealer this week, especially as it was on your birthday !
And please don't misunderstand - I wasn't unhappy at all : after having some time to relax & really think about the DSP7200's with regards to my situation / apartment I've been wondering if it would be better to demo them at home to see if the differences / improvements / benefits are more obvious etc.... I'll do some more thinking over the weekend & will either call you or HiFi Eins to discuss things further !
Herzlichen dank nochmals & schoenest wochenende !

A slight misunderstanding I think - I'm actually not sure about the differences between TMA+B&W and Meridian but I'm in no way comparing them to NAIM - that should have perhaps been a separate comment for clarity.
With regards to my brief experiences with NAIM I just thought it was "noisy" i.e. in-your-face, or perhaps a good analogy (IMHO) would be that their signature sound is a further addition to the "volume wars" of compression that is all too prevalent these days. I really don't understand why people keep talking about NAIM & pace / rhythm - surely they actually just mean "loud" as the kit should reproduce the music at the same speed (pace) and without changing the sound (rhythm ?) compared to what's on the CD / source at all ?!

To the detriment of my poor neighbours, I agree completely ! And at the demo this week my dealer had a few amusing comments to make about the levels myself & the distributor were "testing" at !

The DSP8000's are not really an option because of space & cost. And both my dealer & the distributor both said that they're happy to take my money (!) but not happy to sell me the speakers - because they're inappropriately large for my current situation.
Likewise the 5500HC & the 7200HC - I've just measured them in comparison to my current HTM2D and they're much bigger - so that's probably no longer an option either ! Also, the 7200HC is too much money. I don't have a specific budget - just sensible limits.... Oh, and the B&W "upgrade" is already bought-and-paid-for too, but that's not a problem at all as there's such a waiting list for the new models they'll get sold-on immediately without a doubt.

Absolutely - the 8000's are simply too big physically as well as financially ! Also, the L&R can't be moved "inboard" because they'll be in front of the screen when it's lowered and they can't be moved along the length of the room (out of the corners) either because the L speaker would then block the doorway into the kitchen. I was quite pleased to note that the 7200's were about 15cm less deep than my 802D's - it would make getting through that corner door so much less risky !

Hmm, noting comments above I think the 7200HC & 5500HC are now possibly off the agenda - and the comments about the sub are noted. How would the voicing be with a 5200HC ?

Yep - good points - am now leaning in that direction....if it's not a bad choice for any reason.

Films & TV aren't the major usage, but I'd prefer a centre to "take the load" when necessary - so would the 5200HC be man enough ? Another, potentially related question is now whether a sub in conjunction with a 5500HC gives a good balance & overall system match for movies (and TV) ?
The "seamless" front-to-rear matching, which I'd call voicing, is of course important & noticeable, but I'm again currently hampered by the room & furnishings - the rear & side surrounds must be wall-mounted & high because there are bookcases on both sides of the room, another doorway in the back corner & the rear wall's covered almost from floor to ceiling with a CD rack ! If I do go down the DSP route then I'd like everything to match - but once again it's a question of being sensible / funds - and the in-wall DSP's (which I'd have to wall-mount on brackets anyway) aren't particularly cheap either ! An upgrade for another day....

Phew !
Thanks everyone for all the comments - please don't stop - my options are now a little clearer but I guess the main question still remains & is whether I go down the DSP route or not. As you'll see from a separate note, I now have the offer of a home demo from the Distributor - which I think I'll gladly take up ! Maybe that'll tip the balance....

I think I would prefer a 5200HC over the 5500HC. the 5500HC is a little 'heavy handed' in most rooms.
I must admit that I didn't realise the SW1600 went down to 20hz, I thought it was a newer version of the SW1500, which when I tried it added very little to the 5000s let alone 7000s, but it seems it is quite a bit better, so may well add an extra dimension, even with 7000s.

As long as you set the 5200HC to "small" and you crossover sufficiently high enough to reduce bass load on the speaker, I think it would work nicely for you.

Good to know, thanks.

So, latest consideration is 2*DSP7200 mains, a DSP5200HC & a 1600SW, leaving the surround sides / rears as passive for the moment.

Two more questions - 1) spikes or feet ? I have medium thickness "office" carpet on the floor & solid concrete underneath - my B&W's are spiked. 2) And why doesn't anyone take the grilles off the DSP7200's ? We removed all the grilles as well as the tweeter mesh & I think the (black) speakers looked much much better....

Also, have had an offer of a home demo for the 7200's from my Distributor (Armin2) - all we have to do now is to convince my dealer to carry them up 5 flights of stairs ! I think the best thing to do is to get the 861v6+HD621 set up & my ears tuned in to them before bringing the DSP's into the picture - then I should really know for sure - right ?

IMHO, the 5200hc will be fine for Movies, when set to Small as VK says above

However, having listened to a similar D7200 / D52kc setup, I think you may well prefer the DIRECT preset for Music. Direct will send the Music to the Front Pair only.

Trifield, which is a very popular Preset for 2ch Music, will try and incorporate the Centre, Sub and Rears, but to my ears the use of Only the Front Pair resulted in the Superior all around performance with 2ch Music.

The advantage of the Home Demo will allow you play around with these Meridian Preset / Soundfields to see what suits your ear the best.

However, IMHO you shouldn't feel "obliged" to use all Six Speakers for Music, just because they are there. Using the D7K2 Front Pair only, will sometimes produce the most integrated sound for Music

Thanks Ronnie.
To be honest, I've played a little with surround modes before and unless the source material has been mastered in multi-channel then I personally think it's a bit weird to play back in anything else than stereo. I can imagine that in larger rooms or different circumstances there are benefits in the enveloping sound, but it's not for me - Direct or Stereo (Direct + sub I believe) are the only ways I listen to 2-channel....at the moment....but I will of course try the Meridian-unique modes as soon as my 861 arrives.

Does anyone else have any more experiences / tales regarding their switch from passive to active, or perhaps even from TMA / B&W kit to Meridian ?

I've just noted that the SW1600 doesn't have SpeakerLink (!) - so what would be the best way to connect it to the 861 ?

Is that true of the very latest models? Check with a dealer.

OK - I've only checked on the website so far - which by inference doesn't always hold the most accurate information then ?