Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Using Meridian DSP Speakers with Non-Meridian Receiver?

Ello Mates,

Been awhile as I moved back to analog gear after too many issues with a pair of D6000 speakers I purchased on eBay; had quite a long thread about 5 years ago on this.

Well, I'm thinking of coming back and still have some DSP5000's (2 Centers & 2 Floor Standing). If I come back fully, I'll be looking at the 7200 or 8000's.

For now, DUMB QUESTION:

Is there a way to hook up Meridian Speakers to a regular preamp or receiver? When I traded my 6000's for a pair of B&W 802N's, I'm almost certain the dealer hooked them up to non-Meridian gear & had them playing before I left.

Absolutely fine - its standard SPDIF.

I used my DSP5000's direct with my Sonos kit.

Not sure on the logistics if you wanted surround sound though. Should work I guess but volume may be an issue.

Short answer:Ye$.

Long answer, budget?
There are other digital pre-amp/processors and you can patch Comms to all speakers to give you volume.

Basically you are better off with a used M processor.

Agreed. Life is too short.

Off the top of my head, a Genelec AD9200A or a Lynx Aurora or an Apogee AD16X would be needed to get 7.1 into a Meridian digital theatre system. I think the Genelec is the cheapest at �550! You can get a 568.2 for that.

Hi,

Thanks for the help so far.

So, basically I cannot use my 5000's as R/L by using the Pre-outs on my receiver to the Digital Inputs 1 or 2 and Typing the speakers to Type 5, correct?

The reason I want to try this is because I have a Velodyne DD-18 Sub, sold my B&W 800's, still have my other 5 analog speakers hooked up to an amp and just want to see if they sound good enough for now until I'm ready to spend more $.

A stereo pair is no problem, but if you want a multi-channel system, I think you have to go Meridian, otherwise you lose volume control. That's the big issue when you have digital active speakers. Genelec have their own system, and like Meridian, it's obviously proprietary.

Nick

I think with all digital it would be ok as you can just daisy chain speaker comms and thus synchronise volume, but if your preamp does its own digital attenuation or you are mixing with analogue, it's going to be far from ideal.

Interesting discussion as I have pondered the same issue with using my DSP3100's and DSPS33 with non-Meridian components, the main issue seems to be to have volume control if output is digital from an external source such as a CD player.

I have tried the direct output from an Oppo 203 to active 33's and no issue so I wondered why not the DSP's, I have tried having small analog to digital converters after the analog output from the Oppo and in between the DSP's and it seems to work for volume, the Oppo in this case retains the volume control, I presume this would be same for a preamp AVM, the only restriction seems to be the length of digital cable, usually 20', that can be used before the signal degrades, and the ability of the ADC to convert the proper signal, usually only in 48 or 96.

This also seems to allow mixing active and DSP speakers the converter only gets used between the DSP's, this would allow for 11.4 configurations in home theater..

Am I missing something or is there some other real concern that I have overlooked.

Gerard.

Used 568.2 would probably be a fairly cost effective way to dip your toe in. Could be upgraded to an 861 variant without significant loss if you went down the Meridian route...