Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems One year of intensive box swapping and I'm a Meridian fan

I have a pair of KEF 105/3s biamplified with Kube200 equaliser isolated to the LF amplifier. I've been looking for the best sound I can get out of these 105/3s by changing amps and Pre's. I use a PureSound A8000 valve CDP or FLAC format and line out from the iPad into the Linn Kollektor pre. Also use Spotify premium on an iPad and iPod with good results via cable or (apt-x compatible) bluetooth receiver.

I've tried a baby Krell; some Linn and Meridian amps.. this is my experience...

There was a significant difference between the Linn LK280 and LK85 on mid/HF - the LK280 was more valve-like and the LK85 was brighter, forward and more clinical. Swapping out the LK85 for an LK140 on mids/HF didn't make a great deal of difference - the LK280 was my preference being less bright and more powerful (considering my KEF presents a constant 4ohm load). Into 4ohms these amps are.. LK85-85WPC; LK140-140WPC; LK280-160WPC. Changing the mids/HF amplification to a Meridian 556 (170WPC into 4ohms) sounds the best (to me), very smooth, slightly less laid back (than LK280) but coped better with complex music and less bright and forward than the LK280. The 556 look very much like a Klout, I wonder if they sound similar - they are more rare to find than a Klout - I guess they also have significant differences with the Klout able to take the Linn active cards and switching to standby power when input signal is absent. The Krell 400xi had immense power (400WPC) but was too forward and bright for my liking. Most surprising though was that the soundstage benefited greatly when I used the Linn Kollektor instead of the integrated pre of the Krell. This 400xi was awesome on the LF, bass was very tight and controlled. For a long time I wanted two 400xi amps to use in HT-mode as power amps, with an external pre but I couldn't find another 400xi for less than �1.5k. On LF the LK280 has loads of slam but the least control of all these amps mentioned. The LK140 and LK85 faired better than the 280 on LF but they had less power and that was noticable. The Meridian 556 on LF is immense, nearly as good as the Krell was on LF. I biamp to drive the LF through the KEF Kube200 equaliser that takes the KEF 105/3s down to 20Hz - the benefit is that the Kube effects are thus limited to the LF. The other 556 is cabled pre to power amp to speaker HF speaker terminals, whilst the LF 556 goes pre to kube to power amp to LF terminals of the speaker.

I tried a valve power amp (40WPC) with no kube eq, entire system driven off one amp and the sound was very good but the system does sound special to me with the 2x 556 amplifiers.

Now I need to try a Meridian Pre in my system - I'm hoping to convince someone in the North of England to come over for a cup of tea/coffee and have them bring along their Pre.

Also, I'm about to try a 508/24. Does anyone have any suggestions on best value used (�200 to �400) CDP I should try?

598 if you can find one. The DS variety should be cheap.

Oh, and it plays DVDs as well.

Thanks. Any thoughts on 556 versus old 205s?

Anyone have any experience of comparing the 205 amps to the 556 amplifiers?

Hi Zak,

I wonder what valve power amp that was
Those 8 EL34's do sound kind of nice eh? I'm still using it in preference to the CJ but only until I can compare them after I refoam my speakers. I have the foams on order now and will let you know how it goes. Good luck with your hunt for a 601, I only ever seen 1 for sale on eBay in the last 2 or 3 years.

Hi Martin,

Your valve amp did sound good in my setup. We should have tried it combined with the 556 driving LF. I'm trying to find out if anyone ever compared 205s to 556s. I don't want to buy more power amps simply to try them out.. It's getting too costly.