Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Meridian Special Edition Loudspeakers

I'm impressed by that.

Thanks Rick.

Rick you refer to doing many DSP7200 speaker upgrades in the customers' home.

However, I feared that would not happen with a SE DSP7200 upgrade because of a new housing for the tweeter in that upgrade. That I guessed meant not simply sliding out and then sliding back in the new tweeter.

I am wrong? I hope I am because I could not get my DSP7200s to a dealer.

Also the cost of an upgrade to SE DSP7200 will be about twice the cost of the upgrade to V2 DSP7200?

Rick,

What happens to the old units? I ask since if someone has a pair of old 7k2s presumably they could use the electronics from someone who owns a 7k2.2 who upgrades to the SE version?

Hi,

To be confirmed, but I'm expecting the removed electronics and tweeters will go back to Meridian.

Rick

Hopefully the associated firmware upgrades will at last allow custom source display labelling instead of the current default labels

TD4 (Del)

Did we confirm this yet?

Can't really see the point of returning old electronics, presumably there would be a small second hand market for these items (spares for future use). If I were upgrading 7200.2, I would look to sell the recent upgrade kit (feeling a little stitched up by such a quick follow up upgrade-just like the 818�) to a 7200v1 owner to defray the cost of the upgrade (anyone interested?).

If it were part of the deal, that's one step too far for me. Give a trade in discount if they are worth anything to Meridian.

I agree with you Tintin that maybe there should be a "trade in" discount if the electronics are worth anything.

I and I'm sure many others fall into both the recent 818 and 7200 upgrade or recent purchase camps. The 818 upgrade I could just about swallow, but the 7200s so soon has really stuck in my throat. Personally I'll be giving this round of speaker electronics and hardware upgrades a miss and consider other options.

Del (TD4)

The upgrade prices are indicative of the extent of the modifications made to the electronics, drivers and software; it almost seems that only the cabinets have survived. Meridian could have introduced them as an entirely new range (DSP5400, etc) and not offered a physical upgrade option.

Presumably the value of the 'obsolete' electronics is taken into account in the upgrade pricing. You always have the option of negotiating a full trade-in with your dealer. What Meridian have done is provided an additional alternative for those who aspire to upgrade. It does, to some extent, preserve the second-hand values of existing kit. I think this should be applauded.

I get the impression that someone gave Bob a fresh doodle pad for Christmas and he's filling it up with all sorts of new ideas. Who knows what he will come up with next.

I can't really agree with you there, as soon a replacement arrives, old values decline (surely?). I wonder how owners of 100/200 5200s feel about that.

If the upgrades were reasonable, you could argue it would preserve values but the SEs are sufficiently distant in monetary terms to nullify that. The upgrade of �4750 is the cost of 3 mint SpeakerLink 5200s, would you spend �3500 on an old pair plus �4750 giving �8250 for an old pair of 5200SEs vs �10 less discount for the real thing?

I know it's not about the money and you expect depreciation in top end hi-fi but it does get wearing sometimes.

It would cost me �11k to upgrade my DP8000s to SE status. I would get a speaker in which all the active electronics and the tweeters are, to all intents and purposes, new. I would get a six year warranty. And I would get most of the benefits of the new DSP8000SEs including SpeakerLink, EBA, etc.

This for a total outlay of ~50% of a new pair of the speakers. If the SQ benefits of the SE are what everyone claims (I didn't listen enough to be sure) that seems like a good deal.

The price of new DSP5200SEs vs. second hand DSP7200s is an interesting conundrum; the ability to later upgrade the DSP7200s to SE status would make it a no-brainer for me.

I do not think the same arguments apply down the chain; your points about the DSP5200 options are valid, mine with respect to s/h value less so.

Speaker depreciation is nothing compared to that of disc players and processors, not to mention reliability so I share your pain.