Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems DSP Speakers, I'm Ready To Pull The Trigger

My current setup is very basic and is analogue based.
I've fallen lucky with a few quid on the nags and I'm going to sell my pre/power, so I'm now tempted to go with some used dsp5000 24/96 speakers.
my music source outputs via USB, it's a passive pc running roon with hqplayer going into an AudioLab q-DAC.
A few Questions.
My Q-DAC has a digital coax out, so could this be used to feed the DSP speakers or would I be better selling this as well and going with a Meridian digital control unit?
Can the DSP 5ks play 24/192 files, I have recently bought "astral weeks" from hdtracks

cheers

DSP5000's are limited to 24/96. You could feed them with nearly any digital source. You will need a comms cable to connect the two speakers and a digital cable between them as well. Volume control would be done with the Meridian Msr remote.

Can you tell HQPlayer to down sample to 24/96?

Can't fault the rest of your setup idea.

HQPlayer can be set to output to what ever the DAC's max input/output is.

Will I be missing out going from a 24/192 DAC to 24/96?
I've read that anything above 96 is pretty much pointless for human hearing but I'd like some opinion.

And now a question everyone asks, are the DSP speakers really better than passive analogue speakers? I've read people say "country mile" and some say "Meh".

I'm hoping that DSP5000 24/96 are much much better than my current set up or my wife will go skatty with me replacing stand mounts with floor mounts.

cheers

There is a great video on you tube explaining the benefits of DSP speakers. Give it a watch.

Mr. Lad

You can easily drive over to Rick's audio shop and listen to DSP speakers - bring a CD of your fav. tunes and your significant other and listen to what they bring to the table.

The DSP line has improved over time - but the 5K's (of which I have a pair in my HT) were really imho a great achievement, and continue to sound good to my ears.

They have added technologies to their DSP line - SpeakerLink, EBA, MQA (of course), DSD support but the core 44.1 PCM -> 24/96 PCM was supported by the "smiley face" 5K's.

There isn't really a ton of 24/192 content "out there", and DSD mostly seems to be a phenomenon of upsampling USB DACs and not an abundance of content in the wild.

IMHO the primary question for you should be, if MQA is widely adopted by the content owners, would you feel "left out" if your old DSP speakers couldn't play the content and Meridian didn't offer an upgrade deal. If I recall correctly, only SL 5200's were offered the "SE" opportunity.

There is also an outside possibility that Roon Labs licenses the technology and offers a way to stream/playback MQA over non-SE speakers. I guess the Meridian CEO promised that Meridian DSP speakers that had MHR would eventually get some sort of improved signal through.

The simple truth to me is that the DSP technology allows Meridian to control more of the "chain" of audio processing, ending up with a more pleasing, musical output. I am hopeful that the labels and the new technology will be widely adopted (MQA), and so it may not be a time to invest in non-MQA DSP speakers, but that is a judgement call. Never buy for "what is promised" but rather, what you hear (with your own ears) today.

@Bruce
Is this the video that you're referring to, or did you mean another one ?

Unless TheLad put a large bet on Leicester City winning the Premiership at the beginning of e season (this is a football/soccer related allusion for those who live in other parts of the world) I get the feeling that MQA-ready SE speakers are going to be way too much relative to a pair of 24/96 5ks.

We know that MHR DSPs are going to get something from MQA, I'd go and listen to a pair of these as is and worry about the upgrades a few years hence.

I am in full agreement with the idea that listening for yourself is best. I have had the 5k's for many years and they provided my first listening experience to high quality audio. They are a terrific pair of speakers but the biggest increase in enjoyment of my music came when I upgraded to the 6k's. IMHO they are a huge step up from the 5k's and in the US used market are not a huge increase in cost. The downside is that they do have a bigger footprint. I believe you and your spouse would be pleased if you get a chance to listen to them. Good luck with your search.