Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems 808v6 impressions

If I can chime in here. It is great how the 808v6 can still extract more detail and information out of the RBCD format. The sound was there with the 808v5 but the v6 extracts more detail with ALL of it, to truly make the CD more High Fidelity and a gorgeous sound field, what an amazing machine!

After having my system upgraded over the weekend I can also say with Asa, congratulations to M for a job well done, M has moved RBCD listening to another level. The 8000SE upgrade (fantastic in it self) and 808v6 go together to give the listener another totally more detailed listening experience that is really life like and marvelous. I also experienced MQA with my system, it too is a giant leap in the audio realm.

The system with RBCD is more than ever, and I hope that everyone that is into great audio listening gets a chance to experience this outstanding listening experience.

Highrez,
May I ask your honest opinion.

Of the three upgrades, which brings most to the party?

1. 808v5 to 808v6 RBCD
2. 8000 to 8000SE RBCD
3. MQA material plus the above in totality.

Not an easy answer I know, % improvements compared to 3 would be helpful

Just interested in your opinion.

Hector

Hi Hector,
Great questions,I will try to answer best I can.
I went into the upgrades without ever hearing for myself, I just relied on past upgrades with M knowing how satisfied I was with them.

1." Of the three upgrades which brings the most to the party?
In my opinion I believe it is the source the 808v5>808v6
to me it presents more tonal and intricate detail than the v3 to v5. Thatv3 to v5 was a great upgrade, but 5 to 6 I give the ribbon to because it seems to be more revealing. But to be fair I have to count in the SE8000's too. I did not run the 808v6 with the 8000.2's, in all fairness only after the upgrade.

2. "8000.2 to 8000SE Redbook CD"
I believe I posted awhile back a few days ago at how pleased I was with the performance of the 8000.2's with RBCD's they are no slouch with the 808v5 this is before my being introduced to the capabilities of the SE's they are very, very responsive.I place the big difference between the SE's and 8000.2's with the new amplification and especially the new tweeter also EBA within the speaker it seems more responsive than within the 8000.2'S setup, it is truly the secret sauce. It has given the speaker the ability to start and stop the woofers so they don't overrun into the other frequencies and muddy the sound,(I did not notice as much before the upgrade, just excellent engineering software) allows the speaker opportunity to give an excellent sound field. Symbols and tambourines have a more life like realness to them. I am doing my best to describe the overall appeal of this upgrade which is not subtle it really makes RBCD shine to the fullest.

3.Now to move on to MQA.
Not that this is not highly present in RBCD but to me it boils down to placement and imaging, it is hard in a way to describe as much better, when all of the parts of this upgrade are working so well outside of MQA. M has done an unbelievable job in bringing this system together in a high-fidelity that no parts actually in my imho out-shines to a great degree the other.
As I was saying placement and imaging is so coherent with MQA
The space between the instruments with the feeling of nothingness behind them. Kind of eerie in a way but each instrument is distinguishable to it's self. This is nothing like I have ever heard before, different but new.

Overall, I would say that to me this is the most revealing upgrade that I have ever done, it is like when I made my move visually from CRT to DLP. It is just that revealing. There is no way I can capture what I hear and place it into words, you are going to have to hear it for yourself. I am very very happy with my decision to do the upgrade. Expensive yes, but to me the results are very much worth it, if one can, I highly recommend.
I must also add this, I do have my system in a dedicated room so others may get different results per their surroundings. And
I say again Meridian should be given an Emmy for their innovation and sound delivery.

Hi Highrez

Sincere thanks for your considered response.

Encouragement indeed, to look and listen again to 808v5 v 808v6.

I have listened to 818v3 analogue out into several High End Analogue setups and for those who already own wonderful amps and speakers an 818v3 is excellent value, especially if you have an 818v2 or 808v5, the upgrade cost is very reasonable.

It has never been more difficult to make new investment decisions, I admire and respect your decision for taking the plunge.

However there are now many non DSP options out there to be considered.

Thanks again Hector

I think that the upgrade from 808v5 to 808v6 is one of the most impressive Meridian have offered (I am talking here as per your question of upgrading existing products not moving e.g. from one product to another such as speakers). The simplest way to describe it is to suggest that it is like being given a new CD collection. And MQA comes as an additional bonus.

Unlike many who always look to upgrading or moving up the range of DSP speakers, I have always found that to get the best from DSP speakers then the best source must be used. I know that this is expensive and therefore unwelcome advice.

I cannot believe the improvement is SQ that has resulted in upgrading my v3 to v6. I don't know how much can be attributed to the v5 or v6 upgrade but in total it was a bargain and I am not even considering either MQA or DOP capabilities.

Peer pressure is a b*tch! I will be updating my 808.3... but only to the v5 as I only spin discs.

What's your logic there? I don't get it.

I think he's thinking that the 808v5 to v6 upgrade is just for streaming/MQA; which, of course, isn't true. The v6 upgrade is (by all accounts) a huge improvement for CD/44.1k/48k material.

Recently did v5 to v6. Big improvement on digital sources (blu-Ray movies etc) as expected with the new digital input card. Substantial improvement in Sooloos via ID41 and CD sources. :-)

I guessed that too, but didn't want to put words into his mouth

We know from the engineering team that the upsampling for standard resolution (CD) in the 808v6/818v3 is completely different from that in the 808v5/818v2 and is rooted in the several years of MQA research. So it's no wonder it's better (as hecd just reported).

Other than it being based on the R&D for MQA, do we have any further information on HOW the Upsampling is different??... likewise, is the Apodizing filter used the same or different from used on previous versions??

It's probably all IP stuff, but just asking in case there was some more info somewhere on here on elsewhere??