Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems 500 series processors

Hello All,

I've not been active here in ages. I used to have a nice little system consisting of a G68, HD621 and 3 DSP33 speakers. It was a great sounding system (probably the best I've ever had) but I ended up having some problems with it, my DSP speakers stopped changing volume and I really struggled to fix it. I even found a friendly hiker nearby and took my kit to his and everything works, but not at home.

I got wound up a bit and ended up selling the G68 and HD621, but I never did end up selling the 3 speakers. Now, many years I'm thinking that I should either sell them, or use them. either choice demands that I know if they actually work.

Being the lowly 33's I know that I can't really use them on their own and I'll need a processor of some sort to control them with, but I don't want to spend a fortune.

So I guess that brings me to the 500 series choices. What's the going rate for such things these days? I don't need the 568.2mm as I know that that VGA connector adds some significant extra cost and I'm not planning to buy a HD621 again. I suppose the best choice would be a classic 568 but that still might be pricey.

561 and 565? are they fairly cheap these days? you're going to ask me what my budget is aren't you? I don't know, but I guess in the low several hundred pounds.. maybe more for the right thing. Is that too light?

If all this works then I'll either confirm everything works properly and put the lot up for sale... or maybe I'll stick it in the office and have a mini listening system in there, replace a little teac/triad setup I have.

grateful for any help.

Many thanks

David

David. If you're friend is still close, could you call on his help? Presumably you've thought about & rejected that! That would be my first call.

Failing that, there's our highly regarded Meridian Repair Shop that you could send your DSPs to; that could get your speakers checked / overhauled for 'modest' outlay.

Next step, assuming the DSPs are ok, would be to buy a processor. Older 500 series processors can be bought for ~ £250 I think, possibly less on eBay, so you're budget should be fine.

But my preference would be to get the DSPs checked first.

Good luck.

I was just looking at some prices here in the states and G68's are selling for about the same price as 568.2mm's. The older 568 first version are even cheaper but not a lot.

Having recently acquired some DSP33s and learnt to understand their quirks I may well be able to help you if you get stuck. The problems you had were almost certainly comms and I know how to fix those with the right wiring.

The last vanilla 568's I spotted on eBay late last year were in the £300 neck of the woods, which is an absolute bargain to be honest.

I struggled to sell mine for £300 last summer, so recycled it into tv duties where it is performing admirably.

That would be my suggestion, pop a wtb in the restaurant, I'm sure there will be a few gathering dust out there.

It is a shame that the depreciation on processors and disc players (through technical obsolecence) hits their resale value so hard.

I have a spare 565 and a barely-used 568.2mm. They would attract so little s/h that it is preferable to keep them around as spares. The 565 is after all a digital milestone, and still sounds superb compared with much equipment out there.

Well, yes & no re low resale values The 565 is something over 20 years old now so it's hardly surprising that they sell for relatively little. That hurts only for sellers of course; the low prices of 500 series kit & the DSPs from that era means that it's possible for a buyer to put a serious system together for next to nothing.

I have a soon-to-be redundant 5000C that is hardly worth selling but I could buy a 2nd one cheaply & get a nice pair of additional surround speakers for pennies.

Thanks everyone for your input, two people have got in touch so I'll see whether that works out, otherwise I'll put an ad up.

Cheers

David

So everyone, thanks to a kindly forum member, I now have an original 568 processor to play with.

I've plugged it in, with an old DVD player as a source and two of my DSP33's as speakers in a simply stereo. right now, I'm not getting any sound at all, so I was hoping that folk here might help me run through it.

I've managed to retype it (sorry gIzzE, I think I managed to quickly wipe out the setup you did for me :|) to a simple "2.0D". I know that I'm on the right input as I put a DVD in my player and the audio type showed on the display as AC5.1.

I have an M5 cable from the 568 to one DSP33, and a S5 cable from the first DSP33 to the second DSP33...

things I have:
568
3 DSP33 speakers
1 old sony DVD player (an S725D is it matters)
1 x 5M cable (audio and comms)
1 x 5M cable (comms only)
2 x 5S cable (audio and comms)
1 x 5C cable (probably not gonna use)
1 x D5 cable (probably not gonna use)

some early questions:

1) in my set of DSP33's, does there need to be a master? is that simply set by the use of the 5M cable or do I need to do anything else?
2) Can I run a single DSP33 without the slave just to see if that works alone?

so.. err.. help?

Many thanks
David

PS. everything is showing power, even the DSP33's have a little green light at the back

David

Almost certainly a comms problem. I would start with a complete Reset to factory defaults (see manual on page 13) followed by the tests you are suggesting on individual speakers. The first speaker in the chain is the master. It is not uncommon for comms cables to be defective, so this is another area to test with a continuity tester.

Good luck.

Little green light on back of dsp33 or bright green light. Compare by turning off dsp33 and see if it gets any brighter when you try and play something

Also have got got sound when you calibrated?

Altus,

I've seen the reset procedure but I don't have a reset pin. I've heard you can do it with a paperclip but in a house with a 6yo, all our paperclips seem to have plastic covers on them.. I'll see if i can find a metal one...

I've got a multimeter so I could try to check the cables, are they straight through? pin 1 to pin 1 etc? it would seem odd for 2 cables to go though.

Yes, the light on the back of the 33. it's not particularly bright tbh. with the whole system on standby I turned one of the 33's off, turned it back on again, then watched while I turned the system on (CD playing the whole time) the light did not change in brightness.

I've tried calibrating before and got no tones.

I'm beginning to think that the 33's are not even coming out of standby.

David