Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Connecting 818v3 into legacy full surround system

Hi all,

In my cinema room I am running G68 controller with full legacy speakers and MC200. For comms I have SpeakerLink from MC200 to G68 and audio I use digital SPDIF into G68.

All speakers are type 6 set up.

Other sources I have is Sky Q and my PC which has high end SPDIF sound card output. I want to keep these in full cinema surround.

The G68 is set as controller. Centre is master all others slaves via 511 patch.

With the 818v3 I want to go direct to the speakers for the best sound quality. With this I will use 818v3 for streaming Tidal etc. and my MC200 moves to another room. I only listen to stereo for music as for me it's the best sound quality.

How can I get D2 on my left front speaker to take input from 818v3 as a source with a set key on the MSR+ / Tidal app or without gong 818v3 into G68 how should I wire the entire set up?

I am aware I could go G68 into 818v3 and 818v3 to speakers. But again how do I set this up?
I would prefer just to keep them separate so 818v3 just goes into D2 and I have control comms between 818 and G68.

I checked on the Meridian setup software and could not do this config at all. As G68 can't be set as a source to 818v3 only other way around.

Please help with this as I sure this is the best place to ask.

Hi 8pack

This is how I ran an 808.2i in my DSP system a few years back, and it does indeed offer a large step up in sound quality.

The main issue I think you'll have is with the Master currently being your centre. I think you'll need to make either left or right the Master, as it's only the Master that can look to input D2. The slaves will look to D1 for every source. There was a thread about this recently but I don't recall if there was a definitive answer (I may have a play around to test this if I get a chance over the weekend)

My system had the left as Master due to wiring convenience, so life was easy!

If you are replacing the MS200 with the 818v3, then you'll have a source already set up for that in the processor and speakers. Select the same source on the MSR or processor, but configure your L or R Master to use D2 for that source instead of D1. Don't connect anything directly to the G68 for that source, and set the default preset as "Direct" (this will make the G68 mute the centre and surrounds) All other sources and connections remain as they are currently set up.
Volume will still be controlled by comms from the G68, it's just the SPDIF line you are using from the 818v3 to the speaker.

In addition to your "pure" connection to the DSPs for stereo, you could also use one of Robert's Revivers to take a Speakerlink digital output from the 818v3 back to the processor, and if set up as a different source, you can still enjoy Trifield. I did that and was very happy with the results.

Cheers

George

Seems logical. So no comms needed from 818 to G68?
I thought C or SpeakerLink to comms for sure?

This will work well if you set things up as mentioned above. Be sure to set Aux (Sooloos) as the only valid source on the 818. That way it will only power on if the Aux/sls key is pressed on the MSR. The only other caveat that is purely cosmetic is that the volume level displayed on the 818 and the speakers won't match.

I had comms between the two but soon disconnected them. There was some irksome aspect that I can't quite remember, may have been 808 switching on when I'd rather it stayed off when not in use! (The 808 was at the other end of the room, beside the Master DSP and in sight of my PJ screen when watching a film)

As Bruce mentioned, the volume displays won't track together, but I didn't mind that, as the 808 (and your 818) are not running the system volume. Your G68 is doing that; volume adjustment is actually handled in the speakers, the figures you see on the processor and 818 are just the commands being sent to instruct the speaker, there's no attenuation of the digital signal.

Cheers

George

Are both the SPDIF and SpeakerLink outputs on the 818v3 on by default? If so, I can take advantage of SpeakerLink outs to route digital audio to my other systems.

I was thinking to switch over cables on SPDIF output, but this would be even easier and would not require swapping over cables.

Yes all outputs are always on. The only diference is if you choose variable or fixed which of course only affects the analog outputs.

Bruce-Is this true of all the Meridian endpoints including the MS200 and 600, or are there exceptions?

Pretty much yes James.

I am using a Comms cable between the 861v4 and the 818v3. SLS Audio is routed from the 818 to the 861. When other 861 sources, like DVD or blu-ray are used the 818 comes on automatically.

I would like to have the 818v3 only switch on when Aux (SLS) is pressed, but I cannot seem to find any setting in the 818v3 to do this. Is this possible?

John,

Go into mconfig and connect to the 818v3. Set the souces on the 818 so that the only valid source is SLS (Aux). That way the 818 will only come on if you select SLS.

I’m pretty sure you cannot do what you want. If Meridian kit is comms connected, it acts as one. So if one piece of kit is on, they all are.

I tried this years ago with 500 series and that was the answer I got. Don’t see why 800 series would be any different although comms/SpeakerLink may have moved on but 861v4 won’t have.

If you don’t want this to happen, don’t connect via comms.

Yes, shame it works that way.

IMHO.