Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems My recent experience of Meridian

PS I wanted to add my recent experience of Meridian (including listening to their XE speakers on two occasions) has left me with the realisation their recent changes in how they name features weren't just cosmetic/renaming changes, but significant improvements.

Under Bob Stuart, I believe this was a labour of love (for which I'm forever grateful) that gave us superb music and kept people in work. Nowadays, it's a consistently profitable organisation that continues to strive for excellence. I can't help but feel everyone wins!

Once I can afford the XE's, there will be another sale to a great dealer in Reading!

You will never regret buying a pair of XE's.

I have to say, having heard XEs earlier this year, they were absolutely superb. Quite possibly the best sound I’ve ever heard in terms of approaching real-life, feeling like you’re actually at a live event (or as close as possible with recorded music). They are a great achievement.

However, this was with 818v3, which is basically no longer available (a comparison fed by 218 was significantly diminished in SQ). I’m glad Meridian is profitable again, but to me, they need to continue to provide or update cutting edge endpoints/processors to match the level of DSPs.

What would be great now is seeing more coherent and stable product lines for non-install audiophiles. The 800 series needs to continue and/or evolve, and something like a new/revived 500 series would be very welcome, I’m sure, for analogue as well as DSP users. Meridian were world-leading at digital sources at one point, and the tech and knowledge is still there.

I see more and more manufacturers (e.g., Naim, Quad, JBL) successfully banking on their heritage products by updating them internally, while retaining classic styling (look at the new Quad 33/303 for example). Meridian have some awesome Allen Boothroyd designs they already own and which would look retro-fresh today. The classic 200 series (not the new one), the 500 series, etc. It costs nothing in terms of case design since they already own it (and maybe even the tooling)… It’s also a reminder to the consumer that these were once cutting edge designs and can be again.

The 818v3 is still on their website. I have heard the XEs too and they are amazing! I am planning on getting those someday. I really hope the 818v3 or a successor will remain available

In the meantime, here is one 218 owner who prefers to hot rod a Raspberry Pi with the latest technologies rather than buy the much more expensive 818v3 (or use 218) for my DSP9s.
Meridian now needs to compete with companies like Taiko and Grimm who are busy setting new standards beyond what was possible in 2015.

I thought digital would be digital as a local dealer told me. But the difference between the 218 and the 818v3 is rather big but it cost 10 times as much

No, any digital is not just the same as any other digital (device). Wrong!

While it's true that bit perfect data will deliver the music over any competent digital system, such as my cheap WiiM Pro for background listening, we also have to prevent a variety of ride-along "nasties" (to borrow Hans Beekhuyzen's term) from reaching the DAC if we want truly high fidelity. Breakthroughs in software code, material science and manufacturing processes are resulting in new components and circuit designs that simply sound better.

Has anyone tried the USB input on the DSP9s or DSP8000XEs? It seems interesting to me that most demos seem to still use an 818 when this is available?

Problem is that our new speakers assume we will use a tablet or phone for control and to see settings, which means a SpeakerLink source and Meridian software. Focal/Naim's new Diva active speaker, by contrast, is getting a ton of positive press right now because they emphasize a user experience which enables multiple popular protocols, and fewer boxes and wires. Easy, and doesn't demand Naim electronics.

To use DSP9s, I had to set them to come out of standby using the bluetooth puck (which then must be removed to free up the SL port), make my own AES-to-SL cable and then get a M remote for volume control in order to make use of my preferred AES, non-M sources. So, no, I haven't gone back to the puck and enabled USB instead...

Don't hold your breath, the key to this is the non availability of the ID41 card, to keep 800 series alive for the future of wonderful MQA. I hope Meridian take note of this comment and engage with previous loyal customers to provide a contiguous solution.

I regret listening to them as I can’t afford a pair.

Those and the DSP9’s were a ‘holy [censored]’ moment. The last time I had that was hearing an MQA demo about 10 years ago.

That said, the legacy DSP’s are still stupidly good for the money. I came back from a recent hi fi show feeling quite smug that my 22 year old 5k’s can hold their own against modern analog speakers costing significantly more.

There however was absolutely zero that could go toe to toe with the XE’s regarding realism and getting the detail from the source material to the listener.