Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems G68/G98/G55 with B&W 802D's

I demo'd the above system at a dealer today as both a Home Cinema system and also as as two channel music system. The results as a Home Cinema system were amazing, really brought the film to life.

Sadly when it came to listening to music it was disappointing, it sounded slow, the bass was dull and it almost felt like th esystem was holding th espeakers back.

I was testing the Meridian system in parallel with a Naim system which was almost the complete opposite. Lacked detail with movies but was incredibly musical when listening to music.

It certainly has me scratching my head!

One avenue I want to explore is alternative amplification whilst still using the G98/G68. Does anyone have any experience of using other amplifiers with these, particualrly when teaming them up with B&W speakers?

My dealer doesn't believe Naim amps are a good match with Meridian but is going to come back with some suggestions. Initial thoughts were Classe and Bryston. Any views appreciated.

I have G68/98 combination,
but not the G56 or the G55 as power amp.
Went to the dealer and got me a demo at home.
Ended up with a pair of Nelson Pass power amps
(X150.5 + X5) it sounds so mutch better.

I have a G68 running 804S and HTM3S through a Bryston 9B-ST and am very happy with the sound - movies as well as music. Before the G68 I had a 565 and the older N804 which mated well with the Bryston as well.
I have not heard Classe or Naim so I cannot comment on those.
SP

I think that Naim and M sound are very very different. That doesn't necessarily mean that they wouldn't work together, but, the results would be very hard to predict.

I run B&W 803Ds off a G98/568.25/559 power amp system and they sound absolutely sublime and incredibly detailed. I wonder if something was wrong with either the power amp or the 802Ds

I would of thought the G55 would struggle to fully exploit the 802D's potential so i would suggest something with a bit more power like the older 559 or 558 models

The 802D's sounded great for music with the Naim system so I think it must have been the G55 that was letting the side down.

I know magazine reviews are not exactly impartial but I don't think I've ever read a review of a Meridian amp that's raved about them.

You need some amps with plenty of 'grip'.

Naim 135's.
Williams-Hart JLH monoblocs (SE version).
Any of the BIG Krells (got some for sale if they take your fancy).
Bel Canto stereo amps used as monoblocs (bridged).

Regards
Gary

The G55 is not man enough to run B&W 802Ds - you will need a G57 (or its predecessor, the 557) or even better, the mighty 559!

The 557 amplifier seems to be very under appreciated, and is well worth trying if you can find one. I use a pair across my front three, driving Ruark CL20s and the bass is deep and tight, with lovely mid-range and clean sparkle at the top. (Seems like I'm playing hifi buzzword bingo tonight!).

Having previously owned a 556 amp, a 557 is a huge improvement.

David.

Sorry that was a typo...it was the G57 I was listening to not the G55.

The G57 should of been ok with the 802D but they could do with more power, classe works really well with B&W and i would of thought the bigger Krells or Bryston's would also suite too