Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Simple system - what am I missing?

Hi, first post to this forum...

I have a relatively simple audio-only system consisting of a pair of DSP8000s sourced from a 500 (series 2) transport. The salesman was shocked that I wasn't interested in shelling out another $20k for an 800 series CD player. They managed to scrounge up a NOS 500 transport from the factory...

My reasoning was as follows:
(1) There is no point in paying for DAC circuitry in a CD player.
(2) Because the DSP8000s do a 2x upsample, there is no need for a transport that will do upsampling.
(3) The DSP8000s supposedly have the multi-stage FIFO-based de-jittering circuits, so I just need a source with good jitter performance, not the absolute minimum.
(4) I have an extensive CD collection and have no current plans to add DVD-A or SACD.

What magic am I missing by sticking to the 500 transport vs. a more modern device?

None at all! That sounds like the perfect embodiment of the Meridian ethos. Congrats!

(Though I suspect other responses will recommend a room correcting processor).

Regards

Mark

Yes, good for you. However, it might be interesting to try a G08 in your system simply because it uses FIFO buffering off the disc and outputs upsampled RBCD over the SPDIF interface. Hence lower jitter would be transferred to your 8Ks.

Hi Mike,

How does it sound ?

Are you not just a little bit curious as to how state of the art 24 bit DVDA recordings might sound when played through your state of the art 24 bit speakers? As with CDs, DVDA discs vary in quality, (and I have heard some very disappointing examples even in 24/96 recordings) but the best ones do seem to offer better stereo sound than even the best CDs.

I have a 500 mk2/518 combo and a G98DH, each feeding my DSP6000s. The G98 has become my preferred player for most CDs, although I do find the differences to be quite subtle. It also offers better error correction if you have any seriously faulty discs.

If I understand the recent Bob Stuart interview correctly a 800 series reference CD player will play a DVD audio disc in stereo, but I have no idea whether that means it outputs 24/96 high resolution sound as a DVD audio player would.

Without wishing to start an avalanche of pro and anti-SB3 posts, I'd just like to mention that I have switched my SB3 to feed the 2nd input of my 8k's directly. The result is quite excellent.
I think it achieves this for similar reasons as Michael suggests a later vintage player might compared to an earlier 500 transport.

For the SB3 it may be the non real-time error correction whilst ripping, accurate streaming from HDD and very low jitter.

For a G9x or 8xx player it should be similar things that matter.

One thing I have found with the 8k's over the last 18mths or so, is that RBCD can really sound quite excellent. Whether the cost justifies the lift with a Gxx or 8xx is another matter however.

It maybe that a G06 is all that is required to be fullu up-to-date with DSP chips, error correction, readability etc

Thanks for the replies.

The system really sounds fantastic. We've actually had it for 2.5 years now, so it's nicely broken in. We knew within the first 5 minutes of listening that we had found the system for us (prior to that we had been considering various systems centered on the Wilson Watt/Puppy).

I was also impressed by the architecture of the system. As an electrical engineer, if I were to draw up a optimal stereo system I would end up with something very close to the DSP8000s (or any of the DSP speakers) - digital input, digital xover, one DAC and one amp per speaker. I would have liked to see the source (transport) synchronized to the DAC word clock rather than vice versa to completely eliminate source jitter from the equation...

WRT jitter, while the 500 was in the shop for some repairs I was using a cheap ($50) DVD player as a source and noticed minimal degradation relative to the 500 - what differences I did hear may very well be psychological. That tells me that the DSP8000's jitter reduction circuitry must be quite good...

WRT DVDA - at purchase time there just didn't seem like there were many DVDA disks out there, most of the disks I was interested in were either conventional CD or SACD...

I definitely will try the Squeezebox (I assume that's what SB3 means) when I get a chance...

This is outside my sphere but wouldn't a 518 with the 500 be competitive with a G* transport? I know that Mr Meridian has been experimenting with that against a 598 and 598/568.2MM. There are differences in soundstage and fatigue levels and, of course, the 598/568 option is a lot more expensive for 2 channel only. Nick? Anyone?

Regards,
Steve

Hi Steve,
That's an option. Mr Meridian, myself and Mike are all feeding 2-ch into a pair of 8k's, so, it's an interesting thought.
I never did a 518 so can't really comment. However,Mr M can check and can also check vs the SB3 when he takes that plunge. Heck, he could even do the SB3 via the 518 if that made any sense.

My hunch though is that Mike's initial assertion - that the 8k's should do enough of a job on a good clean digital source - is the key.

Maybe, if a 518 did too much trickery/shaping etc on the signal then it wouldn't really be an apples for apples approach.

You may want to check out SlimDevices latest box - the Transporter. It allows for external syncing of word clock.

Unfortunately the DSP8000 does not output the word clock or any other sync signal...