Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems What made you choose Meridian in the first place ?

Gentlemen, looking at the obvious popularity of topics regarding SB, music servers, PS, Blu-Ray and such posted under the baner "all things Meridian" , acknowledging the wealth of information (some of it very useful indeed) that these threads provided and repeatedly reading the "is the writing on the wall .." thread, it struck me that there must be a great diversity of reasons and motives why the members of this respectable forum have decided to buy Meridian gear in the first place. It looks to me though as some of these reasons and/or motivations might have somehow ended their lifespan at least for some.

I don't know if you care to go into this now, but I would be curious about those initial reasons/motivations in buying M in the first place. And if those said reasons have lived their lives, maybe soemone would care to elaborate.

Cheers,
Dorian

Having bought the likes of Garrard, Celestion, Sansui, Sony, JVC and Technics equipment throughout the 1970's and 1980's I wanted to buy something of quality and longevity - and was prepared to pay a premium to obtain it.

I had initially looked at AudioLab and then Linn. I was on the verge of buying into Linn when I experienced appalling customer service at my local Linn dealership when auditioning equipment.

I stumbled upon an alternative dealership that sold Meridian (an audio company I hadn't previously heard of). Not only did the 500 series sound great, but it looked the part too. What is more, I was taken aback by how trustworthly the dealer was in freely loaning all manner of kit for home auditioning. I purchased all of my Meridian equipment from them until they parted company with Meridian.

Furthermore, when my six-year-old 506.16 developed problems that Meridian couldn't completely cure they exchanged it for a brand-new 506.20. I vowed at that point that if there was a Meridian solution for a product I wanted then I wouldn't buy from anyone else.

I fell for M- at a demonstration at Bjorn's in San Antonio TX. It was the 6Ks at the time and what hooked me was the incredibly accurate sound generated from the processor-speaker digital archtecture combination. In addion, software updating to help carry the longevity of the substantial investment was an important factor;

For me these still hold true today ...

ken

Looks good, well built, replaced 8 boxes with one. Oh, and it sounded awesome! Previous system was a fully active Linn system.

Tillman
http://www.tkimages.co.uk

Originally through 200 series. Someone who I worked with had a mate who had a brother who worked for Meridian and he could get me a 203 DAC cheap that he said could tame the sound of my Sony DVD, Arcam Alpha 3 amp and NAD speakers.

Later, Meridian having to raise funds for the 500 series had a staff sale and I was asked if I wanted more pieces of kit. A 200, 204 and pair of 205's followed and were eventually paired with a pair of Kef 104/2's.

6 years later when I got married, the misses wanted me to get smaller speakers. I did her a deal and went surround sound with smaller speakers. A visit to eBay bought me a 565/562V combo but I never found the right amp/speaker combination. Until I found some ex demo DSP and M33's/D1500 from two dealers. Their 94/24 capability was wasted with 565 so upgradeitus got me into 568/596. A (sneaky IMHO) deadline by Meridian for upgrading 596 to 598 spec pushed me to upgrade almost straight away to 568.2mm/598DP and I was very happy with that.

But all the talk of the new G series and room correction I didn't want to be left out and soon G68 and then G98 followed. Bad move as the bigger boxes meant that they have to be hidden away in a TV cabinet. Out of sight, out of mind. They really do not get the mileage they deserve.

Thankfully I quit my job and as I am now broke, I have saved many ���� not being able to afford to upgrade further. The only addition since was a Squeezebox.

I made the change to Meridian when I built the home theater (which was after vowing I never would build a home theater).

They hooked me through the surround processor, which was the 561 at the time. From there, I went to DSP speakers which sounded just as good for home theater as my Thiel/Rowland combo sounded for stereo. The digital interconnect was technogeek icing that sealed the deal.

Once you've got DSP speakers, there's just no going back.

In the seventies looked at equipment from a number of companies, then I was impressed by the attitude of a Meridian dealer and heard M1's. I decided to buy them with a Linn turntable and then M10's become available, so went for them.
I think it is the combination of good dealers and Meridian as a company that sold me. I had a problem with the M10's and Meridians then technical director visited my home on a Sunday morning wielding a soldering iron. I think it reasonable that any product can go wrong, what distinguishes a good company from other companies is their willingness to resolve problems. Many times on this forum Meridians customer attitude is complimented. Why should I look elsewhere, although I acknowledge other companies produce many fine products with good customer support.

Regards

The DSP8K was the best sounding speaker we auditioned, bar none. We had been leaning towards Watt/Puppys, but I think within 1 minute of hearing the DSP8Ks (although we auditioned for 4 hours) we were sold (it helps that we bought demo units for the same appriximate price of the Watt/Puppys + amp + cables). Outside of the pair of 8Ks I am not particularly attached to Meridian - I use a 500 as a source (1) because I got a good deal on it and (2) it integrates well (from a control perspective) with the DSP speakers.

Plus the engineering concept of the DSP speaker is IMHO optimal for digital source material...

Plus we got to avoid the religious wars regarding speaker cables...

I'd been listening over years to Cyrus, Roksan, John Shearne, Arcam, Lynn and Music Fidelity. For me it was the sound quality over the companies I've listed but an equally big part was the long term, evolutionary, approach and the individual reputations of Bob Stuart and Alan Boothroyd. I just got to believe in Meridian and still do. I nearly lost my balance when G series came out - I thought they could have done more to help or inform people adopting 500 series at the time of the release - but 2.5 software release for 568.2 put me back on track.

Well I had a Demo in Sevenoaks Kent of surround sound, It must have been a 565 with DSP's.
I was blown away and there started my journey from crap to Hi-Fi heaven.
From all my research I found Meridian had an integrity I was unfamiliar with anywhere else.
My subsequent experiance has proved this to be true.
Haveing no spare cash to buy new sent me on a quest to get the best I could for as little as possible.
10 years later, I am so pleased with the results.

My finance situation is now vastly improved due to due dilgence on my part and I would have no problem buying new in the future.
Meridian has been good to me when all I could do was buy 2nd hand. For this I hope to reward them in the future.
Dont discount 2nd hand buyers though as they do clear the decks for those to move on to the latest products.
We are all important in Meridians Food Chain.

Happy Xmas all, Chris

I'd read so much about Meridian musicality that I just dove right in with a 561. I still do not see an alternative to Meridian for a 2ch/5.1 channel system. I am not a fan of their obscene pricing for transports though. The G68 will be the last processor I buy for a very long time.

My answer is, drum roll please... Mr. Meridian.