Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems DSP3100 + sub vs. DSP5200?

I think it depends on your listening habits.

If you lean towards more music I think you'd be happier with 5200's. If you lean towards movies you'd probably be happier with 3100 + Sub. That assumes you plan no further upgrades. Which we know is never true. You can always add a sub in the future to the 5200 setup. Where it would get more expensive to dump the 3100's and buy 5200's.

George has a great point.

Given your setup and tastes, I would do the 5200s + a sub for movies. Let the 5200s do music with the sub out of the loop- if you want more ummph then you can always try integrating the sub.

best regards,
Jerry

The trouble with this hobby of ours is that it is incredibly hard not to be lured onto the asymptotic line of incremental improvements. I splurged on my modest Linn/Cyrus system when I started uni 11 years ago, spending a good chunk of a year's tuition, and resolutely resisted the urge to upgrade until I heard a Meridian system at a friend's house. I might not even have made the jump then if I hadn't seen a used G91 for sale here. And now I'm at the top of the slippery slope, actually trying to figure out how I might justify 5200s all round, supplemented by a couple subs. Thanks John

But seriously, its good to hear an opinion in favour of the 3100s. With crion and George adding to the votes for the 5200, it would have been easy to ignore the 3100 completely. Your dissent will keep me honest when I actually manage to arrange a listening session to compare the options. I still think I'm leaning towards the 5200s. Although I'm a bit of a movie buff, movies are somehow less serious for me than music. I'd rather get the music right and compromise a bit on films than the other way round. My weekends are fully booked up until mid-Feb, so I'm going to have to wait a while before I audition the various options, but I will be sure to update on whatever decision I make.

Thanks,

DE

Another budget saving option (rather than 5200s all around) might be 5000s in rear (used or new); In the rear you wouldn't miss anything vs 5200;

ken

My dealer has 5200L/R, 5200HC, DSP3100 Surrounds. I think his setup blends his surrounds with the mains extremely well!

If I didn't have my DSP5k for surrounds I would probably opt for DSP3100 surrounds. I think they are a perfect surround match for my 5200. And so easy to mount on back wall.

As surrounds the DSP3100 will NEVER get stressed and thus works extremely well and offload their bass into the L/R.

Perhaps DSP3100LCR with 2xSW1600 can approach in mids and surpass 5200 in the bass department but I need to hear it to be convinced. Sub integration for music always needs lots of work and experimenting to be succesful!

The bass integration is absolutely key for music, much more than for movies, unless you are one sharp movie listener! I know that if I get the bass integration in music right, the movies follows and takes off as well, but hard to make the necessary calls just by listening to a movie.

After much frustration at my inability to find the free time to arrange a listening session, I found an ex-dem set of DSP5200s on the web and decided to take the plunge. I've just run back from my office to take delivery, and yes, to unpack and take a quick peek. Couldn't resist. They certainly look beautiful. Can't wait to get back home this evening to hook them up.

To that end, are manuals for the 5200 available on the M web site? The dealer forgot to pack the original manual with the speakers. Though he has mailed it and it will be arriving tomorrow, I can't wait that long. I've had a look through the Handbook section of the M website, but can't find the DSP5200s listed anywhere. Will the general guide to DSP speakers be sufficient?

Oh well, back to work.

Thanks again to everyine for input into the selection process.

DE

DE, yes, all DSP's are pretty much the same for setup etc.

Have fun tonight....there'll be folks around here I expect if you get stuck!!

Hi DE,

What are you running with the 5200's? I presume you'll be running a G68 and/or G98/G08?

You can download the manuals here (also 800 series):

G68
http://www.Meridian-audio.com/handbooks/G68%20Installation%20Guide.pdf

G98
http://www.Meridian-audio.com/handbooks/G9x_user.pdf

G08
http://www.Meridian-audio.com/handbooks/G07_88_user.pdf

DSP Loudspeakers
http://www.Meridian-audio.com/handbooks/DSP%20Loudspeaker%20User%20Guide.pdf

All other manuals can be found here:
http://www.Meridian-audio.com/lib_hand.htm

Let us know if you have any questions.

Cheers,

Chris

Thanks guys. Managed to set it up just fine, I think.

A couple minor issues though. The first may just be a quirk I can do nothing about: when using the MSR to change volume, the increase/decrease happens at a different rate on the speaker displays than on the G91 display. Not a big deal. The only potential problem with this is that since using the volume knob on the G91 overrides the speakers and snaps them to the G91 level, it is easy to accidentally jump the volume to a level much higher than intended. Is there any way to synchronise the displayed volume levels and rate of change? If not then I'll just have to make sure to be careful when changing volume via the G91 knob.

The 2nd issue may not be an issue at all: When I hit the DSP button on the MSR the G91 continues to display the "DSP disabled" message that it did when I was using analogue amps and speakers. Is this because I'm only in a 2-channel setup?

Perhaps I'd better stop pestering you all with newbie questions and spend some quality time with the manual..

The speakers sound wonderful though. Early days, but I'm really happy I made the jump to Meridian. Can't wipe the smile off my face. Not sure how happy my neighbors are though

rgds

DE

Hi DE

Do you have set both the DSP speaker and the G91 as master, had the same problem when I got my rears and center. See the manual how to set this.
Yes the DSP will show DSP disabled do to you only has 2chanel setup.

rgds
Tom

Hi Tom. Is the G91 set to Master as a default? I didn't do anything new with the G91 other than plug in the speakers and set them up as directed. Presumably if I now set the speakers both as slave the G91 will remain Master and all wil be fine?

thx

DE

DE, Hi, One speaker needs to be Master, the other slaves. The Controller is a different matter, many will chime in, if I am wrong.

Regards