Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Meridian DVD Player is it worth it anymore?

I've had some nagging questions recently I would like to share with everyone:
- Faroudja was the "Creme de la Creme" of deinterlacing and upscaling for 10+ years, but with Reagan came Star Wars then Teranex and finally Silicon Optix in order to kill F. So Faroudja is no longer the best nor probably second best. Other companies came long to push them aside, Gennum,etc...
- DVD players have crushed down in prices like plasmas and LCDs and at the same time their quality have increased, most of them support SACD, DVD-A and everything on earth that needs to read from a 12-inch optical disc.
- I understand the idea behind the F80, I'm sure it is impressive for what it is, but frankly few of us here needs it, if it pays for R&D for us, fantastic, but it seems that the speed of delivery of new products generally has shorten somewhat in the industry and their life cycle (I understand M plays in a different market but it still has an impact overall).
- PS3 and XBox 360+HD-DVD are here without much software for now but only for now. One will win. who cares who as long as it is bug free, they are cracked which I think is a good thing it will increase acceptance and sales at least in the short term and put them in the news sadly (I don't rip anything myself nor advocate it but it is a reality).

I'm putting myself in the position of someone who owns very little or anything Meridian alike. A 2-Ch guy with money potentially to spend, why should he go the M route today?

I think the M route is great if:
- you want full integration, remote controlled house,etc...
- you want 1 single drive/player that will provide good but great CD playback without pilling up gear and spend more money.
- if you want top of the range HT reproduction (who is better? Krell or Theta there are very few contenders anyway)


What about the guy that wants great CD playback and mostly great DVD picture?

Is there not a better alternative elsewhere or simply buy a G08 for CD and Denon DVD3930 for video + everything else?

I like my G91, I'm happy with the picture quality, it made perfect sense for me to purchase it few years back (3 If I recall...) because it was my only drive connected to a 2-Ch DAC for music and a HT-decoder at the same time. but today I have a different 2-Ch playback system and wonder if I would not be better off with a DVD3930, of course I would miss the Radio, the video switching, the potential seamless link to a HDMAX421 etc...

Does anyone think like me that there is a positioning problem for the DVD players particularly at their current retail price?
For those of us who are not fully integrated in the M philosophy is it not time to sell these DVD players?

I'm trying to provoke mayhem just a honest and serious discussion

Thanks for reading my 2c

FB

Used Market dictates values and in case of Meridian - 800v4 and G91 are worth 50% of MSRP.
Meridian is not the best for video (sad but true) but they still are among the top for audio.

Of course unless/until audio servers take market by storm Meridian source will still command a premium for Audiophiles with $$.

Cheers,
Kishore

50% of MSRP is pretty typical of any High End Electronics. In Fact that's my rule of thumb when looking for any used audio/video. If Meridian DVD it is getting 50% then it's holding up pretty well.

I really hate it when people say they are happy HD-DVD/Blu-Ray is (or will be) cracked. I think it's truly sad and will only delay a full roll out of either format.

I would summarise the pro and cons of my G98 as follows:-

Pros

- Excellent CD replay
- Excellent DVD Audio replay (even the limited number of disks available make it worth while)
- Upscaling (may not be state of the art but not half bad either)
- Ability to turn prohibition off (and other tweeks)


Cons

- bit quirky at times
- price new

I have no regrets about my purchAse but I would not buy new now. I also have no desire to sell and I envisage any HD player as an add-on rather as a replacement (for at lesat the next 2 years anyway).

Whether I would buy a new Meridian DVD player today?

No.

Why?

For the same reason I would not buy a Meridian CD player today. All the media content will be available for download and HDD (or solid state) storage in the near term.

We are not too far away from downloading high volumes of data on broadband (i.e. 25GB HD movies).

However, I would still by Meridian DSP speakers all day long ....

Its a changing world, we have to live with it.

Hi-End DVD has been caught up, but my 596 is a fantastic CD player IMHO which plays DVD perfectly well.
A Toshiba HD-DVD player upscaling looked no better on my TV.
All for �500 sencond hand. A Bargain!!

The choice as to spend �2000 plus on a source player of any description is not one that has troubled me to date. But I take the point that things have moved on.

Bob says that sales of CD players are at an all time high, and he should know. What does that say to all you downloaders?

50% is good realy for 2nd hand value in Hi-Fi, look at the money people lose on a new car over 3 years. 60% typicaly, and going down. They dont seem to complain too much, new cars are always being sold.
In the end, its a personal choice based on personal circumstances.
Go on sell up all the good kit, make my day.lol

Cheers, Chris

Nobody seems to disagree with me, I'm quite happy with the player, except a few issues with some discs not playing (2 out of 100s).
Chris I take your point it basically depends on the display, sure on TV no needs, but on Sim2 HT-3000 your answer will be different thought.

I think the G91 is a very clever piece kit and I like it, I have neither a need to change nor upgraditis.

I'm just stating facts, that DVD sales are probably tumbling extremely quickly and they had nothing to compensate, so I guess the F80 is probably going to try to counteract that on the balance sheet....

I agree with George 50% of MSRP is standard.
the question is:
Can 50% of a G9x MSRP give better video? the answer today is YES. do I want to sell it, if I had a G98 more likely than not, my G91 I'm still unclear. I can see the value of the tuner, the upsampling,etc... less boxes, WAF, etc...

" so I guess the F80 is probably going to try to counteract that on the balance sheet...."

If so , this is probably to catch up on Hd products , the Hd-DVD player that is supposed to be coming ,
a new possibly more affordable ( post Jvc RS1 ) projector system ??

Through all this , DSP speaker systems' simplicity and effectiveness will remain too , so with the 30th Anniversary coming up its possible/likely that some new models will appear ( so I wouldnt give up saving for 'Upgraditis' just yet ).

Having just purchased a Toshiba Hd-DVD player and really enjoying it , I can say straight away that for all its 'great value' and good build quality , it is no Meridian and I for one eagerly await their next ,presumably HD-inclusive range of players to restore the balance to the Force

If you still have your G91 at that point you can always delegate to CD/DVD duties exclusively and still get value from it.

~M~

Chris -

I don't think you're quoting Bob verbatim. What I think he said was something along the lines of - Meridian CD player sales had increased in the last year, which was unusual for the industry.

That could be down to poor CD sales the year before for all we know.

Tom

i love M as much as the next guy, but i wouldn't assume that ANY sales trend of theirs can be extrapolated to suggest anything about any other company or industry/market. just too small.

doody.

oh, and my personal opinion is that paying M money for disc playback is not a smart investment. if you have to have all-digital DVD-A, so be it. if it makes you happy, more power to ya. but price-performance isn't there in today's market.

as afdoughty said, i'll buy DSP speakers all day long. and for the record, you'll have to pry my 861 from my cold dead hands. but my 598 on the other hand......

one boy's opinion. worth no more than you paid for it.

doody.

i'm with Meridian for 4-5 years now.
for me even back then their DVD players wasn't a good option.
they tryed to position them like 588 pluc DVD capabilities.
but sound quality wasn't the same.
today 200$ Oppo teaches a lesson 99% of high end DVD players for a scaling/deintrlacing.
so for me it's pretty much like people buying B&O - there is no "good value for money" reasons here.