Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems 861 room correction

Mine is using 30 filters for music with the projector off and screen up. For logic and movies its using 36 and 33 filters respectively. I have found that it uses less filters on all profiles if I sit in the listening position holding the mic as opposed to leaving the room.

I have 2 sound pressure meters. A cheapo RS and a very expensive Sencore. I ended up having to use the RS because I couldn't get the signal/noise ratio high enough with the Sencore. Go figure.

As for sonic improvement, I can hear a little difference. The bass sounds somewhat tighter and cleaner. Overall, the 861 simply works better and faster than it did before. It locks on to sources much faster. I also like how most everything is now upsampled. Although, if I turn to say ESPN on Direct TV I get upsample PLII. If I then tune to HBO I no longer get upsampled PLII. If I then tune back to ESPN I don't get the upsampling back unless I change to say PLII THX. I don't know if this is a bug or the way its suppose to work. The sat box is connected via a coaxial digital cable.

is HBO's audio being sent as dolby digital? that would likely be the reason.

re: # of filters. is that per speaker (!) or for the room. in my room, the 861 is using 8 filters per speaker for a total of 56 filters. I will try it with me sitting in the room. and see if there is a difference...

Those are total filters for the room. Each speaker in my setup uses between 1-5 filters each. Each speaker can use up to 20 filters each.

When I switch to HBO (or pretty much any movie channel) the display on the 861 still says PLII. It doesn't switch to cinema or dolby digital. The only thing it does do is displays the small "digital" light to the left of the main display. I guess it can't upsample 2 channel digital streams. I don't know though, hopefully someone with v4 can see if they are getting the same results or has an answer for this.

Has no one gotten their version 4 861 back recently? Thought I would revive this thread with my comments.

I ran the 861 with my version 3 800 for about a week without utilizing room correction. As others have noted, version 4 sounds better right out of the box. One of those all positive, no negative kinds of improvement. Most noticeable to me was a more focused, transparent and bigger soundstage. If version 4 were nothing more than that, it would be a worthwhile improvement, although not the improvement from version 2 to version 3.

I then ran room correction without difficulty. I have a 7.1 setup, fronts, center sides and rears with three subs, two tied into the .1 channel and one for the center that utilizes that sub's crossover. My room also uses extensive acoustic treatment. The instructions for running room correction and the user interface in general are superb. The software came up with 52 corrections overall.

The combination of version 4 improvements along with room correction improvements was stunning! Others have already noted the dramatic effect that clearing up room modes has not just on low frequencies but on the all-important midrange as well. The sound now has a presence to it that is startling, not achieved at the expense of tonal neutrality. The integration between the channels, which I always though was good, was noticeably improved. I listen to all of my music in 7.1 Trifield and the integration of the three front channels with the sides is flawless. Movie sound is similarly improved. The sound field in the Cinema mode becomes extremely precise and more coherent. I was further impressed with the improvement that came to DVD-A. Better integration from front to back, more precision, better definition.

IMHO, this is a must have upgrade for the 861. The version 4 861 really widens the gap between it and any other processor. Do whatever you need to do to get your 861 upgraded to it.