Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Meridian quality??? don't buy again

I too find it hard to believe that an amp would leave the factory with 2 different version boards. I would therefore be highly suspicious of its history.

I'm not sure I would be put off from buying Meridian stuff, but I wouldn't have anything to do with the dealer you bought it from again!

Cliff

The OP states that he bought it "new". I'm not sure if that means new or not. What do the "" mean here ? The points Ian makes above are good and suggest that it is unlikely.

Amplifiers should only apply voltage and current gain in the audio band, nothing else.
You keep buying those audiophool grade components for you DIY projects. In my DIY and professional career as an electronics engineer, power supply caps never made a jot of difference if they were of the correct value and spec.



You are far too anal, nothing is exactly the same, it's either in spec or not. Using the word audiophile in the same sentence as LS3/5A is a bit of a stretch. The LS3/5A was built for close monitoring in BBC OB vans, close spec meant they could be swapped out. When I worked for the BBC as a broadcast engineer I saw many of them, often the stereo pair would be from two different manufacturers. I think you'd of had a fit.



You are finally correct about something, I really don't care about your audio phobia about a component that you can't hear any problems with.

I think this is unfair to this guy. I know plenty of folks on this forum that would have a hissy fit if this did happen to them. Like the grain of the wood is different on two speakers or when the light hits the grill a certain way on one it doesn't do the same on the other.

This is high end expensive stuff. If his claim is genuine he has a right to gripe about the the large board rev difference. But I would be more suspect of the dealer than Meridian. There is often a copyright date on PCB's be curious what those dates are.

Fair enough.

But it does take a particular form of nervosa to be worried about components on a PCB that is hidden from view in normal operation.

Steve.

I think his biggest complaint (and most valid IMHO) is the Rev 3 vs Rev 1.3 boards. With obvious changes in the revs.

His complaint about selection of components is getting on the Nervosa side. But if he is that knowlegable it may be no more Nervosa than folks putting exotic power conditioners or cables to minimize the impact of said components. Who knows.

I also think it is fair to suggest that Meridian equipment can be a bit twitchy. I have no experience with their amps, but I have had to ship both my 800 and 861 units back for repair more than once. I'm not suggesting Meridian quality control is any better or any worse than other hiend manufacturers - my sample size is way to small to be able to draw any statistically significant conclusions - but of the last six times I have had to send a piece back for repair, three were Meridian pieces (also 'bricked' my Radiance trying to do a firmware update, and had both a Genesis and Krell amp go blotto on me). Again, tiny sample size, but I also think one must accept a bit of twitchiness along with superb performance and stretching designs.

I also think all bets are off once one buys something through the used market. My experience with the above referenced Krell amp was that - represented by the seller as mint, somewhat less so upon receipt. Caveat emptor.

Simon

I usually find people that have an electronic engineering background to the extent of understanding what individual components do in a circuit, are usually immune to the almost religious belief system hi-fi has now become.

Wanting both speaker cables to be of equal length is a rational requirement, even though it makes no difference in typical installations.

Wanting something internal, that can't be seen to have transistors made in the same plant at the same time is a bit OCD.

I do agree that different revs inside the same box is strange, I would have to think that the amp has had work carried out on it after it left the the production line.

Personally, it wouldn't bother me if I had an amplifier repaired and the two mono amplifier boards were different revisions, as long as they were to the correct spec and deemed a matching pair by that spec.

Steve.

But he is claiming it was never repeaired and his complaints are far beyond date stamps from the same plant.

Once in a while 'factory specials' leave the gates of Meridian. I had some specials with my 200 series kit - my 205 monoblocks and 201 - the latter being a 201mk1 in a mk3 box, the former having a different (better) set of bindings. The reason was that this kit had been sitting round on the shelves and Meridian wanted room for their forthcoming 500 series.

But I knew about this when I purchased and consequently got a very decent discount. Meridian got rid of their old stock and I got a bargain.

I still believe that it would be extremely difficult for a unit to be manufactured with one half being in one spec and the other half in another spec, and I also believe that Meridian have the highest of ethics such that they would never pass off a unit that's been sitting on the shelf for a while for a new (note lack of '') unit.

However the dealings and understanding between customer and dealer over exactly how new or 'new' a unit is may well have become a little blurred over the years. I had totally forgotten that my 201 was a mk1 unit until I went to sell it and found the mismatched mk3 box and mk1 unit. Not Meridians fault, just a little rusty lump of grey matter.

Infact, Meridian helped clear up the matter as they check the model of the unit on their records from the serial number and didn't have to see the images to confirm version. I think a few people would be interested in knowing the serial number of your amp. You may have bought a mk1 amp and got a free upgrade to half of it

Meridian has always been greater than the sum of its parts....that's the "magic" of Bob & Co.


Particularly after reading the post " Price check M20/M active speakers ", I only wish I could find someone as helpful and knowledgeable as many here to advise on the condition of my 20 odd year old M20's amps. Aging components is an issue owners of more mainstream components couldn't even begin to understand...

As for the 557, when something needs repair on my vehicle, I fix it so that it wont require fixing ever again as long as I own it...8 yrs old?? replace both boards etc at the same time, and run it again for 8-10 years, based on my old 205's and 105's, I would bet you couldn't beat that amp for twice what it is actually worth at the moment, and I'd guess a 1/4 of that for the repair

If you read BJT datasheets from Toshiba and Motorola, their specification are not really identical. Different caps are not the same in ripple current, ESR..... They sound a little different in real world. Meridian claim a dream of high-end audio(high price). But the dream was broken. I still keep the original box, manual... everything. In addition, my Sony BS sattlite receiver or Philips CD player circuit board quality is really far better than Meridian. They won't sound as good as G08(with cheap DVD-ROM/switch power). But they build their components seriously. I am a customer. I can choose.

If this amp runs at bridge mode, different revision boards are driving one loudspeaker. I never try it. But I found the sound from XLR input is better than RCA. More detailed and better bass control.