Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Dipping a toe into Meridian waters : speaker quandary....

I hear you, George. I am only basing my concern on my own experience. 8Ks can overpower a room if it's too small and they are not set up correctly.

My room is 24' x 17' x 9' and it's built for listening. The construction is such that bass energy does not bleed away. I have two layers of sheetrock with Green Glue in between. Call it the price of privacy because I can get my system cranking without being able to hear it outside. But, when I went to setup the 8Ks, I had to turn the bass all the way down and use the "corner" boundary setting just to get the overall bass level in line with the mids and highs. Then, I had to use subwoofers to even out the modal response that came with the tight room. I had the advantage of being able to install bass traps in all four corners. It's near perfect now, but if I had to stick the speakers in the corners, I'd never be able to even out the bass without somehow inserting equalization into the chain.

I doubt the OP's room is built the same way so he should get enough bass to bleed out. I'd like to know the ceiling height so that I can calculate the modal response.

He was not talking 8K's he was talking 7.2K's (although I have not followed the whole thread). My 5500's put out more uncontrolled bass than 6K's so I suspect in general 8K's are more forgiving than perhaps 7.2K's. The 6 drivers to the side on 8K's produce SMOOTH bass because they are not trying to do it all with one or two drivers. Every room is different. Predicting behavior with a few measurements, in my opinion/experience are rather useless, you have to just try it and tweak it until it works. There is a few dozen other parameters that effects things. Too many variables to predict what will happen. Rooms you think should work don't and ones you think never would, do.

Hi Rolski,
Well given the chance I'd opt for a 7200HC anyday! To me it is basic economics if I had limited funds I would buy a set of 8ks & get a cheaper ( second hand) 5500HC. This will be a compromise for the purist Trifieldian & movie buff, but I reckon it will be easer at a later stage to upgrade the 5500 to a 7200HC & along the way justfiy the pleasure in doing so.
Having young kids greatly reduces the time to indulge in being able to watch a movie in its entirety these days ( took me 3 weeks to watch Avatar!!)so I tend to have music mostly in the background, but M has a way of sometimes just drawing you in & sitting down to listen & just enjoy!
Ive got the 3300 as surrounds, had 4 at one point but now my new room does not need the sides. The SW1600 is still invaluable in spite of the 7200'/5500 combo being able to deliver a rich bass. Again one has to achieve that "sound" which most brings in your personal world a true picture of what things should sound like - where MRC should assist greatly in tempering the bass anomolies. again ones man's meat is another's poison - some like overwhelming bass others like it a tad lean. My system does produce a fair amount of bass as the system is now shoved up in a large loft conversion, far from the ideals of a sloid walled solid floor room.
My personal plan - again lotto permitting - would be to upgrade the 7200 for 8k's then upgrade the 5500HC to a 7200HC. Ultimately replacing the rears with the replacements for the 5200's (yes quite a long while I reckon). This is again based upon the conditions & acoustics of my room. I found that the 8ks alone would yield such a great coherent sound ( Im sure all the 8k owners would agree)that having other speakers would just be a shortfall for all the money & time spent.

So, some more for me to mull over, thanks !

Detailed info on room dimensions to follow later....

Simply put, the 8k's are unaffordable, as is the 7200HC. The DSP8000.2 is currently retailing at �24,500ea and the DSP7200HC / DSP7200VC are �15,000ea - �1,000 more than the standard DSP7200.
I think the best thing is to "make do" with a DSP5200HC for the time-being & to trade up when funds apply, as I do understand that the matching mid-range driver of the centre is somewhat crucial to homogenous voicing. Looks like I may be starting off with the same kit as Will and following his own proposed upgrade path to the letter !

Also, I'll be in discussions later with my dealer about the home demo that's been offered by the distributor, but I think it really is sensible to get the 861v6+HD621 home for a while with my current B&W's to see if there's any synergy and whether the nasty 36Hz peak (amongst others) can be tamed & the room-response somewhat smoothed. The 802D's are currently backed right into the very corners due to room requirements as noted before, and sound terrible with the on-loan Rotel processor that I have at the moment, but were great (to my mind) with the TMA processor & it's internal EQ tweaked to suit.
As most are alluding, the home demo could finally tip the balance....

OK, that's it for now - please keep the opinions / suggestions / feedback coming ! Oh, and of course I'll be playing the lottery in order to fund the 8k's (and a move to an apartment that's a more appropriate size) - unless someone wants to donate a pair / the cash !

You could find a UK dealer, rent a van and pick them up in the UK.

At 2x 14.000 euro the difference versus the UK price list of 17.500 GBP for a pair is almost 7000 euro! Crazy.

Even driving to The Netherlands will save you 2 x 1250 euro....

On the other hand. You can ignore this forum, and just continue enjoying your N802 :-)

I run a N802/Chord/G68/HD621 set, and although yes the DSP7200 is a nice speaker, it isn't a BIG step forward versus I have now. Ofcourse that is just my opinion.

?!?!?! Er, is there a current UK price list anywhere ?
Let's wait & see what happens after my up-coming home demo's - I'm hoping that if there is a difference it'll be easily noticeable otherwise I'll never know what to do !

http://www.Meridian-audio.info/public/uk_rrp_1st_feb_2010%5B2726%5D.pdf

Er, as they're publically-available MRP's, I'm a more than a little taken aback....the difference in price between the UK & Germany is horrendous....
Thanks to Ronnie for the info too b.t.w.

Room dimensions :-

Length 5.00m, width 3.50m, height 4.28m

There's a sliding door to the kitchen on the left wall, 25cm from the front wall. The door's on the kitchen side of the wall, so when the door's closed (hollow chipboard construction door - horrible !) there's a small 15cm deep door-sized alcove right next to the Left front speaker.
There's another (normal : hinged) door on the back wall, which opens inwards, towards the left, which is 50cm from the left wall.

My main sofa (listening position) is centred and 420cm from the front wall (which has half-height windows across it's width & is occasionally masked by a 3.5m wide drop-down screen).

The doors are both normally open, but do get closed for serious listening / film viewing sessions, although I'm not actually sure how much effect that really has as they're both quite flimsily constructed !

Right, am going to have a lay-down on aforesaid sofa in shock at the � vs � price differences !!!!

You would be looking at around �25,000 for a pair of 7200 and a 7200HC from a UK dealer after a little discount at todays exchange rates. Add another �2000 for an SW1600.

Rolski, you have a PM.

Received & replied - many thanks !