Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion HiFi & HT Chat CES?

According to two different service techs at M USA, the replacement 861 PS they are now installing is a "much more robust unit which should be significantly more reliable." For the $850 (return shipping included)repair cost I just laid out I hope so.

Happy Trails!
MTB Vince

They are making serious money charging $850 for a PS & labor to replace. I was quoted a fixed fee of $1000 for the same. I'd guess that at least 50% of that is profit. My 861 v4 is way out of warranty, and M has definitely taken care of me in the past, but they've thrown an abrupt switch and it's a steep hill to climb if you need repairs now. All of the following:

(1) Huge upgrade cost for v4 -> v6
(2) Non-robust nature of the gear. (The frequency of repair / issues with my Meridian gear is an order of magnitude more than any other gear I own).
(3) The now expensive costs for repair.

Has soured me on the brand, honestly, and is definitely pointing me in other directions. I am not in a hurry to change out as my gear is working right now - and when it works it performs very well - but I am eyeing a Meridian free future, unfortunately.

-Rick

The unfortunate problem that the high end brands face is out of warranty upgrades, and repairs. This holds true for most companies. SInce they aren't cheap to make, it costs a lot carrying spare parts that are over so many years old. In the computer industry, which in many ways is similar, most companies don't really support products past a couple of years after the product has been discontinued. It costs too much to store spare mother boards, etc. So they usually either make very few spares to stock, or they cost a fortune to make a couple of units for out of warranty. I love the upgradeable aspect of Meridian as it is a very attractive selling point, but I think they want people to upgrade as quickly as it becomes available or forever hold your peace. and yes, Meridian is not a Sony whereby they are making millions or hundreds of thousands of units. So the production runs are smaller, the component cost is more due to lower purchasing power and Meridian, from what I can tell, tries to use as much as they can throughout the entire product line when possible, hence the same drivers in the speaker line (with maybe one or two exceptions). I don't know how other mfg that make upgradable processors, DVD/CD players, etc. are doing with their out of warranty support. I think if you consider everything, it is probably going to still cost a lot of money going with a company that doesn't offer upgradability. Personally, I would have the upgrade done as soon as it becomes available or you don't have as much to complain about. for all things considered as long as things get repaired in a timely manner and problems get resolved as quickly as possible and Meridian is doing their job as best as they can. Unfortuntey, their recent acquisition of Sooloos takes time to get used to and they are probably trying to to cut costs where they can in order to survive bad economic times.

The flip side to your argument, DrOne, is that in mass market industries (computers, Sony, etc.) they are making much smaller margins. The parts cost of an 861 v4, at the small volumes they do, is probably in the $2k region. I paid in the neighborhood of $15K for it. I believe the cost to the dealer was in the $10K range. So, if my $2k parts is correct then they're making an obscene margin. It's considered fantastic to make a 30% margin on hardware today.

I don't doubt that Meridian is having to make changes to their business model to stay profitable. However, they are actively bringing new products to market and that's a sign of a company with reserves and a long term outlook.

In any case, they get to decide how they want to run their business and to what extent that want to support their existing customer base. Even with the very high margins in their products, historically, I always felt comfortable with the value equation (what I give vs. what I get). I don't feel that way anymore - too expensive for the performance, customer care being reduced, finicky products that have proven to be fragile. Oh well, times have changed for me & for Meridian. We were a good pairing, but not so sure we're the right fit now.

You're confusing margin with profit. I'd rather make a 10% profit margin on $100m of sales than a 90% profit margin on $1mn of sales.

However it's not just the parts that you need to factor in to calculate M's margin. You've completely ignored the cost of their R&D to make these products, as well as the cost of their facilities etc. When you do that I can assure you it will be a lot smaller than you're currently quoting.

There is also marketing costs as well. he high end market operates with a much smaller sales model and it seems as though Meridian is going after the lower high end market F80, M80, DSP3200, etc, because it is much more stable. The 800 series products ere the flagship products and they only sell so many unit worldwide, but it isn't there bread and butter that keeps their lights on. It appears as though their speaker line up is fairly complete. I don't much else they can do other than upgrade them to 24/192. The 800 series products is plug in card upgrade, so it is just upgrding which ever card they need to. at the G series seems pretty stable. I don't know what other new products they can come out with other than upgrading to the 24/192 model, but again there isn't much content taking advantage of 24/192 unfortunately.

I don't know if they need some speaker model that fits in between the DSP 3100/3200 and the DSP5200 or between the 5200 and the 7200. I doubt they are going to get any bigger than the DSP8000.

I would have to look at the balance sheet, cash flow and income statements of Meridian and compare it to other high end audio/video companies to see how well they are doing against the competition. Sony really isn't Meridian's competition. meridians competition is more like Krell and the other high end full range audio/video mfg. I am kind of shocked they can afford to have these Meridian stores in places like mexico. I think it is going to be kind of difficult to maintain good profit margins to keep the Meridian Stores open unless they really have enough foot traffic and sales, but if that's the direction, then we as consumers might be seeing Meridian retail/service centers replacing traditional dealers that may or may not be 100% dedicated to the Meridian brand, We might see improved customer service with the Meridian store concept.

But on their website Meridian are offering the DSP 3200 and AC 200 in black or white i.e. no silver.

I didn't mean speakers. The MS600 has been out a year, and it's only in silver and apparently will stay so. The MC200 and MC600 have only been pictured in silver and appear to only be in silver too.

That's all I meant.

I have always preferred black, but perhaps I will change my tune when I actually get round to buying any of these new things.

For those that attended CES, was there any products showing Intel's Light Peak technology? I know there is supposed to be some new products coming out this year with that technology. I am just curious which audio/video mfg are going to be releasing hardware.

I didn't mean speakers. The MS600 has been out a year, and it's only in silver and apparently will stay so. The MC200 and MC600 have only been pictured in silver and appear to only be in silver too.

That's all I meant.

I have always preferred black, but perhaps I will change my tune when I actually get round to buying any of these new things. [/quote]

I think the MS 600 came out in July or thereabouts. Sooloos products seem only to have been offered in silver up to that time as far as I know.

The colours of the DSP 3200 and AC 200 are more of a puzzle. They seem to be in a category of their own.

G series had / is in black or silver; DSP 3100 in silver; 800 series and 5k2 and larger in black, silver and graphite.

Can MS600 connected to the DSP 8000.2 or any DSP speakers sounds better than a 800 CD player?.