Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems G68 PSU Problems - Again

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@Gerry, Phase 3

Sorry, I didn't make clear above that your good service was provided gratis. In fact, my invoice is just for a replacement Meridian PSU and nothing further.

@Malcolm, have you got a part number for this, presumably, "latest spec." G68 PSU?

Question is would Meridian send out replacement parts such as the PSU directly to the customer?

If anyone ever needs to change the power supply in a 598 DVD player themselves then read this old post.

Less than 24hr turnaround on 568DP power supply repair !

Cheers,
Steve

I came across this thread whilst researching what to do about the failed PSU on my own G68 ADV, an early model fitted with the UMEC PSU and well out of warranty. I ended up ordering the latest type of PSU that M fit, which is one of these:

http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/search/productdetail.jsp?sku=1176970

I also learned that M recommends replacing all the capacitors on the motherboard and some on two of the other boards too, so I ordered these as well � total cost around �50 inc. VAT & shipping.

If you can wield a soldering iron and can also drill four holes in the PSU cage to accommodate the smaller new PSU then the work involved is fairly straightforward. It is nevertheless time consuming, mainly because so much disassembly /reassembly is involved to get to the motherboard. Be warned though, if replacing one type of PSU with another � the connector pin-outs to the motherboard are not the same! It really is to Phase 3�s credit that they made no charge for fitting the PSU to Malcolm�s G68.

Now if you�ve followed the thread this far you might well conclude that M have treated Malcolm badly by charging �250 just to send �50s worth of bits for his dealer to fit. But it�s worse than that - follow the product link through, look at the spec sheet and you can see that the PSU has a three year warranty.

Malcolm, I think you should demand your money back from M.

Cheers, Roger.

p.s. Is there any call for details on replacing G68 PSUs? If so I�m sure I could put something together for the Wiki.

Hi Roger,

I think it's a great idea for the Wiki. I may have to swap a power supply for my G68 someday, and I would appreciate having this information available.

John

I agree. That $850 charge is a hard pill to swallow. It would be useful for G68 owners to have more detail so they can decide if its a DIY they want to attempt.

Still on a learning curve here with my G68. Just taking a peek into my ADV as we speak. How can I tell I got an older or I guess there is "newer" PSU ? Or do I misunderstand that "early model" remark ?

Hi Andreas,

I don't know when M changed from using the UMEC PSU to the XP POWER ECM40UT31 PSU but if you've already got the hood off your G68 then the easiest way to tell is to compare your PSU against those shown in the Wiki (Internal Pictures) for G68 and 861 - they both use the same PSUs although the 861 has more sophisticated post PSU regulation. Follow this link and scroll down to the 3rd picture down to see the old type (and again at the 14th picture down), scroll to the 15th picture down for the newer type:

http://www.Meridian-audio.info/viewphoto.php?compid=51

The cage for the UMEC is larger than the one used for the XP and bears the Meridian Boothroyd Stuart logo in two places. The newer PSU is smaller without any logo - unless of course you're looking at my G68 which has the old cage with a later PSU inside it ;-)

To be absolutely sure you can tell by looking at the position of the blue and yellow wires which lead from a connector on the PSU to the motherboard. If they are next to each other then you have the newer XP PSU. If they are at opposite ends of the connector block with 2 red and 2 black wires in between them then you have the earlier UMEC supply. Pictures 3 and 15 show the wire positions very clearly.

The position of the wires going from the PSU to the motherboard really is most important - get it wrong and you'll feed the wrong voltage to the motherboard which will have dire consequences!

Many, many thanks Roger for the details. Indeed excellent advice. Another shiny example of the value of this forum.

And it looks that I got lucky...hehe....here is my G68ADV

Thinking back... we were modding the G series PSU's a few years ago...

2006 - The new Clean Debate about Clean power supplies also related AudioCircle - Meridian G68ADV Pre/Pro


Meridian buy in SMPS units to avoid the cost of the CE Certification and testing. I have always had reservations, especially with the cheap input filter behind the IEC socket. I recall that bypassing this opens up the dynamics to some extend, a little less Merlot.

In the end I concluded that the factory arrangement appeared fine for digital only, anything with a DAC and an analogue output board deserved a better power source. For those sceptical, try to find a NAIM dealer and listen to their top CDP's with and without the XPS power supply attached. It's not that the internal PSU is poor, it's just the external one is so much better.

Remember, this complete unit powers ONLY the analogue output stage



An inside picture of one of the world's best DAC (Minerva Medea). The right hand side is a full Class A output stage.



The whole unit is double shielded against electrostatic and electromagnetic radiation. In my opinion a completely different league of construction.... In this league of sound quality everything matters and the attention to detail is what yields the results.