Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Ideas for M80 replacement

Hi All,

Well as you know the M80 has come to the end of its life and Meridian are looking to replace it with another Compact System in the spring / summer of next year.

Its precise details are not yet decided so there is still opportunity for ideas for the replacement; let�s call it C12, C for Compact, and 12 for 2012, the year of its launch.

I was discussing some of my ideas with Meridian and I suggested that the Hitchhikers as owners could offer valuable input on features they felt it should include, and maybe features on the M80 which don't need to be on the C12.

They agreed your feedback would be very useful and asked me to consolidate the suggestions so I can go through it with them in a few weeks time.

I�m not promising any of your ideas will be implemented though!

I know it has been discussed in various other threads, but I'd like to start a specific thread to keep this all together.

If a particular idea arises which requires further detailed discussion then I may start up another thread to investigate that further.

I'll start it off by saying it will very likely be another 'all-in-one' system, with source, amplification and speakers all in a single box.

Over to you....

Hi Rick,

Thank you for suggesting this to M. Your a star!

Sooloos Zone (Hardwired as a minimum spec, simple play list navigation track forward, back, etc. controls).

Sooloos Zone (Via WiFi; for portability within the house/garden, could be a plug in USB dongle (concealed) to aid future proofing).

Universal Power Supply (again to improve portability).

Video out via HDMI (Maybe a version without Video, not everybody wants it).

Apple's Airplay is becoming more popular (something to consider for non Sooloos owners.)

If it has a spinner, should it be CD only?

If it does support DVD then what about BD?

If it has a spinner; could it be used as a Sooloos rip station?

USB Audio file playback.

Integrated iDock (or plug in iDock module, no trailing wires it must look good).

Regards,
Carl

Ditch the DVD drive.

In addition to Sooloos, as suggested by Carl, a USB input, that will work with Memory Sticks.

Separate Internet Radio capacity.

More AD88 than M80.

Richard

Rick, top man! They are officially listening?!


*If DVD use retained, HDMI output is a must.
*Keep the radio functions
*Keep iPod compatibility, ideally integrated dock.
*Take digital from iPod, not analogue
*updatable iPod power compatibility to minimise trailing wires from the dock (current PSU and link cable inelegant, and requires two mains outlets)
*Lipsync delay on all input sources for when used as a TV speaker
*Ability to link two as master/slave set up for a stereo pair as required
*output for use with a sub
*Sooloos Zone via wifi

That'll do for now...

Cheers

George

All of the above+

Integrated iPod dock

Options for connection to additional speaker or sub

by Xmas please

Hi Rick

I have a feeling you may get lots of response on this thread.

I have a Nespresso machine which gets used several times each day, the initial cost as a coffee machine is not overly high but they do charge 30p per capsule for the coffee!

Most hitchhikers will think I'm mad with my opening gambit however.....

A Wireless Sooloos unit which has a build in hard drive, option to connect to a home Sooloos system, possibly that can be used in a portable environment with a Meridian Rhapsody option for European buyers.

This may sound daft but for a few dollars a month Rhapsody is a great service to those who can use it.

If Meridian offered a Rhapsody type service for us Brits and fellow Europeans as a subscription service
they could have a monthly income stream over and above the cost of the unit. Just think of a portable hi-fi system where you could access any music genre wherever you are and if you like it download it to your system.

Now if it made coffee as well.........

Perhaps every 100th purchaser could get a free Range Rover Evoque too!?!

Not sure if I should have posted this as an anonymous hitchhiker!

Carl if you want to delete this I won't be offended, I don't work for Nespresso, I just like good coffee and good music!

Keep the DVD player but with HDMI. Most small flat screen TVs have this these days. Love the idea of a ripping station, but metadata would be an issue for me here. The remote would have to be more complicated to do this, though, as you'll need to point it to wherever you want to store the files.

Agreed on Sooloos. M would be mad not to integrate this into the new model.

Plus side is with ethernet you'd be able to add internet radio. Crap quality, I'd agree, then so is DAB in the main, but most people want these conveniences these days.

I'd like one in pink as well. More colours generally.

+1 to keep DVD and why not Bluray with HDMI. It wouldnt need to be billed as the best DVD/Bluray player available but it is a great conveniance and a "One box solution" should be just that. One Box!
Sooloos intigration is a must and access to internet radio with or without Sooloos would be just great. We have this on many devices today and quality should not sacrifce conveniance.
The radio side of BBC iplayer is becoming ever more usefull to me.

More options on the Alarm/timer would be helpfull as well.

I understand it has to be affordable as well, so we will always have some compromise.

Best of luck with it, Chris

uPnP connectivity would be interesting depending on M's strategy. Connecting to Sooloos is a given but the ability to also connect to other standard media servers would make the market quite huge for them without necessarily damaging Sooloos.
Leave Sooloos for the serious SQ setups and have Sooloos/uPnP for the C12 so it could work and connect pretty much to anything....wherever you put it.

Think of the territory grab M could make with this...it's would be worth a thought....

For the Sooloos application in a C12 I think it could do worse than to replicate the type of screen you get on a SB Touch. This could be mounted on the front or top of whatever shape they ended up with.

Wired and wi-fi.

Internet radio.

Not too fussed personally about the video side of things, but, understand that it would make sense to go BR and HDMI provided it wasn't too expensive for those that didn't want to the picture outputs. Not sure if BR licencing would be the expensive bit.

cheers

Forget DVD, not watched a DVD for around 5 years now, cheap Bluray player would be fine or just drop the drive.

More optical inputs, and proper TOSlink not 3.5mm.

Add a Sooloos input of course, but also consider making it Airplay compatible, they might just be amazed at how many people dip their toes into Meridian land by doing this.
If you could play films from your iPad, iPhone or laptop while away or in the bedroom etc. it would be great, they just need to integrate an appleTV really.

Subwoofer output is a must!!
I run my F80 with a Rel Strata and it is a stunning set up.
But the output level is too high as it is a headphone out really and so makes setting up tricky.

SpeakerLink out for a pair of DSP speakers so you can have a 3.0 or 3.1 system.
So it can be similar to a an Audio Core 200 and simply a controller for a nice 2.0 or 2.1 system, but when you want to watch a film you have a centre channel too. Plus it becomes a great portable system in its own right.

All the above is very easy to achieve. The trickiest it would be the Apple Airplay integration, but with it being the finest iPod compact system on the planet the advertising Meridian would receive through Apple would more than outweigh the headache.

Thanks for arranging this Rick.........and great to see Meridian reaching out......hopefully the first of many

I tried to look at it under a few different categories........but especially at trying to include the functionality that would appeal to most Meridian and non-Meridian Users..........thus increasing the Potential Unit Sales Volumes for Meridian

WHERE will the C12 be potentially Used???
1) Secondary or Portable System around the House
2) Outdoor Use in the Patio & Garden etc.
3) Holiday Use in Holiday Homes, Mobile Homes etc.


WHAT will the C12 be Used For??
1) Sooloos Zone via BOTH RJ45 and Wifi
2) AIRPLAY use via Wifi and iOS Devices
..........a) User Stored Music from iPod�s etc. (Lossless & Lossy)
..........b) Music Subscription Services via iOS Devices (Spotify, MOG, Rhapsody, Pandora etc.)
..........c) Internet Radio via iOS Devices
..........d) DAB Radio Tuner
..........e) No need for an integrated Dock and associated problems as Apple change the Dock Connector too often (e.g. 4th and 5th Gen (current) iTouch Connector is different from 3rd Gen and before�.and will not work��.not sure if new iPhone 4S will work in current F80 Dock???)
..........f) iOS Devices via Airplay is the answer to most User�s Music Needs��
..........g) Android now have 52% of the Smartphone market��but there is no Airplay equivalent��..so difficult to plan for they will likely bring to the Market


Product Design
1) Keep the Price relatively low which will lead to more Units Sold and greater awareness of Meridian (first rung of the ladder for new users)
2) Keep the Size, Shape and Weight in the same ballpark as the F80 and AD88
3) Distinctive (Desirable) Bothroyd design will help distinguish from all the alternatives out there
4) Focus on Audio and forget about Video which is done better and cheaper by others
5) Spinning Drives plus Portability is only asking for Trouble��.most people do not use CD�s for the typical use cases outlined above
6) Forget CD�s, DVD�s and Bluray......as they will only add unnecessary cost and complexity......and most F80 users did not use the Video functionality


SUMMARY
7) Focus the R&D Resources on Audio���
8) Forget Video�..
9) Leverage the ubiquity of iPhones, iPods & Airplay to act as Music Sources for many���will reduce the cost of trying to build these Sources in��..and will better accommodate undoubted future tech changes
10) Keep the Price Down���..which will increase the number of younger Buyers and therefore future Meridian system buyers

I'd still like the iPod dock. While AirPlay is good it's not that convenient if a friend wants to bring over their music. Unless I've missed something.
Also the navigation of an iPod library is a PITA at the moment especially when compared against the iPod itself. Revisiting this would be good. And changing the buttons - to me they don't feel of the same quality as the rest of the system.

I'd still want a disc player. You can only stream what you've ripped so if you borrow a disc for the evening without a spinner there's effort involved, which usually means it won't happen.
Cheers

Ed.