Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Help B4 my mind explodes! To sell or not!

You're welcome!

A few thoughts.

On the computer analogy- no analogy is perfect, but think about this.

you buy a new PC or Mac- the model super1000x. It has a Z Processor running at 3ghz and 2gb of ram.

Next month the super2000x is announced. it will be out in 6 months. it will cost the same as the 1000x that preceeded it and the price on the 1000x will be dropped significantly to help move the 1000xs on the shelf and also to put more power at a lower price point.

the specs on the 2000x are fantastic: the processor is now up to 4ghz and the amount of ram allowed is up to 8gb. but theres more, the motherboard now runs at twice the speed- so there are no bottlenecks. the computer also comes with a faster DVD/CD burner.

could you upgrade your 1000 to the 2000? sure- but it would really cost you and to get the benefit of the more ram and faster motherboard - youll have to buy the new motherboard. (this is one place many people dont look when looking at computer speed- and the should). what if you didnt buy the new mother board? well, youll get a faster processor chip- but the data will reach it and leave it at a slower rate then the out of the box 2000x.

the best solution in this situation- keep the 1000x for a few years, as it was running software fine for you before the announcement. when the software gets too demanding, time to move on.

I know its a little different here, but its not so different.

You have to look at what you have today and how much would it cost to replace it and what features/benefits do you gain in the replacement?

since your deal is one where both have to go or its no deal we'll look at it that way.

In my view of the world (which is by no means the right one) I see the order of processors for movies in terms of sound quality as

1- Meridian (by a small margin)
2- lexicon
3- thetas and those like them
4- B&K and those like them.

youll have to decide if their different feature sets suits you, but Im talking about sound quality here.

now about DVD platyers. I would not buy anyone's low volume/ high margin player save for Meridian. the reason is what I see companies like theta and lexicon doing is taking a stock product like a pioneer player, and then adding a fancy new case, maybe beefing up the power suppply and maybe, maybe replacing a few DACs with better ones. We can argue the relative worth of what Meridian does, but I do not think for most people the benefits a Theta player supposedly gives them are all that great. I looked at a Theta DaVID and also one of their LD players and I was shocked that the results were worse than on my pioneer players. Meridian writes their own code and where they dont, they seem to take the time to artifully massage the data to produce the most pleasant image/ sound. I really think there is a bit of an art form to this stuff. Just like anyone can make a car go fast in a straight line- it takes real understanding to build one with banalce and that can still be comfortable to drive in every day.

Thats my opinion- you know what they say about opinions given freely- they are worth just what you paid for it!

So today what do you have?
A very good processor for both movies and music- although some audiophile members prefer more dedicated music gear. But it is worlds better than Lexicon for music. And a top level DVD player that also can decode dolby digital, dts, and MLP (DVD-A) inside it and pass that signal on to the processor so the processor can upsample movies and play DVD-A.

Do any of these features not really matter to you? If they do then I think you are stuck because you really should hold on to that player.

If the DVD-A/upsampling of movies doesnt matter (try comparing with it on and off- I find it makes a big difference, soundtracks seem more "airy" and "open", more "hi-fi" and dialogue seems clearer). But if this doesnt matter then you can sell.

But what do you get. A G68 will cost you maybe 8k? I havent really paid too much attention to the prices. But lets say its 8k. What you gain is what seems like 861v4 performance, which is a notch better than you have now and you also gain room correction and video switching. Im not a fan of video switching, but you must want it because you have a need for it so its needed.

dont think room correction will make a tremendous difference- its a noticeable, but subtle difference. You will likely appreciate it- but I dont know if its worth going through all of this to achieve.

now youll need to get a new DVD player- say a decent one that goes for around 500. So youre spending close to 1k new.

To gain video switching now, you could get something from extron and it would probably cost you in that range or less.

I cant say what I would do if I was in your spot because I like having the latest/greatest- but I would say that I think you cannot make a mistake by sticking with what you have. I think in the end it comes down to how much do you like having DVD-A playback and upsampling of movies.

As to your dealer- or lack thereof- just call up Meridian of America (404) 344-7111.

I think I read here that if they cant find you a dealer within a certaiin radius they will actually sell to you directly. If you live in the NY Metro area let me know, maybe I can see if theres more I can do.