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

FYI,

The Avg Used Value on Audiogon for the following is:

568.2 03 $7745.00 $4490.00
598dp 03 $5695.00 $3100.00

The have dropped pretty quick, considering they have only been out ONE year!

There were 4 568's on eBay between $2000 and $2400..

This scares the **** out of me!

yes, in the US. it sounds like you've already made your decision. if you find that the b&k doesn't suit your tastes, I'd go with a 561 and enjoy it, save your money and not worry about upgrades until you're ready for a big move.

Another option is to cash out big time with a great solution: Anthem AVM-1. Very close to all the big guys (read SGHT review vs. Levinson 40), but very cheap. Use DVD of choice with AVM and save the money. Watch other stuff depreciate and then buy when you KNOW for sure what you want.
I had the Lexicon MC12B, tried the Levinson 40 in my system for 4 days and have just ordered G68 & G98. I considered Anthem until I jumped into Meridian.
Good luck and don't stress.

Sorry forgot thecontent.
I didn�t see the point with the eBay prices. M owner can be happy, try Lexicon . This is scary, you bought the Reference AV Decoder(?!) and then one year later you earn a bad value for your goods.

Best
Armin

Hi Duntec

Given that the price you are being offered is higher than you paid, I'd say sell now, and not only do you have a clean slate, but you are up on the deal. The field is then wide open for your next choices, although if your finances and/or access to 800 series are limited, and will be for the forseeable future, I think it may be best to forgo the idea of upgradability. Personally, I feel I'd need to be permanently rolling in cash to justify the 800 series, as the price of upgrades recently has matched the price of many other companies' premium models when bought outright (I think this is a point which UA has also made previously).

For possible replacements, if you are downsizing until HDMI or another standardised digital interface is sorted for DVD-A and SACD, you could do a lot worse than the 561 as mentioned above...it's a great machine, and will be fairly inexpensive now. I can't remember if you mentioned how much of a priority multichannel music is to you, but if it's not, then even a used 602 or 500 transport will sound excellent at the front end. You will have a lot of cash in hand saved to put down against the next major purchase in a year's time, when I reckon that a lot of dust will have settled re new formats and interfaces, or at the least, used G series will be available.

Cheers

George

PS Forgot your priority for movies...surely many of the newer mainstream models (eg Arcam, Pioneer etc) give the 596 and 598 a run for their money in straight video performance? As to your list of possibles above, Rotel is nowhere near M in performance terms...good competent stuff, but I suspect that would be a downgrade too far!

[This message has been edited by Mr Meridian (edited 12-23-2003).]

you know the sell now advice is a pretty good bet. also if you just want solid movie playback- you could just get a sony or similar preamp. I remember a few years ago the 9000 model got some pretty nice reviews.

I think no matter what you should be sure that your mind does not explode!

You can't actually buy a ML #40 right now. They sold out and are not building any for a long time to come. Harman has put their foot down and making ML fix bugs. The #40, for example, will only come out of standby 1 out of every 4 tries. While not as buggy as the PMDT, there are some pretty serious bugs that stopped production. All the money in the world would not get you one right now. (at least new.)

I haven't been able to access this site all day so here is my late response.

Modifications:

I put a rant on this at Audio Asylum at
http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/general/messages/297550.html

The upgrades to that Marantz were done by the owner who understands surface mount soldering, can follow circuits etc. Much of that sort of thing is beyond me so I pay the professionals to do it. I used Soundlabs Group in Melbourne, Australia.

The comment on Meridian vs Lexicon being better for music results from quite a few posts I've seen on this topic. Have a look at the digital and video boards at Audio Asylum - put a post up.

It does appear a good deal to sell & if you have accepted a 10% deposit - end of story.

I empathise with the dilemma of not having a suitable dealer nearby. However the net is a good research tool although you have to be wary of owner opinion - it generally sings nice songs about presently owned components and can rubbish items traded in.

As for projectors, ours is an 8" Barco but I gather 9" is better. Projector selection is a BIG topic and I would never advise buying into it unless you have technical backup to set you up in the first place. Believe me, it is a long learning curve to do it yourself.

John

I've got to totally agree with John, find someone reputable who knows what they are doing with CRT projectors before even considering it.

Mark