Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Streaming MC200 Performance over Analogue

Hello Guys

First post to this forum - thanks up front for any help.

I am an owner of the 506.24 CD Player and am fairly happy with it - as happy as you are with any piece of kit, however I receieved a mailshot from Sevenoaks and the MC200 caught my eye.

The idea of it I like - CD storage (baby on way so space is becoming more limited), the idea of a basic Sooloos from an iPad / iPhone I really like.

It's the performance over analogue that I am struggling to find out about.

I spoke to a nice chap at Meridian and he said it would be a big improvement over my 506, however I have found owners comments to always be just as helpful.

What would be the opinions of people on here please.

Thanks

Everyone here says MC600 trumps MC200 as a Sooloos endpoint, but I haven't heard an MC600.

My experience is, however, that MC200 analogue out into my Quad preamp and Meridian M60 analogue actives is very good - the MC200 makes the preamp-speaker combination sound better than it ever has done. It also sounds better than an SB3 into the same system.

Compared to a 506.24? Why not get a home demo of an MC200?

What will you be driving with it? By the way if you put your system in your signature people will be better able to give advice.

Hi EllisDJ

Welcome to the forum, I have an MC200 but use the speakerlink connection, I would suggest audition at home, if the dealer says it will be better, let him show you.

Ratbert

I think it's the MS600 that is the trump here (not MC600)

It is very easy to demo both and make a choice. Would highly recommend a demo and be prepared to part with the cash shortly after

Putting all CD's away and using the Billy bookcases for things that need to be out of reach is a very wise move too.

Thanks for the replies guys,

It was a sales chap at Meridian (I phoned them to quiz them more on the product) who said it would be better, performance in line with the G08 (he didn't say exactly but in line if that makes sense due to new apodising filter etc.).

I have spoken to Sevenoaks about a demo, they are very helpful and I will take them up - store demo, didn't ask about home demo.

I figured someone might have upgraded from something similar to the MC200 and used it in a non Meridian full system.

Sorry missed this post - apologies - updated sig, thought I did that on sign up.

If you don't get a home demo, see if you can take your 506 along to compare with. I have done this myself in the past, although it was more to test compatibility of my old G98 against a shortlist of TV's.

I also found that baby curtailed a lot of my audio listening - my son seems to have super sensitive hearing so I rarely found myself in the position to get volume to levels where SQ between my old squeezebox and G98 was troublesome. Convenience won the day.

With MC200, SQ via analogue is not going to be bad and if/when funds allow and listening is critical, adding an MS600 zone (or whatever is current at the time) in the critical listening room will beyond doubt boost the SQ well beyond what you are already accustomed to and you get to use the MC200 as a source for another audio zone.

I concur, start with the MC200 analogue, then shoot for the MS600 when you need utmost quality and put the MC200 in a second zone.

Hi Guys

You are suggesting buy an MC200 and then upgrade later by adding the MS600 and wiring digital to MS600 then analogue to my main system?

Yes, but for clarity you should note that the connection between the MC200 and MS600 is not a SPDIF signal it is via a LAN using TCP/IP data packets and as such this interface is not prone to the problems associated with digital jitter.

Regards,
Carl

The MS600 won't work stand alone, is it more of a DAC only?

Thanks

No and Yes.

A Sooloos system has four component types:

Store - Where your music files are stored.

Core - The computer that runs the system & streams PCM digital data to the Source.

Source - The endpoint of the system. The bit that usually contains a DAC and outputs an analogue and/or digital (SPDIF) signal.

Control - The human interface to the Core. eg iPad / iPhone / Control15 / ControlPC / ControlMAC.

It's a distributed system meaning these parts can reside in individual physical boxes. Alternatively more than one component can be housed in a single box.

The C15 is totally self contained.
The MC200 houses Store, Core and Source and is controlled by an iPad/iPhone.
The MD600 houses Store and (just recently) Core.
The MS600 houses a Source.

They can be mixed and matched. eg. MC200 now and add an MS600 later for even better SQ and a 2nd zone (because now you have 2 x sources).

In answer to your question about sound quality of the MC200. I don't have the same gear as you, so take this with a grain of salt, but I think it's better than my Cambridge Audio 840C CD player.

Regards
Mark