Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Streaming External power supply for MC200

Am I slow? If you remove the network altogether whilst playing a playlist, Sooloos will carry on playing but without any alleged noise from the network. This would be a definitive test as to wether you can hear a difference created by network noise, or not.

I have done this very thing on my MC200 with the F80 and could discern no difference.

That doesn't mean others will not notice things. (double negative).

Am I wrong here? Chris

It would have been better if you hadn't told us what you found, now we have expectation bias (jokes)!

I fully agree. The difficulty is that MC200 is a relatively noisy environment so the real test would be ID40/MS600 etc. which does require a network connection. However, a crossover network cable would give a minimalist network between two devices and thus offer potentially the ultimate audio quality, although, unless used with C15, impractical in normal operation.

Reducing network noise was posited as the reason why the MS600's network port only operates at 100Mbit.

(Do ID40 and ID41 follow the same route?)

ID41 is 10/100

A 10/100 port is less costly to implement and is sufficient for the amount of bandwidth needed to get the music to the endpoint. The store has the potential need to service multiple endpoints which requires more bandwidth and therefore the 1Gb interface. Simple economics, no conspiracies.

Networks are reliable if properly installed. If noise on the line was a major problem then you wouldn't see them used in business. A properly designed network interface can tell the difference between a data packet and noise and reject the noise. Network jacks are grounded so EMI on the lines are prevented from getting into the device. I live in an area with a lot of lightning strikes and we replace network cards all the time, but the computers that they are in continue to operate for many more years. Your home network, unless it's really messed up will not affect the sound.

So are the ferrite cores such as on the Anniversary System cables, and as built into the ID41 totally unnecessary?

Is a 10/100 significantly cheaper on a device the cost of an MS600? I very much doubt it. And if so why does my �200 printer have Gigabit ethernet? Surely they would have cut costs on that if it made any difference at all.

Sure, no-one is talking about that kind of noise or problem.

Then why is Meridian using ferrite cores now on LAN cables, and why are there ferrite cores on cables at all (I mean in any application, at any level), if simply grounding the plugs blocks any RFI getting into the device? It seems to me you have just stated that ferrite cores make no difference to anything.

The cost of a device isn't based solely on the cost of the parts put into it. Profit margin is pretty important to the manufacturer also. In the case of the MS600, a 10/100 port was more than sufficient to handle the streaming data, so they took those few dollars and either put them into better parts in other circuits or just put it in their pockets. What I'm getting at is that the MS600 would not perform any better even if it had a 1Gb port.

I can't remember the last time I bought anything with ferrite cores. They used to be on power cords and all sorts of other cables. I just think shielding has gotten better on cables and devices have better noise rejection capabilities. Why Meridian is using them on their LAN cables? I'll leave that alone as I believe it's an area that is as touchy as religion or politics.

I have added instructions in this post on how to perform this test. It also adds suggestions on extending it to include FLAC/WAV comparisons or a HHer super test if we could all agree on a suitable piece of copyright free music.

I just got done auditioning the Teddy 12/4 for my Media Core 200. Thanks to Crion for doing the leg work on this. The power supply arrived within 10 days to the US and was well boxed. The power supply is well constructed with solid case work and a quality DC cable. No AC cable is included. One note for those who will be auditioning it is the power supply runs pretty warm. I would not position it where it could not get good ventilation.

My setup is a Media Core 200 which feeds the ID41 card of my 818. The 818 is connected to my 861v6 via speakerlink. I have the 818 because it is the highest performing Sooloos end point. The connection to the 861 is because I do all my music listening in 7.1 Trifield.

Before my thoughts on the Teddy 12/4 I do want to say that I consider my current system performance the absolute pinnacle of what I have achieved in my house in over 40 years in this hobby. The 818/ID41 is intensely musical and has been the catalyst. I wrote more extensively on my experiences with the 818/ID 41 before so I won�t go into great detail. I will say the passage of time has increased my appreciation of what it does.

So what happened with the Teddy 12/4 inserted as the power supply for the Media Core 200? In my setup the sonic quality went down. I could not find an area of musical performance that I considered better than the power supply the Media Core 200 comes with. Particularly noticeable was a reduction of the sense of space the recording was done in and the layering of where the performers and or instruments were. The Teddy 12/4 is warmer sounding in general than the power supply the Media Core 200 comes with but that is not something my system needs. I felt the Teddy 12/4 did have somewhat more weight in the bass but it was not as tight and tuneful as the bass I had with the included Media Core 200 power supply.

I do need to point out that although these differences might sound big they are not in the context of what I consider big. The difference between the two power supplies is not that much sonically. Depending on what your system likes you might prefer the Teddy 12/4. In my setup the Teddy 12/4 made me want to stop listening and do something else.

I must say I am surprised by this conclusion but you have to call them the way you see them. The end result of what you hear is made up of a lot of variables before it. This experience gives me more appreciation that the power supply with the Media Core 200 is not just a bean counter special to save a buck but the supply that makes the Media Core 200 sound the best. For me, I will wait for Meridian to come out with linear power supplies for the 861 rather than chance it. You just never know how these kinds of tweaks will turn out until you try them. I am really glad I did this for my own edification. Thanks to Teddy Pardo for their 14 day return policy that made this test possible.