I was kind of hoping the 818v2, 808.5 and 861v8/ID41 would be equal as the best sources depending on the individuals requirements?
Hi Russ, I admit that my "ranking" such as it is may relate to the 818v1 v 808.3 v 861v6 as these Products were on slightly different Release Dates, with some improvements included in one product and not the other e.g. the LPS and ID41 in the 818v1, which were not in the 808.3 or 861v6
Now with all units having the same LPS and also many of the same Cards, it may well that the 818v2, the 808.5 and 861v8 may be even closer in overall performance to each other. However, I still think will maintain what they've said about this are for years and years i.e. that the less going on within a particular box, the less "Noise" is created, and thus it will sound a little better than the box that had more going on.
Difficult to compare the 818v2 and the 808.5 as they will be so similar in terms of what they do so likely only Meridian can comment on that.
Comparing the 861v8 with the 818v2 is easier the 861v8 has to be able to process up to 8 Channels of Sound at any one time and has all the extra cards and processing to do that as well as the extra power consumption likely to do so. So I think Meridian would likely argue that for a 2-ch System, then the 818v2 is the best Source or Endpoint.
However, it must be noted that the 861v8 has an opportunity to "Catch Up" with 2 significant features.
1) Trifield can in the right Room and System make a tremendous addition to 2-Ch Music many wouldn't do without it and I do feel that Meridian's new Centre Level Elevation will help "cure" my long held belief about Trifield i.e. that it really only works with 3 identical Front Speakers Meridian's Centre Elevation DSP will help with this, as reported by anybody who has heard it at recent Demos / Shows.
2) Meridian Room Correction is desirable, if not necessary, for optimum performance in many rooms.
So, the comparison of 800 Series units for Sooloos Replay is not necessarily cut and dried or a One-Size-Fits-All statement.
Coming back on topic though, I do think that the MS600 is regarded by most here and those at Meridian as their Premier Source outside of the 800 Series boxes hence my encouragement to Huw to try it, especially when it such an easy thing to do.
Likewise, Meridian have been deprecating C15's as Endpoints for quite some time now, due to their inherent Design and Noise as essentially a Custom WIndows XP PC with all the Noise and Compromise that accompanies that.
The C15 UI is still the best and most "powerful" of all the Sooloos UI's and many swear by it but as a Primary Endpoint for a Main Listening Room, the MS600 sounds much better to most users.
Ken from HQ suggested at the weekend that the latest upgraded 8xx units are now really very close in performance. He would still give the nod to the 818v2 as it has less going on it the box however, it is much closer than before.
Good news for 861 users if you get to v8 as that means less of a nagging itch of upgraditis because there might be a better unit out there
Ronnie, you'll be delighted to know that the centre elevation feature does indeed help Trifield significantly... at least in my system with just a couple of evenings to test so far.
Right, back on topic. Hue... get that MS600 into your main rig and do report back.
Hi Russ Despite what I think Meridian will say about the relative merits of the 800 Series boxes, I've also decided to take the 861v8 Route
I'm actually going to try the ID41 on its own first, to see how those Ferrites and RFI/EMI reduction perform........and then add the LPS and other cards in a few months
So, while the 818v2 for example might sound better, I believe the other Trade-Offs negate that advantage and that an 861v8 might better suit my Room and System.........in other words, not one size fits all!!
However, if one is thinking of using a C15 or MS600, then the answer is much simpler as they will both be outputting the same 2-ch Apodized / Upsampled Data..........but the MS600 will do so in better performing manner
Silly Me of course the DSPs have two digital inputs - and one out, I had not engaged brain - was thinking something else SPDIF.
Of course this would make it possible to connect the MS600 direct to the DSPs and then have the other sources routing as usual through the other digital and comms loops.
My current digital routing is G61R to 7KL to 7KR and G61R to 5Kl to 5KL.
Because of wiring problem the comms goes around slightly different direction to digital, but I think that is of no consequence according to M.
Other digital circuit is G61R to 5KHC ( 96/24) to 1600.
It's the fact that I have the centre 96/24 master that renders the 18 bit rears silent if the G61R and HD621 are allowed to manage decoding. If the sources do the decoding then it functions but then all drop back to 18 bit. It's a compromise which has to wait until I can get 96/24 on rears (NB there was prior post about all this).
My MS600 and indeed my C15 have SpeakerLink connections but none of my other components do. This could become an issue later if for example I would be lucky enough to have SpeakerLink DSPs in second room. i.e. I would not be able to connect the G91A and the MS600. On the other hand I suppose as per other advice I could connect the MS600 by SPDIF or by SpeakerLink, but do SpeakerLink versions have this? Then how to connect the G91A to the new DSPs - I suppose one of these magical converters, but do they interfere with sound quality? Maybe I should avoid SpeakerLink DSPs in second room - can't afford them anyway!
You need to look at Revivers. These will do exactly what you want. Chris
No 18 in the Hall of fame I have simple tastes; I am content to settle for the best: GIK monster bass panels, rear wall. QNAP TVS 471i3. Roon into DSP5200SE via 210/ 218 zone... Explorer 2. Bluesound Pulse 2, Mini & Flex. 596v1, 518, Foxsat HD, Sony BDP, Pioneer 5090, 2 Chromecast's for LRB videos. MS200 to F80 for a Roon zone
If the sources do the decoding then it functions but then all drop back to 18 bit.
You could still have the source decoding if you wanted, just set HS=N on the multi-channel presets which will limit the processor's output to a max of 48KHz. However, you are probable better off just leaving as is. M decoding is so 'sweet'.
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