It is pretty clear that the returned parts are going back into the supply chain for warranty and repair purposes. However given the price of the upgrades it isn't so clear what the financial gain is for the consumer. I have not been unfortunate enough to be faced with a Meridian repair bill but given the prices I have seen bandied about it is hard to accept that they are being subsidised by upgraded parts.

Indeed given that many premium products usually have the cost of servicing factored into the list price it would seem that Meridian benefits more from upgrades than just what would be implied by the cost of the upgrade alone. I don't have any information to support such a claim, but given that Meridian didn't seem to have sufficient spare parts required to maintain the DVD-A functionality of my G98 (Which thankfully has yet to fail), one could be forgiven for thinking that Meridian rely on upgrades to maintain sufficient parts to provide adequate warranty support.

Then again perhaps the extra warranty offered on upgrades is a nod to this.

Cheers,

Tony.



Sources: MS600, Fidelity Audio Reference Oppo UHD-203, Roon/QNAP, AppleTV 4K
Processors: Arcam AV40, 271 x2, Lumagen 5348 with Keces P8
Speakers: DSP7200SE FL/FR, DSP5200SE VC, DSP3200 x11, DSP320.2 VOG, DSW x4
Display: JVC DLA-N7 with PK-EM2, Panamorph Phoenix Pro, 128" 2.37 Curved Silver Ticket AT Screen