Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems DSP SE Upgrade Kits - Has anyone got them yet?

Thanks guys,

I put EBA=Y on all 3 speakers, and it's set to ON (by default) for every DSP option possible within the config.
Will check / test / assess further...

There must be something very wrong here. Just the upgrade to 861v8 should have left you thrilled. The move to 8kSE should have brought an overwhelming improvement. (I cannot speak for the 7k2HCSE as I do not have one but I have no reason to doubt that the enhancement would have been considerable) I write this from experience not hearsay or conjecture. Have you added so many filters in MRC as to blunt the system? You owe it to your system and your enjoyment to check everything.

Haven't even started (again) with MRC yet... Will be working from home this week, so will test / tweak etc.

So....I have had a visit from someone who's extremely knowledgeable and helpful regarding Meridian set-up, with the assistance of the national distributor (Audio Reference) and my local dealer Hi-Fi Eins.

After concluding that there's nothing physically wrong with my upgrades, and all the software was up-to-date, we worked on the set-up, with one conclusion echoing some other comments on this forum : the importance of toe-in.

Previously, my DSP's were marginally toe'd-in (perhaps 10 to 15deg) and now they're at approximately 30deg - literally pointing directly at my listening position so that I cannot see either the inside bass drivers, or the outside ones. This is slightly odd visually, something that's not expected / normal, but I guess you can get used to it over time.

The physical location of the speakers (distance from wall / corner / doorway) was tuned using various tracks, with EBA on / off, and after some time the "image" became much more focussed. One improvement in my particular case was made by setting my left speaker to "wall" and the right one to "corner".

The ability to switch EBA on & off during specific tracks highlighted the improvement in bass control, but it also demonstrates that when the bass frequencies are "cleaner" then the mid-range & higher frequencies are more apparent (not louder), so you hear more detail. This is somewhat similar to the introduction of Apodising (although not to the same magnitude) : you literally hear more detail, particularly background effects etc. Other examples include the "Q-sound" effects on Roger Water's Amused to Death being slightly more prominent.

Going through MRC & the whole set-up only produced minimal changes to my original configuration, so nothing startlingly new there.

One very useful tip while tuning is to use a track with some very well recorded & "characterful" voice content - spoken word - as, after all, our ears are more highly tuned to recognise human vocals than anything else.
Tracks with electronic bass are also useful, as their effects are obviously deliberate (and "digital"), so you can play around until an abrupt bass pulse sounds (cleanly) abrupt, and one with delay continues....

It was again mentioned that the clamp-rings have a further audible (improvement) effect, with which I'm still sceptical, but I'd be happy to engage in a trial if any were to be forthcoming in the future, in order to wring the last drops out of the whole SE package !

In summary, you could almost say that setting EBA to "on" is only half the process, the "switch" is toe angle....

So, I now notice that there is indeed more of an improvement with the SE-upgrade "package" than I initially thought, although more listening's still needed !

Almost begs the question whether the pre SE speakers would have sounded better toed in or is it that SE models need more careful positioning?

It was my experience that when new firmware was loaded to my 5200 SL's it was absolutely necessary to toe in the speakers to achieve the expected EBA improvement forecasted. Without toe in the middle was missing.
I am happy now but still want to make an A to B check of 5200 Factory SE to 5200 upgraded i.e. without rings and new Alan Boothroyd feet.
Hector

I was lucky to hear a comparison of 8000.2 vs. 8000 SE upgraded vs. 8000 SE factory last Monday courtesy of Rick at Audio Images. He still has the HH demo set up in Penistone. If you could get to Sheffield, this may be the only place to hear this comparison and presumably will go away at some point as that's a lot of stock value!

My perception, for what it's worth, was that the .2 to upgrade difference was of similar magnitude to the upgrade to factory difference. The character of the differences were similar to my ear - improved bass clarity, improved detail and more of the character and body of the voice coming through. My prior expectation was diminishing difference, but that wasn't what I heard.

Obviously I didn't make precise measurements, but it appeared to me that retrofit of clamp rings would require machining of the cabinet openings. Although the bass drivers appear similar, I think the baskets differ. If correct, use of the existing clamp ring design would also require changing the drivers. Otherwise, a custom clamp ring design would be required. I doubt it would be practical for this to be a field retrofit.

Hi Ian,

That's my understanding too. I was told the drive itself is the same spec but the cage (basket) was different and the new Clamp rings are designed to work with the new gages.

Regards,
Carl

I heard that the drivers are a new model SEAS stock driver and slightly smaller than the custom drivers made for Meridian they replace.

Almost begs the question do they sound very slightly different (tonally).

It could be and they have the same performance spec as the older drivers... I was just told same spec.

Regards,
Carl

Tintin,
To answer your comment / question directly, the SE hardware & software specifically requires more toe-in than non-SE.
This could be partially / wholly related to the different dispersion characteristics of the new tweeter.

Gents, to prevent further repetition, the pre-SE baskets & cabinets are different to SE. SE clamp rings fit SE drivers & housings.

Any SE-update clamp rings would have to have different dimensions !

But, they are just rings. Simply remove the non-SE plastic ring, produced a ring with the relevant critical (contact surface) dimensions in metal, and you'll see if they actually have any effect or not.