Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems New Meridian sub needed

For years many here have been less than overwhelmed by Meridian's sub offerings though others have found them more than sufficient. Perhaps Meridian, as a music first company (big assumption here), has regarded subs as a necessary evil rather than something to pour their passion into.

With the advent of MQA there is now a need for a turbo-charged (forgive the hyperbole) SE sub that can handle the new decoding as well as EBA. I hope it comes soon.

Hi,

An interesting question, as we know the DSW already supports EBA, so the question is what about MQA.

Given the very low narrow bandwidth that subs have to handle, I'm not so sure MQA decoding in the sub is needed as the processor could decode MQA and then just send the a 24/96 PCM or MHE signal to the sub.

That said, I guess for a 2.1 or 2.2 channel DSP system and no processor, the sub would have to be able to decode MQA ... maybe a firmware update for the DSW would be all that is required.

Interesting times ahead...

Regards,
Carl

The few brief reviews that are available suggest that the DSW lacks the capacity to deliver low end thump. DSW needs a bigger brother.

I've never seen a review of the DSW, and there aren'y any on Duncan's info site.

Can you provide references? (It's something I've also considered. Would be interested to read.)

I hesitate to call this a review - more of brief opinion. I did find something more substantial a while back which offered a similar conclusion but I can't remember where nor can I find it.

I recently added a DSW sub to my main system. It definitely improves the low end response of my DSP5200SE based system. It adds a lot more presence to the room.

The problem I wanted to address is that (previously) the 5200s sounded great but didn't really "energize" the room. I live in a loft-style apartment with a very large room that is my living room, dining room, and kitchen. It's about 20' x 30' with high ceilings (11'). I.e. > 6000 cu. ft. The 5200s alone can play loudly in this room, but not with a lot of bass that is felt, rather than heard.

In addition, the Sonos SUB attached to my Dynaudio Contour 1.3SEs (still set up in the same room), routinely pumped out more bass. The Sonos SUB, as anyone who has one will attest to, pumps out a surprising amount of quality bass.

The DSW easily addressed this problem. I don't know if it has the "low-end thump" that some people may require, but in my >6000 cu. ft. room, it has plenty of thump for my purposes. Furthermore, it frees up the 5200s a bit so that the combination sounds remarkable and can achieve very loud listening levels in this room.

Clearly not a review, however it is currently possible to visit Meridian Oxford and listen for yourself to this surround speaker set up. 3200 and 3300 combination with DSW.
Very impressive it is too. It audibly suits the room IMHO the best I have heard at MO regretfully including 7200 previous presentation.
Well done Adam!
I am sure they can switch the DSW in and out to give a true perception of DSW contribution.
Well worth a visit as 2 channel in this room is also PDG as previously acknowledged by 'FishTail"
Hector

Hi,

We have the G65 with 3200/3300 and DSW cinema system set up here until next Wednesday - you're welcome to take a trip over to Oxford and take a listen.

Thanks,
Justin.

Meridian for some reason doesn't publish the DSW sub specification. However, I asked the distributor to check the operating frequency in the service database and they say it does go down to 20Hz...