It's nice to hear some speculation about object based audio support. Meridian's position at the front of the line in cutting edge home theater in the 90's was what first drew me in. This slower cycle was just not them 15-20 years ago:

One of the first (if not the first) with Dolby Digital
Again with DTS (when everyone else was using the outboard Millennium decoder)
A free upgrade for the 561 being the launch vehicle for PL2.

Sure this was all building on the 8 digital channel support already in the 565, but the 565 itself was also cutting edge and ahead of its time. I'm sure EBA and MQA are wonderful, but I'm glad to have some HT excitement even if its purely speculation!

Living room: DSP5000.3
WFH Office: M33
Bedroom: P200ZQ