Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems 861 Failed Power supply

I thought everyone might appreciate an update on my 861 story.

After shipping to Marc at The Repair Shop the unit was returned to me. The unit arrived as scheduled in good shape and no damage. I unpacked it immediately to ensure no hidden or unexpected damage. There was no damage so I proceeded to the reinstall. The actual installation time was about 4 hours spread across two days. The long time period was due to needing to unravel the mass of wire behind my cabinet and mark and document cable runs which I had not previously done. I was also able to eliminate some cables which were no longer needed because of other equipment changes.

Other than all the cleanup and documentation everything went back together cleanly. I even got all the Meridian comms right on the first try which as I am sure you know is not a slam dunk. But from the very first button push everything has worked correctly.

Listening impressions:

1) Bass seems vastly improved through my Velodyne DD12+ and Paradigm Servo 15.
2) Music also seems to exhibit a fuller, richer, more immersive soundfield
3) Dialog seems to be a bit easier to understand, though this could be me trying to make more out of it than there is. The difference is slight if it’s there at all.
4) I have to push the listening volume up 1 or 2 clicks to get the same perceived volume level.

Work done to the unit was replacement of the original power supply with a linear power supply and Meridian health check.

My wife and I hosted an event at our house last week for about 20 people. During the event I took time to demo the system because many of these people have never heard a really good system. I used the second Dolby Atmos disc and the "Horizion" clip as the demo material. This clip has a loud "Thump" before the video shows on screen, everyone that watched the demo jumped at the sound. It's unexpected and very attention getting. The rest of the clip includes deep bass from a waterfall and delicate sounds from within a forest including birds flying around the room. One young lady actually thought there was a bird in the room!

I have listened to several Atmos systems with either ceiling speakers or the reflective boxes placed on top original floor standing speakers. None of those have sounded any more immersive than my system with the same material. It may change when more Atmos content becomes available. It will be great fun to experiment.

All in all I am very pleased with the results of the upgrade in power supply and other items.

Many thanks to Marc for his excellent service and calm replies to my anxious questions about status. Turn around time was just over three weeks. That includes shipping across the US twice, and shipping time for parts which were delayed because of violent storms across the Eastern portion of the country. I believe that's actually a very good turnaround experience, it just felt like an eternity to be without the system.