Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion MQA - Related technology, products and music "MQA" 818v3 is here!!

It's a brand new 818v3 so I have no v2 reference. All sources, from RBCD through MQA can sound tremendous into my Stax. I say *can* because there is little that can be done with poor recordings (including some "HiRes" which clearly isn't).

Into my 6ks, I have a problem, because although I can easily hear the essence of MQA coming through them, I really need room correction in my small basement theatre. So I will probably feed the 818 into my 861v4; I suspect that little will be lost if all the 6ks are getting is 2x decoded MQA, but even if the 6ks are getting more than 2x, the bass bloom and room modes are detracting from my listening experience.

I have 6ks and upgraded my 818v2 to v3 and felt it was a very worthwhile upgrade at a relatively modest cost. I posted at the time my system sounded the best it ever had and I still feel that way.

However I find it difficult to hear the difference between a well recorded 96/24 track and the same on MQA. Case in point, when comparing the 2L MQA and 96/24 downloads I'm hard pressed to hear a difference. I think this is a limitation of legacy DSPs rather than the 818v3 and I suspect very good analogue speakers through an 818v3 would have a leg up on legacy DSPs.

I had a brief conversation with Bob Stuart at Newport Beach last year and I asked how MQA would sound through legacy DSPs and his answer was the sound would be equal to the very best source available with legacy DSPs, or words to that effect. Clearly MQA and one of my best recordings are at least equal on my system now so if that's what we have to look forward to with the 818v3 and legacy DSPs when more MQA becomes available, well that's not too shabby.

Ken

At this level, the reproduction of poor or old recordings allows many more of the acoustic queues (and one might also say, "music") to come through. It's been a revelation listening to good 78-to-CD remasterings through my current system.

So you mean:

818 decoding to 24/96 (etc)
24/96 passing by MHR to 861v4
MRC processing from 861v4
24/96 passed by MHR to 6ks

You'd be adding jitter, but maybe in this case MRC will be really more important.

I hope it works! Is there anyone else out there with this configuration of devices who can try as well?

Thanks, VK, yes bass bloom can oberwhelm things - have you ever replaced the tweeters in your 6Ks? I only ask because I had big bass bloom issues with my first pair (as you may recall from a fairly lengthy thread or two) to the extent I sold them.

When I got my second pair, having missed them so much I decided to live with the bloom until I could move rooms, they were installed into the same room, same treatments, same system, but... No bloom! The only thing I can attribute this to is before delivery Reuben felt the 6Ks weren't sounding as good as they should, so he had the original tweeters replaced with new 'black' ones? Who knows, but I've never once had cause to think the new 6Ks have a room interaction problem.

Regarding the 861v4 experiment, I tried putting one (kindly loaned by Rick) between my 818v2 and old 6Ks. To me, I instantly lost much more than I gained with MRC. Essentially, it seemed to reduce the 818v2 to the level of the 861v4. My impression was that you'd have to have an 861v8 with the similar levels of reclocking, processing, LPSU, etc., if you were to go down this route. In that case, I'd also question bothering with an 818 in front of it, I think you're really hearing more of the last component in the chain prior to the speakers.

However, ymmv, and I'd be really interested to hear what your thoughts are after listening to compare notes.

Exactly Nic. From my seat, room correction cannot come too soon in the 818, even if it's another hardware upgrade. Ironically, with legacy kit, I may* be able to achieve MRC without compromising much of going direct, but anyone with an 818v3 and a pair of SEs who also needs MRC is going to be out of luck for the time being.

* My assumption is, of course, that whatever the 818v3 is outputting over coax MHR is receivable and understandable by the 861v4.

Is it a possibility MRC might be coming to the 818, then? That would be very cool. I would consider an upgrade more seriously then.

TBH for a while now, since the new 6Ks just worked well in the room, I've been so happy with my current setup and it brings me continuous pleasure whenever I use it, so while I'm sure the 818v3 is a good improvement I'm in no hurry to upgrade.

If your 818 is your first, I'm sure you're over the moon with it! Best Hi-Fi component I've ever owned bar none.

Yes, the 818v3 is my first 818 and was long aspired to! Bought primarily for my Stax as well as MQA; and both sound incredible. The processing and DACs are clearly top notch.

But great also to be able to use it with my 6ks and/or lesser DSPs in the living room (with a bit of multi-room comms wizardry); though experimentation needed.

Really glad you're enjoying it! The v2 is incredible, so the v3 must be outrageous.

Have you tried any bass traps in your listening room, by the way?

Maybe worth exploring new tweeters if your 6Ks are on their original pair, sounds odd I know but my guess is the better HF response subjectively tightened up the bass.

That all makes sense Ken. Having re-auditioned the 5200SEs recently (which positively sparkle at the top-end and are so tight in the bass), it really wouldn't surprise me that the legacy DSPs are simply at their limits with well recorded/mastered 96/24. However, if as you say MQA delivers this consistently, we'll be in a very happy place!

The room is probably too small for bass traps (an 11' x 11' x 6' basement), but MRC pretty much sorts it all out... Which is why I consider the lack of MRC in M's premium stereo solution all the more objectionable!

On the tweeters, I pretty sure that they are okay, although I have no idea if they are the original pair.

Definitely with you on that one. I asked pretty much as soon as I had my 818 whether M were thinking of implementing it at some point, as I could do with a bit too, in an ideal world. I was told they had something in the works. That was about 3-4 years ago iirc. Still on a geological timescale, that's the blink of an eye

Seriously, I now think what that may have been referring to might have been EBA, or similar, but I'd still consider an upgrade if room correction of some kind were implemented directly into the 818.

Following last night's listening:

818v3 --> 861v4 --> 6k works fine, as I suspected, and sounds *very* nice. Whether or not the 861 is adding jitter is a moot point: the 818 into 861 sounds really good and MRC is both essential and wonderfully effective.

In short, MQA via ID41/818v3/861v4LPSU/6k is at least the equal of my best 96k and 192k material via ID40/861v4LPSU/6k, which is to say a lovely experience. TBH, it's probably better.

The Finzi "Come Away, Death" MQA is quite beautiful and the quality of the Carl Nielsen MQA is extraordinary given that it was recorded at 44k - the timbral quality of the piano's bass notes hit me as much as the attack of the treble key strikes. I've not had my 6ks singing like this for some time, though to be fair I don't listen to music on them that much (mainly HT) and rarely this loudly; my Stax have been my go-to transducers, because I can't usually listen to the 6ks at decent volume, and because the Stax - to date - have proved to be the better listening experience.

Further, I am delighted at how CD regularly and genuinely sounds like HiRes via the 818 and 861. It is quite remarkable; the MQA technology is clearly being put to use.

That said, I'm not going to pretend that my system is up there with an 818v3 and SE loudspeakers (although the 6ks do have that lovely effortless scale). I think that those sparkling Beryllium tweeters, EBA, and the wide bandwidth electronics are needed to take it to the level of absolute realism that I've heard MQA deliver with 5200SEs and 7200SEs. I may well go down the SE route in another room (where MRC is not critical...), but my Stax also deliver that realism in spades, fed from the 818. I'm spoiled.

That fits with my experience - 818v2/861v4/LPSU was basically on the level of the 861v4/LPSU/ID40. Haven't heard it with MQA, but I'm sure that adds an extra dimension no matter what you put after it.

I personally didn't get on with the 5200SEs. I found them overly bright and lacking in depth and scale after being used to 6Ks (and having listened in the same room) - not enough 'meat on the bones'. I'm sure the 7200SE, and particularly 8000SE, are a step up (I've not heard them yet) but I wouldn't swap 6Ks for 5200SEs.