Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems What chance of F80 / M80 replacement?

I’d really love a F80/M80 type product with a Sooloos/Roon endpoint built in. Meridian don’t even make the M80 anymore. Have they deserted this area completely or are there rumours of something new in the pipeline?

Naim certainly feels that this is a potentially lucrative product area with the recent launch of the Mu-so Qb.

Good time for something new from M?

The reason I'd like a built in endpoint is for music, volume control etc via a single iPad app.

I'd like to know what a Meridian S80 is.

Anyone know? (that can say)

After installing the drivers for an Explorer, this was one of the options against 'Meridian Audio ltd.' in the manually add drivers/legacy hardware to Windows options.

Noticed some time ago, not found any other references.

Matt.

A typo?

A typo for what?

It's a list of device drivers for USB connected audio devices - i.e. Explorer 1/2, IE50, 800 series USB input, Prime, Translator, etc...

What have Meridian made with USB connections that could have been mistaken for this?

I thought the AC600 in an earlier version of the drivers might have been a type, but that got removed from the list with a recent release.

Matt.

I found some references here:

http://www.drivermax.com/Meridian-S...025-1_68_5_0-2014-11-20-46470-driver.htm

Found the drivermax thing about 6 months ago, nothing else since.

That's just harvested from the driver inf files (I know it's connected by their USB2 driver - I just don't know whats on the other end)

Earlier versions (2014ish?) appeared to call the same device an 'M90'

That is certainly intriguing! Perhaps there were plans for an M80 successor but it was all hands on deck to put SE/MQA capabilities in the product line? We may never know...

Soundserge

At my last trip to Bristol, the late Paul Webb was actively discussing ideas for an F80 replacement. I recall discussion whether CD was needed and that Meridian seemed to be actively investigating things like Airplay.

At similar time, one PP also made a post to canvass ideas.

Iirc this was all before MS200 was launched.

In hindsight, apart from a standalone "boombox" all the ideas probably made it into other products or spinoffs.

Iirc that the composite body of F80 was a tie up with Ferrari. Don't know if this was key to the product and that when the collaboration came to an end, the knowledge and/or IP was no longer available for future products. Not sure if AD88 benefited from this or if this was a different construction concept.

I thought the M80 was a Meridian only product as opposed to the F80 which clearly had the Ferrari link

I had always assumed that M80 was a debadged F80 but was otherwise identical (unlike AD88). Iirc It still retained the composite construction which was touted as being key to F80 audio quality but I guess it was debadged due to a limited time cross brand license agreement but allowed Meridian to continue with the construction for a period of time or until it needed to source more/different cases. I wonder if the McLaren tie up had anything to do with it.

I heard that Ferrari were a nightmare to work with, from start to finish... That said, I also heard that Allen's beautiful F/M80 design was very costly to manufacture - M were nowhere near an aspirational target price point of £1000. I guess it was the first of its kind, but even though there was a LOT going on (CD/DVD/FM/DAB/DSP/ etc.), I recall several of us saying at HH1 that it should have been a network endpoint from the get go... A missed opportunity and a replacement is years overdue.