Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems How much better DSP5200SE?

Hello Friends,

I am not sure this subject had been discussed earlier, because according to this site I don't have the right to use search.

Any listening experience comparing 5200SE to 5200?

Has anyone compared the original 5200SE to the SE upgrade without speaker clamp? I wonder how much different that clamp would give. Any comments are much appreciated.
Thanks!

Harry

I had 2 x 5k's as fronts with a 5200 centre. I replaced the fronts with 7200SE's and at the same had an upgrade performed on the 5200 centre to bring it up to SE status.

As expected the improvement in sound quality from the new fronts was fantastic. What was a huge surprise to me however was the improvement that came from the newly upgraded centre 5200. It doesn't of course have the clamp rings, but it was a VERY different sounding speaker. My expectation is that had I gone the brand new 5200SE route, perhaps there might have been a very small additional improvement courtesy of the clamp rings. But that small improvement would have cost a lot of cash.

If your decision is 5200 or 5200SE, then you have to go the SE route.

If you aren't adverse to buying well looked after s/h kit, aren't hung up about resale values in years to come and don't have any friends that could recognise the absence of clamp rings, then definitely consider the SE upgrade route and use the cash saved for another toy.

Harry,
That should not be the case, please PM me with details of how you are attempting to search and what error message you are seeing. I find the Google Search link at the top of the page to works well. The UBB search (on the right) can be more precise but takes more effort to use.


As for the SE's there's been a lot of discussion since launch, have are read of these:

How about an Audio Images 'SE Showdown'?

Meridian Special Edition Loudspeakers

But there are others topics out there as well

Regards,
Carl

How did you notice the difference contributed by 7200SEs and the 5200SE? I am just curious.

Harry

If listening to a DVD like Roy Orbinson Black and White Night, where the DTS channel separation is fantastic across the 7 speakers, Roy's sublime voice became much more prominent from the SE centre speaker, the rest of the musicians very much taking backstage positions on the other speakers as they should.

Listening to Eva Cassidy's Time after Time album from my MC200, again there are now fantastic crystal clear vocals from the centre speaker - so much better than my original non SE 5200, with the 7200SE's responsible largely relegated to instruments and background vocals.

Bizarrely and much too my surprise, I actually found the 5200SE was perhaps making too prominent a contribution to the front stage. Before the upgrade I was concerned that the opposite might be true, that the 7200SE's would overpower the 5200.

Consequently I used for the first time the centre elevation feature on the 5200. That allowed the centre speaker
to better blend in and work in harmony with the bigger 7200SE fronts (probably not the original intention of that feature but it worked well for me). In my original setup, with 5K fronts, the tweeters were all at the exact same height, so I assume this axis shift on the centre brought better the 3 speakers into better alignment?

That aside, my point really was that previously the non 5200SE centre was less prominent and I put the marked improvement down to the SE upgrade.

I read the forum about A/B test done few months ago, I did not find the report about improvement of 5200 SEupgrade and 5200SE.
So thanks for sharing your experience.

I am now deciding whether to upgrade all 3 5200s (I use vertical a center) to SE or trade up. I think I may miss the trade up program from Meridian. An other option sell all of them and go to 3200 and a sub.

Harry

Hey.. had a chance to listen to 5200SE in same position as old 5200 finally.. I must say it's noticeably better.

However, I'm still getting regular 7200 instead of SE, because I'm broke and can't afford the extra 13k :P

Finally got mine on order and arriving next month.

May upgrade to SE in the future when I make some big bucks.

cheers

When I switched from DSP5000 smiley to DSP5200, the difference was very noticeable. It was better in every aspect.

I wonder if we get the same improvement when I upgrade 5200 to 5200UGSE (not real SE).

Thanks
Harry

Hi

I have spent a good part of my life (now 70+) in concert halls (classical) and have been enjoying Meridian almost from the begining (M3/101)as the years have gone by the continual "improvements" of Meridian have always been amazing.

I can safely say the 5200SE surpass anything they have previously achieved. The sound/timbre of instruments are so lifelike no doubt mostly due to that beryllium tweeter. Sad to say a limited addition but get if you can.

Colin

I haven't had the opportunity to make the 5200UGSE vs. 5200SE comparison, but was able to make the comparison for 8000 at Audio Images.

I expected that the 8000SL to 8000UGSE improvement would be greater than the 8000UGSE to 8000SE improvement, but found the opposite to be the case.

The comparison was made prior to MQA, so I don't know if anything has changed in the mean time which would alter that judgment.

The 5200SEs are the first loudspeakers with a 5200 designation which have impressed me.

Then the SEs must be very good indeed. I have 5k2s - admittedly I run them with a 5200HC - my experience is that once they are properly set up they are fantastic. Been wondering if I need to upgrade.

I will listen to the 5200SEs in time, but I suspect it will be a costly mistake!