Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Is it the right time to buy a 861v8?

No - I have not used modded Oppo 105 but I can tell you I replaced 105 with 103 and continue to use its digitial into HD621/861v8 with analog set up. Sooloos was convenient for me.

I owned 8802 and replaced with 7702. For HT (I have mentioned earlier) having front height (or even ceiling) speakers make a big difference with latest formats. Lot more enveloping IMHO.

For 5.2/7.2 sonically 861v8 was much better IMHO-otherwise I would have sold it. I am sure others would differ so let your ears decide.

Regards,
Kishore

As a former owner of an 861, I would add:

The most obvious is your plan for loudspeakers. If your using DSP's, you really don't have an alternative. If you want surround, you need the 861, of a G65. For this reason, I do question the logic that M will just abandon the space. Unless there is another product that allows you to integrate a competing processor into a DSP system? Given your comments on the G55, I assume your going analog. On the G55/G57, I would disagree. I think these are some of the most under appreciated amps out there. They are conservative in their power rating and very flexible.

I left the 861 because I found their MRC to be lacking relative to newer alternatives. For this reason alone, I think that any 861 replacement for M will struggle to compete with the likes of Trinnov, Datasat and to a lesser degree (though still relevant), Emotiva. M used to be the cutting edge of surround processing. If they want that title back, they will need to meet and/or exceed these competitors, which I struggle to see M doing, keeping its allegiance to DSP speakers.

Thus, I think that the replacement will be something less. I would imagine that most people dropping $20k on a processor would like one that does some form of decoding of the latest codecs.

In the end, I would imagine an upgrade will be fairly significant, if not almost an entire replacement, beyond the black box the unit currently sits. In the end, I wouldn't buy a new 861 for sure. Maybe if I found a real good deal on one. I sold my 861v6 for a song. It was the best sounding audio processor I have heard, but I needed something that would do double duty, with a heavier weighting towards movies. Which ultimately left me to move on.

I would definitely wait when it comes to the Oppo, as the 103 and 105 have been out for a while. At some point they will adopt the new Ultra4k Bluray Standard. I am looking at replacing my 103 then with something from Modwright. Could be 6 months, could be 2 years!

Maybe a dealer will give you something on loan (his demo 861?) if you agree to buy the new version and put some money down.

If money is the issue I definitely think it is worth waiting, but it depends how patient you are. If you want to buy now, I would at leat wait until the Munich High End show in early May.

Good luck

Rob

There has been some wise counsel offered here which I endorse. Let me offer another perspective. My use for the 861 has been in a multichannel audio-only system but was recently set aside.

I know that it is probably losing value as it sits in the closet but I am hoping for an upgrade that will support multichannel high resolution audio (including DSD) from a server, will incorporate better roomEQ and, of course, MQA. I have no need for anything video.

However, I think Munich in May is a bit too optimistic.

You have solid counsel on this thread, I appreciate the various perspectives presented here. I purchased my 861v6 used and for a great price, then upgraded it and have enjoyed my 'new used' (LOL ) 861v8 as a multichannel audio system as well as movie processor, to boot it acts as a hub for my Roku, Kaleidescape, Apple TV, and my 105D...absolutely no complaints, it's a workhorse.

I can be stubborn at times, but given the current landscape, if I were a buyer right now, I'd obtain a used 861v6 8 at a good price, and enjoy the unit "as is" while you wait for M to align the v9 upgrade kit to market expectations. I am not aware the used market for other brands nor their upgrade options, if you were to employ a similar approach.

If you need to have the absolute latest codecs and hardware right now, then I think the answer is pretty straight forward (not M)...but I do believe M has a distinct advantage of staying fairly close to both the hardware and software side of the audio and HT market, aggregating the requirements and keeping a pretty good finger on the pulse of the market (including this forum), then aligning their upgrade path fairly well to market requirements...in fact I think they've done a decent job of continuing to innovate along the way, even if some of their innovations get spun off as separate entities.

For what it's worth, I did all sorts of "A/B" testing b/t Sooloos ID41 and my various pieces of content with other devices ... I just keep going back to Sooloos, perhaps its the utility (ie. ease of use, responsiveness, etc.) of it or my aging ears that couldn't tell the difference, but I prefer the Sooloos ID41 pairing through my 861v8, and in all adjascent zones (818v2, etc.)...I remain confident the v9 upgrade will harness unique M innovations (ie. MQA, and who knows possibly even in multi-channel?) as well as weave in Atmos and other codecs while addressing current video switching enhancements, etc.

I'm not sure about Atmos in the v9.

This would require bitstream to the unit via HDMI as this is (I think) the only way to get the extra channels. Sort of goes against all of M's thinking (including the HD621 and decoding to PCM in the players).

I'm not sure in how much of a hurry they will be to cover what currently is very much a niche market.

But if they introduced the ultra-low jitter found in the 8x8 that would by itself transform the sound to a class-leading product. Then they would just have to tweak MRC and offer a new HD621. Everything except Atmos would be covered and we do not know if that if going to be a worthwhile market.

MQA has a question mark over it at present. More suppliers were supposed to have materialised by now.

I have no idea what the 861v9 will bring (though I'd be surprised if 3D audio was not included in some form, probably with another external box).

However, sadly, I would point out that, as good as my 818v3 is, it currently has no room correction, has a streaming card which is still apparently limited to 96k, and a USB input which is apparently limited to 192k. The USB limitations don't affect me, and I'm working around the room correction issue for now, but the 96k limit on the ID41 is a problem: I have to stream my 4x material to the 818's USB input from Roon via a Squeezebox Touch with EDO plugin. I note with continued astonishment that Sooloos cannot do this yet, and even if Sooloos gets technology to stream 4x material to the ID41, I'll never go back to it; Sooloos is antiquated technology.

As for "niche", if you can't deliver niche in an £12,500 piece of kit, then you have a problem... At that price, it should "just do everything", including multi-channel audio from any source.

Dedicated HT installations a niche market? Maybe, but a pretty lucrative one, especially in the US. Atmos and DTS:X are unlikely to disappear because their algorithms can significantly enhance all current Dolby and DTS HD sound tracks.

Meridian will either embrace the new 3D sound formats or lose all credibility in the HT market.

I was in your place a few months ago and decided to get a 818v3 and a G65 instead. Price wise it equals a 861v8 but gives the ultimate performance in stereo (everybody here seems to agree that 818 is a better stereo performer) and MQA. On the other hand G65 lets you have a multi-channel set-up for movies. If 2-channel music overweights in your listening time you may consider this option as well.

@DMI - do you feed the FL/FR SpeakerLink out from the G65 into the 818 or vice-versa?

I could be tempted into using a Marantz/whatever into the 818 if I could figure out how to handle the volume synchronisation.

Perhaps a future s/w feature for the 818 could be a "theatre mode" on a nominated analogue input (as is common with many other high-end preamplifiers) which sets the volume to unity gain/87.

Is it a big problem for Meridian to change to bitstream?