Appreciate the clarity Rick,
Some of those boxes are very expensive it seems for marginal gains (on the MQA side I mean) without the move to SE speakers.
This wouldn't change with a firmware update for non-SE speakers. I'm not expecting any 'MQA' firmware to be released for them.
This is a little disappointing for me, albeit I accept that this technology is a step forward and steps forward do require investment. Had I had an analogue back end setup, which incidentally I did prior to moving to the DSP5200's last year, I could benefit from full fat MQA with the introduction of a 218 at sub £1000. The way things look I have no option but shell out £4k plus on SE upgrades plus the 218 as a minimum to achieve the same end result.
I really don't want to limit MQA to headphone only listening as that creates a 2 tier set up which is not desirable, but looks like that is the only way to get fully involved in this new world in a Meridian ecosystem without spending big bucks.
Explorer2 and new cans it is then...
Lee