Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Is the 861 a dead end?

I agree with Cliff. I also think it's not always about one's upgrading but just knowing the company you made a significant investment with is demonstrating they are still in the game.

As an aside, I planned my theater in 2000 and when I spoke with some of the good people at Meridian they suggested I place wires for height/ ceiling speakers- which I did. This was my choice, but the point being is they knew a format like Atmos would eventually come along. I'm very happy with my system and I'm not sure if I'd even use it today.

However, if I were to look at upgrading my system to 8000 SE, the SE center and a new variation on the 861, I just wonder why I would bother as what I have sounds so good as it is. Even if this were a small sum of money, why spend anything when the system is operating so well. Never mind a large sum, which would be the case here. Unless there is a good reason to upgrade. And one day there will be. If Meridian is not there to meet that need or if their cost is such that it all of a sudden makes sense to look at another supplier. Neither of those is good for Meridian.

If I am Meridian I have to wonder why would I want to pass up this captive audience- I'm sure I'm not the only one with some older equipment.

Sometimes it's not about the latest and greatest, it's also about keeping with current standards. Example: the HD612 we are discussing.

I do agree upgradeitis usually results with more money spent than necessary. And whilst I have suffered my share of it, I haven't upgraded my 861 since v6 and my 8000s are the very first version.

I don't think it's unreasonable to think Meridian would offer the ability to keep current. Notice I am not expecting them to do it for free...

To add my voice to M on this point - I too would like to see and be willing to pay (with in limits) for an upgrade for both HT & music for the 861v8.

Somewhat off topic - I have used M gear for over a decade now and have not really looked at other manufacturers offerings. Today I had a quick look at Theta Digital site and they are still at HDMI 1.4a and decode more (albeit accepting their mixed audio & video signal solution) with the Casablanca IIIHD / IV.

Other than the Japanese, which high end producers are now offering HDMI 2.1 and DD Atmos/DTS X? Anthem MRX 1120 (only HDMI 2.0)?

Not entirely true. Check Theta press release for Jan 2015. While I am not sure it's shipping, they have spec'ed a card that HDMI 2.0, called the E card. At least they are addressing it...

There may be some decent HDMI switchers but I only really plan to use one other input on the HD621 that needs video so I will manually switch out the cable as needed.

Seems a fair way to go but I would worry (a little) about physical wear and tear if you are doing this frequently. I suspect there will be more and more HDMI 2.2 switchers available as time goes on....

Hi everybody! I have been an happy user of a Meridian 861 for more than 20 years, and have followed the upgrades from v1 to v4. 20 years: a fantastic longevity in the digital world, and a lot of listening pleasure.

I would like to upgrade it now to its latest version, but as the cost is not unsignificant, I would like to feel confortable about the future of this device.

But I am not. There has been no new upgrade since v8, already a long time ago. MQA, which Meridian is strongly pushing, is not available on the 861 and there is no plan to make it available on this "flagship" device, which is hard to understand, plus, plus...

New member on this forum, I would gladly have your views on this matter. Is it worth investing now on the 861, or should I pass to another device/brand?

Thank you

Don't forget to mention this whenever you talk with a Premium Partner so that they can pass it on. Atleast they are talking to their dealers/distributors.

The version 4 is a dead end box and is not feasible to upgrade further nor is upgrading it supported. Your only upgrade path would be to purchase an 861v8 and sell off the v4.

That said, there are many advancements from the v4 to v8 that are well documented here in the forum. If your system is all DSP speakers, a v8 will have some connectivty challenges as it is all SpeakerLink. If analog, that is no issue.

PhA,

Firstly welcome to the forum.

It is my understanding that 861v4 is the end of the line for your unit. No further upgrades possible. However this is still a great piece of kit especially with ID40 card.

MQA is 2 channel and as such your options are 808v6, 818v3 or the soon to be released 218. Sorry forgot Explorer 2.

My advice would be to hold fire until MQA availability and options become clearer.
There are many threads here to peruse for you to decide a direction for the future.

Hector

Bruce,

Have you ever tried running later cards in a v4? My belief is that those that do not work are blocked by firmware, but not for bad reasons.

As you will know, the v4 and below backplane/motherboard had some limitations which seemed to need termination cards (remember the SCSI interface for PCs?) presumably to suppress unwanted electromagnetic reflections along the backplane leading to unwanted pops and clicks.

I did not do a visual comparison of my v4 and v8 backplanes before I sold the v4, but I should have done. I have always assumed that the v6/v8 has a geometrically redesigned backplane (and perhaps the occasional carefully placed passive components) to permit operation at much higher frequencies while maintaining signal integrity and that is the reason for the incompatibility of some higher performance cards. Do you know if this is true?

And, if it is, is there any reason to think that MQA would breach some sort of limit? I presume the 8x8 use the same backplane so one presumes the 861v6 and v8 would cope as they do.

This will be discussed via PM

Heads up on another processor doing the whole shebang - Steinway Lyngdorf.

They have the whole system approach where their P200 only works with their speakers.

That adds to the Trinnov Altitude 32, Theta Digital Casablanca, etc.

Nudge, nudge to M

John