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

Looks good. There are also the more affordable models from Anthem amd Arcam now as well as the usual mainstream suspects.

I'm growing less convinced that M are going to enter this market space.

Thanks everybody!

Yes I know that the upgrade v4 --> v8 means a new machine hence a significant cost. That is precisely why I would like to be sure that I would be investing on the long term with a new 861.

I have had a look to Steinway-Lyngdorf, but I have not listened to this system so far, and and not very fan of being stuck on the long term with one (small) company for my whole system.

But if I could be confident for the future with 861, I would definitely favour this option, and even possibly pairing it with a set of 7200SE.

Looked also to Trinnov, which seems interesting.

Thanks again.

The 861 may well form part of Meridian's long term plans, but it might not; we simply don't know. At this time, buying an 861v8 for what it does today is the only decision you should make; which probably means not many 861v8 purchases.

If M was to come out with "an upgrade for the 861 is in the works", it's not exactly playing into competitors' hands, is it? OTOH, if they said, "we're *not* planning to upgrade the 861, but it will still be an entirely relevant product in conjunction with some new products that we'd rather not talk about at this time", that's also great info.

At the moment, silence is deadly. The 861v8 is awfully expensive given its current limitations (no MQA, no Atmos etc.) and no knowledge whatsoever as to how it fits into Meridian's product plans.

Good comments Joel, I suspect they will fall on stoney ground.

Russ

Regarding MQA, I would have thought an upgrade to the 861 would be eminently feasible and I will be very surprised if it doesn’t happen.

Atmos / DTS:X, if done in the 861, would surely require a complete revamp of the current processor architecture, i.e. a new model to which the 861v8 may well not be upgradable.

(Edit) So in this case I would be thinking trade-in rather than upgrade.

Cliff

I assume the MQA in the 861 would have to be 2 channel direct only, if it ever happens?

Russ

PhA,

So you have 861v4 that you are very happy with.

What would be the benefit of purchasing 861v8 tomorrow?

Put your wallet in your back pocket and sit on it.

Hector

Maybe (the 861 has a Direct mode) and more than one form of rendering of MQA may be offered.

Following on from VK's comments, is silence more damaging that saying we have no immediate plans to develop a 3D-audio processor? Probably not, which may explain the silence.

Are you able to explain why the (upgraded from v4) backplane/motherboard in the 861v6/v8 is incapable of having cards that can do the most advanced processing? Is there a limit akin to PCs moving from 16bit to 32bit to 64bit?

Surely this is only Marketing emulating the "Low Noise Requirements".

Hector

I’m just guessing, I haven’t made any form of technical appraisal of what’s currently in the 861v8 and what would be required for a next generation processor.

It’s worth however, considering what extra functions would have to be catered for if it were all to be delegated to the 861. (It’s quite possible that a much enhanced HD621v2 could share the burden in another scenario). For example, a processor offering a flexible 13.2 system (quite modest by Atmos standards) would need above the current 861v8 spec:

- the capacity to decode the older HD surround formats from bitstream
- decode Atmos, DTS:X and their associated algorithms
- provision of 7 extra audio channels
- room correction for 7 extra channels
- delays and a more bass flexible bass management for the extra channels
- MQA decoding

How much of this could be allocated to updated cards? I don’t know, but I can’t help feeling a bottom up revamp would be required. The Trinnov has a Corei5 at its heart.

I'd take low noise over silence