Am I not right in recalling that one could buy an HP computer that was Sooloos capable? I am sure I read about it because I wondered how M could then stop it being hacked and spread everywhere. Perhaps it never happened for that reason.
That was HP connected music if I remember correctly and was only available on a select few premium laptops, seemed to wither on the vine although I think it generated significant income for Meridian at the time, I worked for HP and not much was made of it within the company.
Why this is all being discussed in the thread is a bit odd.
But regarding the topic change.
If I'm running "modest" sound quality speakers distributed through the house, like listed above. I prefer Bose SoundTouch Family. I own 7.
No Server of any kind needed (For Streaming Services or Internet Radio) which is how I tend to use them. They can run independent or Sync'd. You can run Music off your own Server (any flavor OS) if you want. No special services, uses standard interfaces. You don't even need your phone or display device to fire it up on common sources. Most units have small displays so you know what is playing. You can Push AirPlay or Bluetooth to it. Completely automatic self upgrading. You can add a fairly cheap module to your "HT/Receiver" to make it a Node ($99). Price is fairly cheap.
Their $500 SoundTouch 30 sounds quite a bit better than an F80 (from memory).
Lot of competition out there.
- Fiddler (IMHO)
If you think listening to music is fun, try learning an instrument. HT: G61RSL, 4x5K, 5.5KHC, 2xSC6000, Transporter, HD621, Philips BDP7501 4K, Tivo, 65" LG OLED 4K C6 Computer: Foobar2000, 5K, Mojo, HiFiMan HE1000 V2
They need devices that you can walk in and stream to from whatever device you have. That is what the Bluesound/Meridian collaboration would bring to the table. Plus at a decent price. That is what people want these days.
Bluesound have adopted Roon transport protocol RAAT maybe it is time for Meridian to do the same?
Sooloos streams only to Meridian endpoints and Roon streams to Meridian endpoints because the Roon team developed the Sooloos protocol, that support could be dropped at any time.
Meridian's apparent refusal to adopt RAAT (Roon Advanced Audio Transport) seems more political than technical, if they adopted RAAT then the possibility you discuss of other manufacturers endpoints on Sooloos becomes possible, or they could shutdown Sooloos and save the associated 'development' and support costs, or run Sooloos as the default streamer and Roon as an optional additional cost streaming provider.
From Meridian Financial Statement: (For the period ended 31 May 2016)
Business review:
Following the successful divestment of non-core activities in die previous year the business continued to implement its commercial strategy of focussing on business growth with hi-fidelity audio equipment and technology licensing. To this end die business successfully recruited into its commercial teams in both the UK & die USA, launched a new Design & Specification Service for use by trade partners and made significant investment in its UK audio visual demonstration facilities.
Whilst the underlying market place for premium audio hardware remains very competitive the Group managed to post year on year growth in hardware sales of 7%.
Opportunities in the hardware sector continue to ends' and the Group will look to achieve growth by continuing to invest strongly in engineering and new product development in order to deliver innovative solutions and valued services, combined with investment in the commercial teams, to ensure the business supports its trade partners to successfully specify, sell and install the companys product.
Revenue generation from Automotive & IP licensing contracts was down on last year which was driven by die managed exit from a key software licensing contract and a period of technology crossover between old and new infotainment platforms used by a key automotive customer. The business worked closely with its key customer on this transition and is now in a stronger position to grow. The business will continue to invest in order to provide a compelling automotive offering both in terms of technology and key customer support.
Other Income during the year consisted of property rental income & business service fees £360,000 (£519,000). There was no sale of Intellectual Property during the year (prior year £13.5m).
The business continues to invest significantly in research & development in order to create new technologies that can be commercialised at some future point. All research & development costs incurred throughout the year have been charged to the profit and loss account.
Key performance indicators Financial 1 Turnover and gross margins are key measures of the group's performance. Sales for the period were £89 m (2015 - £1 0.1m or £8.8m excluding revenue from divested licensing business).
Gross margin was 45 % (201 5 - 50.0% or 43% excluding revenue from divested licensing business).
Trinnov Altitude32, Kii Three/BTX, Piega 211, BO Beolab17, 4 x Piega AP 1.2, Perlisten D212S, 2 x Velodyne DD10+, RoonServer on Unraid docker.
From Meridian Financial Statement: (For the period ended 31 May 2016) ... 1 Turnover and gross margins are key measures of the group's performance. Sales for the period were £89 m (2015 - £1 0.1m or £8.8m excluding revenue from divested licensing business).
Gross margin was 45 % (201 5 - 50.0% or 43% excluding revenue from divested licensing business).
Correction: Sales for the period were £8.9 m not £89 m. Looks like a . went missing. in 2016 sales were £10.1m or £8.8m excluding revenue from divested licensing business)
They need devices that you can walk in and stream to from whatever device you have. That is what the Bluesound/Meridian collaboration would bring to the table. Plus at a decent price. That is what people want these days.
All good points, gizzE. You should email them to Meridian and point them to the endorsements in this thread. Well done.
I'm only 45 minutes away from Meridian HQ, it is my quiet time of the year for me the week after next, I'm more than happy to go in for 2 months for free and try and get some talks started between Meridian and various companies where I think they could both do well out of it.
I am having dinner with the Technical Officer of Oppo next week, the idea of an Meridian based 4K player has floated around my head before. Especially now as the latest player has and HDMI input too, stop and think what that brings to the table for Meridian owners if it had an MHR output on it instead of the HDMI Audio out.
Meridian tweaked PM-1 or PM-3 Headphones? Another starting point for young buyers to get into the Meridian brand.
There is loads Meridian could do with various partners. Whether they want to of course is another matter.
Google Search
|
Meridian Systems
|
Meridian Streaming
|
Restaurant
|
WiKi
|
Duncan's Meridian Info
|
Board Rules
|
Restaurant Rules
