I have owned B&K, Lexicon, Theta, Meridian, and now Trinnov. Each time, except with Trinnov, I purchased both units and A/B tested in my system. Each time I heard a substantial improvement in sound quality and I settled on the 861 which I had upgraded several times. Meridian then fell behind with lack of new audio codecs, inferior room correction, and high upgrade pricing.

Having made too many changes to my system and moving to a new house I can't comment specifically on Meridian vs Trinnov sound quality. I do find that the Trinnov with the new surround formats and 3D room correction sounds quite phenomenal to my ears and others who have heard it. The ability of Trinnov to upgrade via a software update sealed the deal for me. I have tired of shipping high priced kit for big bucks to be upgraded.

I plan to resurrect my 861/HD621 system as a second system mainly for my wife in our den. For two channel and an external room correction device it should do quite well. I really hope that Meridian steps up this year and becomes relevant again for the high end.