Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Why does there appear to be zero resale value in Meridian?

As the title suggests, I'm incredibly frustrated with trying to find anyone to purchase my Meridian system
FS: Meridian 5.1 Digital surround system - heavily discounted all for only a newly reduced price of Australian $22,000.

This represents 25% of what the system cost me to buy new only six years ago! I would have thought return on Meridian would have been a lot better than this. The equipment is in as new condition with me living interstate for 4 of the last 6 years.

I'm located in Melbourne, Australia and understand the market is smaller here... but I would have expected a few people would have replied. I've had the advertisement up for a few months and so far only three people interested, still no sale.

I also advertised on a local AV forum and AVS.

What am I doing wrong or is it just that high end second hand has no market.

2nd hand goods of any kind generally have poor resale values. Cars typically halve in value every 3 years which ties in broadly with your asking price. I'm sure if you try to sell some 6 year old sports kit (golf clubs, bicycles...) you'd be looking at a similar % return. Some items fall behind technically, all just get 'old'.

Some brands / ranges do appear to retain more value (Sonus Faber Homage series for one) over time but I think your experience is far from unique. Good luck with trying to shift it though.

Hi Chris

I get the impression that selling large complete systems (of any brand or mixed brands) is often problematic, and the most likely buyers are resellers who will do what I'd recommend you do... price and sell the kit individually as speaker pairs, single processor, etc.

Anyone who currently owns Meridian kit is unlikely to need a full system, whilst newcomers to the brand aren't likely to go the whole hog from a cold start.

Good luck with the sale.

Cheers

George

I don't think you are doing anything wrong as Meridian is not the cutting edge brand it once was. Younger people etc. haven't even heard of them as no killer product at a price they can afford ... look at Sonos etc. to see how they created there own niche in the market and now Amazon Alexa and Google Play are driving the new generation with voice activation ...

Also the value of the Meridian equipment is too high imho. If this was the UK it would only be worth in the region of 12-14K Aussie dollars for what you have for sale.

Meridian is not the forefront of tech anymore ... look at the forums for lack of modern codecs Atmos, True HD, DTS-X etc. as it doesn't have anything past DTS ... so who would pay big bucks for dead end system?

And personally for a fraction of the cost you can get a music system that is far better than Meridian could produce ... so your buying a brand at the end of the day that's ok with music and cant do modern movie codecs so who is going to pay top dollar for that.

My question is why sell it in the first place ... just enjoy it unless you want to take a huge loss?

While it won't help answer your question, the exact opposite was raised in a recent thread.

On eBay in the UK, 500 series kit seems to be selling for ridiculously high amounts, regardless of whether it is working on not!

I'm currently looking for a pair of 5200s in the UK. My research has shown that over the last 3 months or so, sold prices seem to be around £2100 on average for late serial number SL versions.

You need to break up the system, have the shipping cartons, and be willing to ship it. When selling audio gear second hand, preferring local pickup is very limiting on your market reach and the only way to entice a buyer is to go deep discounting it.

Lately a DSP5500HC was sold for $500.00 US (or less) in NYC because there was no box and you had to go get it. These should sell for at least twice that. The next person trying to sell one needs to be prepared that the bar has now been set pretty low.

Here in the US, the G68D will bring about $1000.00 used. The DSP5200s would sell typically for $2500.00 a pair for legacy maybe double that for SL. The SW5500 might go for $500.00 and the HD621 for $1000.00 tops.

All that said the gear would total about ten grand based on the current selling prices here. At least it is all black which is a plus.

I wish you good luck but, I would keep it. It is still some of the best sounding gear available for what it does. The DSP speakers are still one of the best values on the market if, you understand and appreciate the engineering, benefits, and sound quality.

I agree with John.

When I was growing up you could drool over Meridian but it was also affordable, you could buy a Meridian CD player, or a Meridian stereo amp, sure it was a bit more than your Creek, Nad etc. but not silly money.

Now the entry point is sky high and offers, on paper, nothing compared with the competition.

Saying "It is the best sounding system out there" is something everyone says, it said that on the LG Soundbar my brother bought the other day for £89, with a subwoofer included.


It took me 3 months nearly to sell my G68, DSP33c and 5200s.

Well in the end the 5200s went for £1850 and I didn't manage to sell the G68 or 33c, which were advertised at £600 and £300.

I''m glad they didn't sell as the all singing all dancing Arcam AV processor I bought sounded pants in comparison, so I kept the G68 for music, and with the 33c it is more than fine for TV.

In all honesty I wish I had kept them, don't get me wrong the Quad amp and speakers I swapped for do somethings better, but as an overall package the DSPs can't be beat. Low level listening is something I did a lot, but now the DSPs have gone I just don't anymore.


I would think long and hard before selling up.
What is your reason for selling?

It appears to fluctuate in the UK. As others have said, it seems to be going up at the moment.

I've said for a while that I don't think Meridian are as approachable, or popular a brand to aspire to, as they once were. We all appreciate the need to have a high-end to the brand, but, e.g., their entry level CD player for some years now has been the 808 at approximately £10K! The 500 series used to be a very, very serious, and seriously good sounding, gateway at more affordable prices (and I still like the styling better now than I do the 800 or G-series).

OTOH, despite other brands seeming better 'on paper', once I listen to them, I realise just what great value Meridian are as a total package.

(E.g. try replacing DSPs with similar quality speakers/amps and DACs. Remembering that you'd be tri- or quad- amping and DAC-ing, then adding a DSP unit of some kind to do crossover/driver integration, etc. To do that anywhere at or near reference sound quality is huuuuuuugely expensive. I think you can ultimately do better in out and out terms, but recent experience has taught me that will most definitely come at a price!)

Thanks for the comments, feedback and advice. I'm intending to make the move from Meridian for a couple of reasons, some already mentioned. I watch 90% movies and have a dedicated cinema with AT scope screen, projector etc.I really want to move into this decade and enjoy 4K movies with Dolby Atmos and modern codecs as intended. I'd like to install a 9.2.6 system and get the full movie experience to match the improved picture quality I now enjoy.

I know about the new Meridian 271, but I'm loathe to spend any more money on Meridian when I've experienced first hand how quickly it loses value. I'm also tired of the complexity in running the system. Setup is not intuitive and the program was obviously written by engineers and not someone with any understanding of UI. Why haven't Meridian moved with technology and use a web browser for configuration. I use a Mac, surely they have heard of these.

I've also experienced a lot of issues with the Meridian equipment since buying it. I've had to replace the power supply in the sub and two speakers and the motherboard in another speaker. The system has had light use, as I've lived interstate for much of this time, so I don't expect it would fail so regularly. Everything is fixed now and working perfectly, but it's left a bad taste in my mouth.

The other issue I have with Meridian is virtually no local presence, support or market awareness in Australia. We have had three different distributors in the last three years. The first nearly went broke, the second showed no interest in the brand and the current retrenched the only technical person in their company who understood Meridian. Dealers have no interest in selling Meridian.

I'm considering a move to the new Marantz pre-pro to be released early next year, paired with Triad Silvers and QSC power amps.I know I may never experience the sound of Meridian again, but I think I can gain 80% of what I have today for a little more than what I'm asking to sell the system and with virtually none of the headache.

I loved Meridian in the day and always aspired to own them. Hindsight is a great thing and if I knew what I know now, I either would have bought a bigger TV and saved the money or taken the Trinnov route paired with something similar to Triad Golds.

I'll certainly take people's advice and look at splitting the system up.

Cheers,

Chris

Are you sure you paid AUD $80k for the setup 6 years ago?
No offence meant.

None taken. Prices in Australia are ridiculous and not just on Meridian. We pay almost double what the US pay for luxury cars here too.

Calculations from memory.

G68 $10K
SW5500 $8K
DSP5200's $40K for 5
HD621 $3k
Additional cabling for HT with Meridian $2K

Repairs to date $6K

Total $69K (apologies, calculations not quite $80K)

In addition, to give a further indication of AUS pricing.

Middle Atlantic Rack $1K
PS Audio Line Conditioner $2K
Screen Research 120" AT 2.35:1 Screen $12K
ISCO III 2.35:1 lens $8K (sold)

i'm in the market for mint used 861v8, but there's no way i'm paying much for it...