Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems 800 Hardware Upgrades available NOW

Hello fellow Meridian lovers.

I have read many of the posts dealing with the 800 CD/ DVD transport, which I own in an 800/ 861 setup. I have an older 800 that is not (yet) DTS capable. My dealer advice (and some advice posted on this board) was to wait until the DVD-A modification is available, and then update all at once. I can't wait any longer! I want my DTS! I really care less about DVD-A, although perhaps by the time it is available on the 800, there might be more software. In any event, I am at teh point where I am willing to pay for a second upgrade down the road.

My question for those of you in the know is this: if I sent my 800 back to Meridian, what all can/ could be upgraded? From what I could glean from various posts, it would definately be the DVD decoder (to encorporate the newer C-Cube Ziva 3 chip which outputs DTS audio). What about the DVD-ROM drive? I saw some posts indicating Meridian recently shipped a black colored alternative drive, which was rumored to be of higher quality. I do know that I get a fair amount of "mistracking" on DVDs and again, if upgrading, would be interested in trying this as well.

So, spoken another way, if I was to purchase a new 800, what components have changed since the inception of the 800. Thanks to all who read this and might have additional information.

On a separate note, I have upgraded the 861 all the way to include the newest 2.8 software, and preliminarily as all have been reporting, the DPL II is a terrific new preset format!