Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems How many Meridian users have switched to Trinnov

Interestingly, I have it on good authority Meridian are probably selling more 861s now (at least this side of the pond) than ever. That surprised me, and may surprise many on here but, as Russ guessed, this forum is not representative of most of Meridian's customers, even if we're probably the most passionate and vocal about the gear! Again, not everyone wants/needs Atmos and a thousand speakers, or full-fat MQA, and then 861 is still likely the best sounding non-Atmos solution for music and movies, especially when using DSPs.

To my mind, this indicates there is still a healthy market for 861, and therefore for a v9 upgrade.

My own reasoning for a SQ upgrade right now is that, if it's just sheer engineering/R&D time which is holding back a full-on v10/862, etc., (which could be to do with full MQA processing in multichannel, etc., who knows), then at least upgrading to the latest low-jitter architecture and basic SQ of the current 818/808 would be a great incremental step in the meantime - the improvement from 818v2 to v3 was not a subtle one, in my experience.

My further reasoning is - everyone is doing stereo, no matter how well you do it (and Meridian do it sublimely for sure) it's not as much of a differentiator/USP as, e.g. Trifield/proprietary multichannel processing used to be, and could be again for them I think, in the marketplace. I guess Meridian are still aware of this(?) which is presumably why they went for Trifield in the automotive collaboration, but surely it would help them reclaim that former niche to push this a bit harder again which could only help sales.

I admire your loyalty and determination but a read of the Meridian News and Events seems to give strong clues as to their future direction.

I side with Gianni also. I just put a Speakerlink G61R with Marc Koval to fit a LPS. With my 2 channel results through SEs from a 218, I am not interested in multichannel for music. For me,
I see no need for better sound than Meridian 5 channel through my existing processors.

I removed my subwoofers afte living with SEs for a while. I could never catch them working. I was assured they really did come on if needed, but I could never actually tell if they were on. In other words properly dialed in with my 8Ks they did not make an audible difference with my real world material. SEs dialed in to a musical bass line is something to savor not obscure.

For sure, I have no problem believing that with a perfectly set up pair of 8Ks in a good room you can likely get just as good reproduction for music (if you're not interested in Trifield, etc.). However, I would argue there is still a place for, e.g., properly integrated subs and RC in most real world domestic listening rooms.

Usually, speaker placement is a compromise between best imaging/soundstage and the need to flatten out bass response as much as possible. When speakers are truly full range so both are in one box so to speak, the best of both isn't always achievable. This is the case in my room for example.

Properly set up subs can be placed where you wouldn't want to place your main L/R pair to minimise peaks and nulls in the very low bass, and RC can tame the last bit. Sub 80Hz, this is notoriously difficult to achieve with room treatments, as they would have to be huge and probably domestically unacceptable.

Another example of compromised placement for 2-channel also occurs in my room, due to the constraints of that space and the cinema screen. We have to sit a little closer to the speakers than the distance the speakers are apart so they don't get in the way of the projector. This means there is a perceived 'hole' in the stereo image, something a well-integrated centre would mitigate for music (oddly enough it's not an issue for movies where I suspect the image psychoacoustically 'locks' the sound to the screen).

I've come to think of a processor as a little like an audio Swiss army knife for solving real world problems, as well as a vehicle for multichannel soundtracks, etc. Hence the desire for one which sounds as good in basic SQ as my 818v3 does in 2-channel - I would very much like to have my cake and eat it!

Did not want to mess the sale thread up so querying this here.

Does this mark the end of customer colours for Meridian equipment?

This has been the case for quite a while now on all 800 series - buttons and flap are now available only in black, it’s solely the front 'wings' and rear casework which can be coloured.

Even silver and graphite have gone from the buttons. Very annoying for anyone who wants to match in with previous Meridian gear or a truly custom finish (or who doesn't like the black finish, like me).

Thanks for the clarification.

Hi 3dit0r,

Thanks for sharing, I knew that white had replaced silver as one of the "standard" colours but did not know about this development.

Having to pay an extra (circa 10%) just for silver made me grumpy and this is another nail in the coffin.

I guess taking a slight positive it might make the resale value of silver kit a little better for those looking to more to Trinnov, but that's doesn't help Meridian one iota.

Regards,
Carl

Agreed. To be clear, this isn’t just on the 861, but 818 and 808 also.

I wasn’t aware white had replaced silver.. At least white matches the white lettering on the black keys, I guess, if I’m looking for silver linings. However, it grates on me that the white lettering doesn’t match the silver foil on the Meridian badge. A little thing, to be sure, but on equipment of this price, little details matter.

I wonder how Meridian and Trinnov would fare in a shootout such as the lucky people of Australia got for Christmas ????

Meridian + Trinnov 20% Off

20/30% off would certainly motivate anyone on the fence ;O)

~M~

I wasn’t sure if I should start a new thread on this but after doing a search decided to post my M to Trinnov journey here. I apologize in advance for a long post.

I have owned M products for over 20 years. Started with the 5000s with 565 and have owned 5500s and now 8000s. I’ve also had the 568 and all the versions of the 861.

I watch movies more than listen to music (sadly due to lack of time) so I was very interested in Atmos etc.
Like everyone here I waited very patiently for M to upgrade the 861. Finally when the 271 came along I saw the handwriting on the wall and decided the upgrade wasn’t going to happen. I therefore decided to explore Trinnov. I first spoke with Rick at Audio Images about all of it as he was one of the early Trinnov dealers on HH (by the way Rick is extremely knowledgeable about the Trinnov and would be my Trinnov dealer if I lived on the other side of the pond).

I did a lot of research and started to speak with Bruce - CMB Integrations. At that time Bruce was just picking up Trinnov as a dealer and was (still is) learning fast. I decided to trade in my 861 for the Trinnov. Bruce had someone from Trinnov remote in and do an initial calibration of my system and Bruce helped me tweak it from there.

The Trinnov as you may know is very complex and the learning curve is great so for us DIY type guys it takes a while to learn with plenty of experimentation.

I always enjoyed the 861 with its relative simplicity setup etc. and it always (still does) produce a very nice 7.1 system. The Trinnov definitely provides an upgrade as it adds in the height channels etc.
I’ve owned it for almost a year now and I got to the point (reading the Trinnov thread on AVSforum.com) that I thought I wasn’t getting the best out of it so I did some research for a professional calibration.

I kept reading about one gentleman in particular who is an independent calibrator that actually does most of Trinnov’s calibrations around the US. He has calibrated well over 100 Trinnovs in some of the nicest home theaters in the US. I decided to hire him. He comes and spends 2 days at your home calibrating everything.
We had spoken before hand about my room and after sending him all the information on it he recommended I add 2 more subs to my room (as it is 800+ square feet) so I was lucky enough to find 2 used 5500 subs (4 total).

When he came (after seeing my room in person) he recommended we move my wall mounted surround speakers down closer to ear level (which he did for me). He then spends half of a day just on the room bass- then proceeds to do the rest of the room. The second day he spent 8 more hours calibrating (all through the Trinnov) and setting up the target curves etc. He set up 5 presets for me (2 channel music, multi-surround music, a reference movie mode, an action movie mode, and a late night movie mode). He also set it up so I could simulate M Trifield if I so desire.

We spent a few hours at the end for him to demo music and movies for me and then for me to ask questions.
I have to say I have never heard either music or movies sound so good in my room. The results were absolutely stunning.

I have been to plenty of M demos at dealers and shows etc and have heard DSP8000s sound very nice but I have to say my room sound now sounds as good or better than any demo I’ve ever heard.

Adam told me that the M speakers were very nice and had a very clear sound to all the tweeters and can be driven at high volumes easily without distorting. I asked him where my room rates for sound quality versus all the other rooms he does and he said it was very nice and he was very pleased with the results.

Just a note on the 5500 sub- it rolls off under 30 Hz very quickly. He recommended that if I want that deep chest thumping movie bass for certain movie scenes that I purchase one more sub that would handle bass from 30 Hz down to about 15 (He recommended a Seaton sub ) and he would come back and add to my system in a few hours when he was on another job in my area in a few months (which of course I decided to do).

Overall I wrote all this to say over all the years of upgrading speakers, equipment, room treatment etc. I have to say that having my room professionally calibrated was possibly the best “ upgrade “ I’ve ever done. Again it wasn’t cheap but in comparison to what M products cost (along with all the other high end products) it was a relative bargain.

I can now say if you want Atmos along with height speakers etc. the Trinnov is absolutely at the top of the heap. Here in the US I highly recommend you contact Bruce and in the UK and surrounding areas Rick as they both are very knowledgeable, great dealers and will work with you on getting everything set up correctly.

In the US I have personally met Bruce and he also knows M stuff very well and is always available to talk to. We definitely need more dealers like them who are willing to answer questions and help in any way they can (I’m not saying we don’t have others but those 2 gentlemen stand out for me).

If you are at all thinking of changing over to Trinnov here in the US I would also highly recommend contacting Adam at bespoke cinemas dot com to professionally calibrate it.

You will not be disappointed.
Joe

Thanks for the informative write-up. I hope one day to make the switch. Quick question, how seamless is the integration of the 271, the Trinnov and the DSP speakers as far as controlling them and responsiveness or lag?