Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Trifield

Curious about others' usage/implementation of Trifield. I like it on on some recordings, but detect a slight loss of transparency vs. direct on things w/simpler arrangements, particularly where the vocals are mixed forward. What do most people here use as their default music setting?

My setup might not be ideal: I have VMPS RM40's as mains -- these feature one ribbon tweeter and four mid ribbons per side. Center channel is the VMPS LRC, one ribbon tweeter and one ribbon mid. Two issues here -- the use of multiple mids on the 40's lowers distortion a bit -- whether this would be audible is tough call. Second, my LRC is mounted on top of my RPTV -- though it is angled down toward the listening position, this still puts the tweeter/mid drivers higher than those of my mains. I'm beginning to think Trifield really wants all the speakers at exactly the same level. Thoughts? What's your setup?

Hi rblnr,

my setup is the same as yours: G68 w/ VMPS RM-40s, a VMPS LRC and a pair of VMPS Larger subs in the front, although my LRC is stand mounted a few feet in front of my RPTV, and I usually throw a quilt over the TV when listening to music.

I've found Trifield to be a little "dull" on music, the highs seem a little rolled off. Easily could be the pot settings on my LRC though, as I calibrated it using a movie soundtrack instead of music.

I've found the best is just plain old stereo w/ a 50Hz crossover.
I think it's hard to expect the LRC w/ its single midrange to compete soncially w/ the RM-40s. Just the physical arrangement of the drivers alone creates more of the "wall of sound" effect.

I use Trifield as default for music/radio. The main issues for me are:

- perceived thinner bass compared to other presets.
- essential to set up the width parameter to suit your system (this is really critical).

I have ATC SCM50ASL active analogue speakers with the horizontal centre having the tweeter about 30cms lower than the L/R mains. There is absolutely no problem with integration of the front 3 which I put down to the drive units having very good dispersion characteristics. I don't if ribbons might be quite directional.

One big advantage of Trifield is that the "hot spot" for listening is widened as the location of the image is much less dependent on the listening position than it is for 2 channel stereo. Hey, now 2 people can listen at once!

Malcolm

Jgubman,

How do you like the VMPS subs? Am about to buy a sub and will probably go that route.

Trifield is fantastic if you tweek it a bit.

I adjust the depth and centre level to my taste. I now call it "CDsound1" on my 565.

The Depth of the soundfield is just amazing.

I cant give technical explanations or quote frequancy roll off's etc, but i can say that live recordings that i know well and have seen performed sound just the same as the original.

No added base that people seem to like so much for some reason?

System 506 518 565 "A500 with Nad 916 pwr" M33 M1500 Keff 33 sides (Nad) M30 mk2 rears.

Do try Mulogic with more studio based ambiant recordings. Dark side of the moon, Enigma etc.
You wont believe your ears. or perhaps you will. enjoy it anyway, Chris

rblnr,

the Largers are great. The normal annoyance of "putty pinching" applies, but once they're dialed in they're really, really great. Surprisingly quick for a 15" woofer, and they really compliment the RM-40s.

I've been using Trifield for a long long time on 99% of my music.

I get no loss in bass.

I wonder sometimes if my setup in some way is really screwed up. Because Direct sounds so boring, actually bad.(unless I really really crank it). When using only 20k-ish worth of equipment in 2 Channel mode, I kinda expect more and it's just not their. It may be I'm conditioned (spoiled) with Trifield.

So I wonder if Trifield is filling a gap. Sort of like adding air-bags to a poorly designed car for crash safety.

Recently I've experiemented with Music and MuLogic modes. It seems to bring out the center vocals better and slightly stronger surround.

I run 5.1 with no sub.

My room is realy bad though.

I got a loss of bass w/the 568.2 using Trifield, but not w/the G68. I was using the old software w/the 568.2 -- I think the latest release addressed the issue.

Jumping from Trifield to Direct seems like a downgrade or boring for a second to me, but a chunk of this is that Trifield is simply louder. I lose some focus in the center as well, but I pick up a bit of transparency w/certain types of music.

JGubman -- thanks for the rec. on the VMPS sub. I toss a blanket over the screen of my RPTV too.

Let's hope it's not like adding MSG to bland food!

It is pretty important to adjust Trifield's depth setting for a seamless blend. As opposed to steered music format where one speaker would produce all the sound coming from that region, Trifield utilizes all speakers in the proximity of the sound source to create the wavefront. In order for the wavefront to seem to be eminating from one point, those speaker's distance setting has to be quite exact. That is why the depth setting is so helpful. Also, fine tuning the setting could frequently make the speaker disappear, even to the point that you don't notice that the speaker is above or below year level. You can never do that with steered surround formats.

Anyway, Trifield when working properly, does magic. On my Magnepan MG-IIIa, which seemed to have slighty diffuse imaging, Trifield made the image tighten up and created a much more even soundstage, even though the not so similar sounding maggie center channel was sitting on the floor.

Of course, when I upgraded the mains to MG-3.6/R and moved one of the MG-IIIa to the center position, alot of the integration issue (tonality and speaker level) issues became moot.

When i 1st was playing around with Trifield mode i did wonder what all the fuss was about as it really did not impress me, but then i started tweaking the depth and now i listen to most of my CD's in Trifield mode which sounds fantastic...

Cheers
John

Will have to get serious about the depth control and see what I think.