Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems 568 for stereo mixdown

Hello folks,

Its been a while since I've been here. I used to run an M system but currently I'm not. I decided to downsize from 5.1 to 2.1 and am currently running a Lyngdorf 2170 which works well and has really good room correction. However, I still watch the TV and films through this system via an optical cable into my Lyngdorf and I rely on the source or TV to do the stereo mixdown. This of course works, but I lose the LFE channel as the mixdown algorithm used in every (non-surround sound) device drops the LFE channel for fear of distorting the small little TV speakers. I do have a sub and I'm thinking of getting a more impressive one, but I want it to be used properly.

I had been wondering whether it was possible to buy a device which in and outputs digital audio and does a custom mixdown but then it occurred to me... I may actually already own a device which allows me to do custom mixdowns, in the shape of a 568.1 processor I never got round to selling (or 3 DSP33's but that's another story). It has an optical input I could take from the TV, and a digital co-ax out which would usually be to a pair of DSP speakers but which could go into the lyngdorf. it'll output at full volume with no volume control as the DSP's would do the volume control and I could configure the 568 for 2 full size speakers, each a metre away and with no sub so it should mix the LFE channel into the stereo output.

Would that work? That sounds to me like it would pass through a simple stereo signal and "pre-process" a Dolby Digital or DTS signal into a stereo signal but with LFE included. would I also be able to boost mixdown audio too as it's always quieter than plain old stereo?

I'm not quite ready to try it out yet as I'm in the middle of a few other things, so this is just thought engineering at the moment, but I'd be interested in what people think. is this a ridiculous idea?

Cheers