I thought the whole idea of SE was those silver looking rings? grin

Is the effect on sound quality quite subtle on the 7200 and 8000 in terms of the SE clamp rings (due to Meridium construction and don't they essentially have clamp rings anyway, you just can't see them on non-SE) or am I mistaken?

I've heard 5200 upgrade vs 5200SE from factory and the difference was definitely there, but they're not Meridium...

HC: 861v4/ID40/LPS, DSP5000, DSP5000VC, DSP3100, SW1600, HD621, Oppo BDP-105, Sony VPL-HW55ES
2-Channel: Oppo BDP-105, TEAC VRDS-7/Trichord Clock 3/PSU, 551, Quad 303, Harbeth Compact 7ES-3, Kimber cables, Russ Andrews mains and supports.
Previous Meridian: 5000C, 5200SL, 7200.2, 6000, 562V.2, 568.2mm, 800v4, 808.2i, 818v2/v3, 861v8, 502