Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Meridian or No?

A word of caution following on from ~M~ post,

The Trinnov Altitude 16 has a limited number of digital outputs, so not the best pairing if you're looking at a multi-channel DSP setup.
That said with a DSP pair for main speakers, and the rest analogue it would be fine.

Regards,
Carl

Carl, Isn't it correct that a Trinnov can output multiple digital channels to a Meridian 271 & then onto multiple DSPs? Or have I confused myself? That's highly likely.

To expand upon what Carl said above, the current Altitude 16 does not have any digital outputs that can be used with a 271. A software upgrade will enable 4 additional channels that at the time of the announcement would be on a optical connector in ADAT format. When I asked about what device would be recommended to be used, I was told to standby. So it may be subject to change between now and when the software update goes public.

I share your concern. It seems that the new direction is somewhat diffuse, at least there is no DSP9000 line array system (!) or other new product announced. Also, the partnership with LG gives me the impression that the current direction is to make most out of existing techniques with little investment. This is of course speculation. Maybe there is a team deeply involved in a new range of models that will put Meridian back where it has been for decades. On the other hand manufacturers push out ‘new’ stuff to bump sales, and I consider it a good sign when product remain unchanged for long periods of time.

We will not know what is going to happen to Meridian now Bob Stuart has left. We won’t know what the resale value will be in the following years.

My point is: it doesn’t matter. I still have my DSP5500’s and still like listening to them. Their current products are still remarkable, and even if resale value is unknown and there will be no updates or new model in the future, I would probably still buy a Meridian system. Long time ago I had an expensive passive system (B&W nautilus 802) that never fully made music. I always ignored Meridian back then and when I acquired my first DSP they where a revelation. They did everything well. You just have to enjoy them while they are still available and never sell. I think Meridian was so ahead of its time, misunderstood by most and their DSPs are future classics. It's like the three steps when you have a new insight in science/engineering; First you will get ignored. Then they will say it wasn’t your idea and then they will try to steal the idea.

Recently I have auditioned a really high end passive conventional system of a friend and while good, I thought it was outperformed by my DSP7200SE. The owner was very much impressed by the DSP7200SE as well. Both dynamics and soundstage are very hard to beat by any system in its price range. And then there are other benefits like ease of use and having no stack of hot running power amps. Yes, other brands develop new techniques, but many (kii, Dynaudio XEO, B&W formation) are in the same vain as Meridian has been doing for decades, presenting it as an innovation. While we have things to complain, M still deserves the benefit of the doubt.

I think a 818v3 with a pair 8KSE’s is a very envious system, it doesn’t get much better. Anywhere.
Just my unbiased 😊 opinion.

I agree and am really excited about having such a system in MY house.

My only concern is that it would be great if I could combine a pure audio 2 channel setup with a surround solution. I have seen some older posts on here that discuss how to set this type of solution up, but it doesn't seem like there is a satisfactory setup possible. Even Chris at Meridian implied that the systems are not really designed to do this. For clarification I mean I would like to this: 8kSEs connected to 818v3 for 2 channel. Then connecting this to either G65 or 861v8 powering centre, rears and sub. Seems no can do!

If you are using a 271 you can use the 818v3 connected to 271's SpeakerLink input and suffer no 2 channel limitations while using nearly any other surround processor. I do this at my place and get full MQA and the best surround experience using a Trinnov Altitude 32 8 16.

The Lyngdorf would be the next best followed closely by the Storm in my opinion. All have been extensively tested in my speaker setup. If you use a 861v8, a network failover switch can be used to switch the SpeakerLink connection of the 861 and 818v3 if using a daisy chain configuration. If using home run, two network failover switches would be used. Not a elegant solution but it works well in situations where you have multiple SpeakerLink output devices. With a 861v6 or v8 you can use the 818 in the SpeakerLink chain but that's when things get complicated in setup.

Thanks CMB, sounds like an option. It does seem a shame it’s not easily configurable in the M ecosystem, as I am obviously not the only person trying to do this.

It can be configured within the Meridian ecosystem. Two different config programs have to be done. One for the 861v8 one for the 818v3 and then there are some latency issues that need to be dealt with using the speaker delays on the 861.

Agree with all of these excellent points. In my case, it is a pair of legacy DSP6000s that are over 20 years old, but after a full recap and new tweeters, these sound incredible, and yes I still enjoy listening to them!

Like Bruce, I use network switches to choose between full MQA stereo or surround (where I also match latency with a digital delay device). Throwing two mechanical knobs is a small price to pay for having it both ways.

Unless I’ve missed something scanning through the thread, OP you haven’t mentioned the keyword which would be the key to “needing” an 818v3 over an 861v8 - MQA.

What are your feelings on this format? Is it enough of a deal-breaker for you that you really need MQA and therefore an 818v3 (or 218), etc., instead of a full surround setup? If not, the 861v8 will likely sound near identical with other material feeding 8KSE.

Secondly, I realise you feel at the moment that your priority would be 2-ch performance, but let me ask you, have you heard a Meridian 5.1/7.1 surround system properly setup (e.g., with MRC - Meridian Room Correction - done well, etc., full bass management...) for exceptional music reproduction? I ask because there is a misconception (due to most of the surround sound market being focused on cinema) that it is inferior for serious music listening. However, Meridian surround systems were never designed with solely cinema in mind - in fact, back in the day, Meridian were pioneers of hi-res (DVD-A) and thereby hi-res multichannel audio. So don’t assume that 2-channel will necessarily provide better performance/enjoyment in a Meridian ecosystem. E.g., I believe Richard Hollinshead once commented that the 861v8 was identical to the 818v2 bar the extra channels and processing - if one removed those, the noise floor would be the same.

FWIW, I started firmly in the 2-ch camp and went through various Meridian setups (all miles better than fairly esoteric analogue setups I’d had previously, e.g., Naim, etc.) culminating in DSP7200.2/818v3 which really are sublime. Then out of curiosity I listened to a Meridian surround setup done right. Now I have a legacy surround system (as in my signature) and couldn’t be happier. True multichannel recordings are insanely good (if you can get hold of a few of the Everest 3-channel recordings, they are worth taking to any demo) and Trifield and the other proprietary processing turns my 2-channel recordings into multichannel with stunning results. My wife loves it too - it works utterly seamlessly between music, movies and TV and sounds amazing on all of them. We’re no longer tied to a narrow stereo ‘sweet spot’ where only one of us hears things as they should, as the centre anchors movies and Trifield anchors music. We no longer have to set the speakers absolutely ideally and live around the system quite so much as MRC and bass management (well placed sub) takes care of the worst room modes.

So far (and I hope I’m not tempting fate!) Meridian gear has been the most reliable Hi-Fi gear I’ve owned and I’ve not had a failure yet. Considering I’ve regularly bought older gear, 20+ years old, I personally don’t have much of a concern in this regard. DSPs and 861/818 all have linear power supplies and seem to be pretty solid.

Lastly, even if Meridian continued to just churn out the same old Stuart/Hollinshead designs for another decade, they’d still sound better and (especially in the case of DSPs) be years ahead of most designs out there. In this respect, Meridian are perhaps a tad victims of their own pioneering? What I mean is, they were doing active and DSP 30-40 years since, only in the last 5 or so has this notion started to enter the mainstream. But they have had decades to really understand all the design parameters which really matter and only a few years since they were so far ahead the others are still largely playing catch up.

In other words, if you love the sound, don’t sweat that stuff. Tech always marches on, but it doesn’t mean the latest and greatest in terms of features actually performs any better. Having listened to a lot of gear, I still reckon the 861 is the best *sounding* 7.2 channels out there - is sound quality or the latest gimmick higher on your priority list?

A final thought - for a few years I ran 2x DSP6000 (predecessor to 8Ks) either side of a large TV for music and movies. They sounded awesome. But this didn’t work when we moved to a projector with a nice big screen as it meant compromising the sound by having to push the stereo speakers further out towards the corners of the room than was ideal for best sound reproduction. I don’t know your room layout, so you might get away with 8Ks at your chosen screen size if you go the 2-ch route, but I think it’s something to be aware of and make sure to plan the whole thing out with care if you go this way. With 2-ch you won’t have the same ability to compensate for speaker layout to accommodate a large screen as you would with a processor and multiple DSPs, and you don’t want to go for too small a screen to make that work. If you end up with compromised speaker positioning for 2-ch ‘purist’ setup, you run the risk of it sounding no better, or potentially worse, than a well-implemented surround system.

Thanks very much for the comprehensive reply @3dit0r.

WRGT MQA I would love to be able to listen to it in its purest form, I was hoping that I could use something like a Bluesound Node 2i or any other MQA supporting streamer and use this as a feed into the 861. Not sure if that would get me the purest MQA experience, I would be interested in knowing how good such a setup would be. That way I could get MQA as well as a 5.1 (or possibly 4.1 as I am going to struggle to place a centre).

I have been to Meridian in Huntingdon and listened to the setup in the main cinema. This has 3 8000s and an 861 (I assume). You would hope that it had been room corrected, but I didn't ask. It sounded amazing.

I am not really concerned about quality or support issues anymore after yours and others feedback, research and obviously the announcement today of new 8000XEs.

With regards to my proposed setup, I am planning to have a dropdown screen. I want the placement of the speakers to be either side of a fireplace and the screen will drop down in front of the fireplace. It may well obscure the speakers, but I am planning on having a acoustically transparent screen so even if the 8000s are behind the screen they should still sound good. I am more concerned about having the best placement for 2 channel even if there are compromises on the multi channel.

Thanks again.