Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems DSP5000 18bit upgrade

Hi

I know it is technically possible to upgrade 18bit DSP5000 speakers to 24/96 spec. or at least it was if the parts (and knowledge) are available.

I have bought 2 x DSP5000's that have been recapped and upgraded to 24/96 spec, I have also bought a DSP5000C that is 18bit - they are connected to a G61R and all sounds lovely to me. It's all working nicely at the moment, I've read that the main DSP5000's are being fed an 18bit data stream because of the 5KC (i.e. for Trifield to work, all are fed the same bitrates). So I'm wondering, have I made a mistake? Are the parts available to upgrade my 5KC or am I forced to sell and rebuy? Or does it not matter and it's all clever enough to drive everything to the best it can.

Clearly DSP5000 18bit's are cheaper than 24/96 versions and I will want to add rears at some point, do I need to find 24/96's or can I mix and match (as I've already started to). Or buy 18bit speakers and then upgrade them (might be preferable as that way I can service the speakers at the same time and I will know exactly what I end up with)

Am I going rounding circles?

TIA
Mark

I have similar dilemma. Have just got a G68D repaired and put this into second system with my 5500s (as upgraded main system) with some 18bit 5000C and 18bit 5000 rears. Would be up for upgrading if could be done as DIY if parts available. Could MRTECHGUY Help would it be economic to get small batch of upgrade boards produced.

Kevin

Hi Mark,

I suspect that you’ll have to bit the bullet at some point and upgrade to a 24/96 centre speaker.
With regard to surround speakers, if space restricts the speaker size, there are more 24/96 options available, so I probably wouldn’t go further down the 18 bit path.

Well done on the G61R

Just my thought.

Brian

Hi Mark,

Looking at the Meridian Configuration program for the G61R, you can set the speakers independently for 96K/24 bit compatible, therefore, you should be able to run the front L/R as 24/96 and the center and rears as 18bit.

I don't think this will down-sample the front L/R (you should be able to check by enabling the diagnostics displays)...

How it will sound is another matter as timings were changed in later firmware (that the 24/96 are likely running), although it should again be possible to adjust within the G61R.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,

Steve

How do you enable diagnostic displays is it colour or other indicator?

Kevin

If you think you will eventually upgrade to all 24/96, it is probably easiest to sell the 18-bit version and just buy a 24/96 than trying to look for parts.

Also, nothing 'wrong' with 18-bit speakers at all, and while sounding different from the 24/96 versions, they are still enjoyable. One drawback however is the old source labels and they won't accept an upsampled signal.

Steve

I found that and have set the centre to not support 24/96 - which means it all plays nicely now. I've also set it to small which seems to have balanced the sound out better.

I'm not sure how to access the diagnostics displays - need to read more this weekend and see what it's telling me maybe it's the timings that I'm hearing - but I'm sure I read on here somewhere that there was something that did't work right mixing the versions (although it sounds good to me!)

Thanks

Mark

Yeah - I wasn't sure if this was the easiest path and I'd managed to buy the 'wrong' model.

I'll have a listen and see how it all sounds and decide if I need to change or not

Thanks for all the comments and tips

Mark

Hi Mark,

You should be able to press the display button on the remote, which should cycle through the various displays on the units. One of them on the DSPs should be the sample rate that the speakers are receiving...

The diagnostic displays can be enabled on the G-Series within the configuration program, or from the front panel.

The timings are subtle, we're probably talking 1-3ms (can't remember what the updated firmware notes mentioned for the 24/96 versions) - Try running the system in Trifield and judge from that if anything needs adjustment and if the sound is a bit phased or slurry, then you may need to tweak the timings...

Good luck,

Cheers,

Steve

Steve

Thanks, pressing display on the DSP's only get the FW version (5.21) on the 18bit centre it cycles through a bunch of pages as you say.

I'll have a play with the MConfig and see what I can find

Thanks again

BTW - any idea how much a G61R PSU is (non Linear one that is) or their availability (I've seen elsewhere you are one of the guru's on this forum ), I know mine has been replaced once - but I think that was still best part of 10 years ago and don't fancy blowing it up just yet if there is something sensible I can do to prevent it!

Mark

Hi Mark,

I've sent you a PM (flashing envelope symbol next to your username at the top right of the screen)

Cheers,

Steve

There’s a fellow parting out a 96/24 on eBay, it’s in California, but shipping the board only may be relatively reasonable.