Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems What to buy for a good DSP8000.2 setup?

I am completely new to the market of HiFi but I have bought myself a pair of used DSP8000.2 and now I am scratching my head on what I should buy to make a good setup that does what I want it to do.

What I want is to have something that I can connect the TV to through either optical cable or HDMI. Was first thinking about the 210 but then realised that it doesnt have any optical input, so then I looked into the 218 and heard that you need a NAS to make it run with the speakers.

I now feel that I have jumped into the deep side of the pool of things I know nothing about so I have come here for help

The system will only be the two speakers and the TV (gaming consoles and such plugged into the TV as well), all music listening will be through Tidal.

I feel that I have read a lot and talked to a lot of people about this but I feel like I am just getting dumber with all the info.

Any pointers appreciated!

There are a number of ways to do this.

A 218 can take a optical input from the TV and send it to the 8ks. Just be sure to set the TV to output PCM stereo. The 218 can also be a Roon endpoint if your are already using Roon and Tidal. If you are not running Roon, add a 210 then run Tidal off your mobile device connected via Bluetooth.

For the best 2 channel performance possible, use a 818v3 or 808v6 instead of the 218.

If your end desire is for surround sound then your next purchase would be an 861v8 and UHD722. If more than 8 channels are desired then your surround sound processor of choice along with a Meridian 271 would be necessary.

Enjoy the 8ks they are fantastic speakers.

Greetings!

This reminds me of my second setup where I drive an F80 but it could be a pair of DSP8000.2 as well.

LG C2 series OLED >optical out (configure for external stereo PCM optical out speaker setup)
218 - optical in, MHR out to DSP Speakers

Now this takes care of all TV-related audio. For Tidal many of us use Roon hence the ’NAS’ recommendation but in your case unless you have lots of offline music I would stick with a single

Roon Nucleus

That’s it. You don’t need a NAS unless you need massive offline storage for music.

Thank you for the info!

I currently don't have any offline library at all, so everything will be done through streaming.

What I try to wrap y head around is why I would need Roon when I can just use the Tidal app from the TV, sure I cant stream directly from the phone or an iPad. But that isnt a real inconvenience for me. Or is anything that is demanding Roon or NAS to make it work?

Well you can use the Tidal app on the TV. But you will miss out on Master MQA tracks from Tidal which your setup can decode and render flawlessly

Also from a usage perspective I would render Roon superior controlling via iPad/phone rather than clunky TV-app. Also regular non-MQA music will sound better (bitperfect and made for purpose) when driven from the 218 directly.

In line with what others have mentioned:

You could buy a 218 or 818v3 with a roon nucleus (or a NUC with roon rock). This would give you great streaming and both the convenience and performance of Roon. Yes, you do need Roon for this, even if you just stream from services. You will pay for both the software Roon and your streaming service.

Alternatively you could buy a 210 with a UPNP server and use it with tidal of qobuz. It will handle spotify natively, but your speakers deserve better. Don't ask why Meridian does not offer native support for tidal on the 210. It puzzles me, certainly with mqa in mind. This solution then requires a converter to convert your optical output of the tv to coax. This coax can be fed into your second input of the DSP speakers. The UPNP solution is slightly less userfriendly compared to Roon. The 210 will work with Roon too.

The cheapest option is add a USB/SPDIF converter and run it directly into the DSP input. You just use your laptop as a source. There will be a performance difference.

It all depends on what you want to spend, but you have started high up the chain with those speakers. They will reward you. I would recommend a 218 with a Roon nucleus +roon software and you have a capable system that is also easy to use.

Gr,
D

If you can find one, I would also vote for the 818v3. These are special speakers that will benefit from a decent processor.

The DSP8000.2 still has a coax SPDIF input, I believe. So if all you want is to connect the TV then all you need to buy is an optical TOSLINK to RCA coax converter.

Make sure the TV outputs Stereo PCM instead of Bitstream. Basically, the TV has to decode any surround sound encoding and only send L/R stereo to the speakers.

If you have any sources that are not connected through the TV, that's the point where you would need to do something more.

Cheers!

TV’s can be really naughty with optical out and standby full output pink noise.
I would directly advise against this with a premium pair of DSP8000.2.
A 218 or better will take care of naughty TV’s.