Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Connecting an 818v3 into existing system with 861

Hi all,

I have just acquired an 818v3 that was traded in at a dealer here in Australia. However, as you might guess, there isn't a huge depth of configuration expertise compared to the UK and the US so I am leaning on the community for help to get connected up.

From what I have gathered, my 818 is my Roon endpoint. I SpeakerLink out from the 818 into the 861 - the 861 can then do its thing with MRC, Trifield, Cinema etc. But I want to also tap the MQA stereo from the 818 without going through the 861 as this will break the MQA. (I realise I need better 8000s, my performance pack is coming early next year thanks to my amazingly patient UK dealer).

Q1: so ready for my MQA capability, how do I hook up the cables and the config? I might not do this until closer to my upgrade and I am sure my dealer will help once we're doing the PP but I thought I could try it out now.

Q2: I would like to see what the 818 can do ASAP. Without MQA capability in the speakers, is there any quality difference going straight from the 818 versus running through the 861 (obviously as Direct, I will play with Trifield etc. once I'm running)? Happy to plug an unplug stuff in the short term to play.

I'm also wanting to run my headphones from the balanced output of the 818 rather than the 861, but I assume this is straightforward like other configs.

Thanks in advance.

Edit: the reason why I believe I need to do something different with the 818 rather than just connect to the 861 was in Bruce's MQA 818v3 post.

You cannot directly plug your headphones into the 813.

See pages 15 and 31 of your User Guide.

The will require a third-party headphone amplifier- or, if you can get one, a Meridian Prime Headphone Amp.

Sorry if I wasn't clear, I already have one. I'm currently using the balanced outputs from the 861 so I am hoping the 818 might provide better SQ.

Hi,

Check out this topic 818 and 861 both into 8k direct. Whilst it starts off discussing using both D1 and D2 of the MASTER DSP speaker, there is also a discussion on:

a) 818 -> 861 -> DSP Speaker
b) 861 -> 818 -> DSP Speaker

Note my comment in that topic ...

The simplest way is to use a network failover switch to switch between the SpeakerLink outputs of the 818 and 861 then on to the SpeakerLink speakers. No special configurations involved. Additionally run a digital coax from the 818 to the 861 for Trifield.

Alternatively, you can go 861 SpeakerLink to 818 then from the 818 to the SpeakerLink speakers which uses the 818 in a "pass-through" mode. This requires each processor to have a unique configuration that complements the other in terms of source configuration. There are some comms issues to overcome that can be unique to each system. I have done this many times.