Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems $$$$$ DSP8000 40th Anniversary to $

Hey All,

I need your help for bringing back this speaker to life.

Yesterday I purchased pair of speakers from estate sale without zero info.

I’ve never had any Meridian also the seller was not the owner. So this pair of beautiful finished speakers are missing both top unit or top part and they don’t know where they are!
Located Washington state!

Current picture on my garage:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k-MGPsygwsi_DFSXImlGPzLE3qVxU26M/view?usp=drivesdk

Google
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Upxk4yVa4d0R8g9KFgXM6V7wnD6wEt8x/view?usp=drivesdk

Found this and think this is original post of this speaker 4 tears ago:
https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9cdaf-meridian-40th-anniversary-system-full-range

Sadly this is happening and I’m not sure what can I do.
I don’t know how can I test them and how can be use as my HT and audio setup!

Any information and advice would greatly appreciate.

Sorry I don’t understand. Also I can’t see your Google drive pictures as the access is locked.

Am I correct that you bought these blind and the head units are missing from the speakers?

Oh dear. I hope you didn't spend too much on these- it will be tough to find a matching set of heads. You can check with Bruce Sinclair at CMB Integrations to see if you can order replacements from Meridian. You will need the tops to test them as these contain the tweeter and mid-range driver.

Other options could be trying to part them out (selling the drivers, back panels and power supplies on eBay)? Not sure what else you could do. Trying to make replacement heads or hiring a cabinet maker will be a big project and likely time-consuming and expensive.

Hopefully the seller can find the heads and it will all work out for you!

Good luck!

Yeah if that is the situation, I can’t see that sourcing replacement heads is going to be economically viable. If so, the idea to sell them for parts is probably the best one.

Did you purchase the 808 (the matching CD player)? If so, that should be good to go, with or without Meridian speakers (it’s a world-class CD player/DAC in its own right).

Alternatively, you could try returning the speakers to the seller, since you haven’t been sold the whole speaker, just the bass units, and they are useless as-is.

Thanks for your time guys I already ask Bruce and he said very hard to find top part !
I don’t know I spend few thousand for top part and few thousand for processor and how they sound !
So it’s better sale as part , I think it’s worth $5k like this what do you think?

I would really push the seller to find the head units. They’re a very distinctive thing to lose, and near impossible to sell separately, so they must have them somewhere. It would be a real shame to break up a pair of anniversary 8Ks as they were not an ordinary item, very special.

Alternatively, see if anyone else who is into Meridian gear would take them off you as-is and have Meridian make up matching head units. They might be worth it to a collector. Maybe Meridian themselves might have them back(?).

What I mean is, they’re special, so try all alternatives before breaking them up for parts.

Maybe you are getting ahead of yourself. You don't know if they work, and you have the challenge of needing to find the heads to fully test them.

To summarize, I think these are the options:

1) Try to sell them 'as-is' and move on. Hopefully, you don't lose too much money and consider it a valuable lesson learned.

2) Push the seller to find the heads or see if you can get a refund.

3) Wait and see if the heads turn up. If someone else bought them at the same estate sale, it's probably only a matter of time before they show up here asking for help. Maybe you can work out a deal. Hopefully the buyer did not try to connect them to an amplifier and destroy the tweeter and mid range driver in the process. We don't know if the tweeter and mid-range drivers are still available from Meridian. Maybe a question for Bruce.

4) Sell for parts? Not sure how much you can get this route, as most will want to buy parts knowing they are fully functional.

Waiting to see if the heads show up for sale somewhere is a good suggestion. New heads would be quite expensive. If you are considering parting them out you need to consider logistics as proper handling of the components will be key to their value and keeping things in good shape after shipment.

I don't think I've ever seen a picture of 8k's without the top units. That color must be something else in person - I hope you are able to locate them.

I think a little more homework might pay off. Tracing back to the original seller/estate would perhaps be worthwhile? Someone must have the head units. Either they’ve just been put aside somewhere and the seller needs the threat of a return to make them look harder, or they were sold to someone else, in which case the seller must know that, and is the most likely route to trace where they went to.

Failing that, try posting on all the audiophile sites you can find with pics of the head units to see if anyone has them and is wondering what to do with them. They’re very distinctive in shape and colour. If it was a local estate sale, perhaps an ad with pics in the local bulletin boards, online and in local shops, hi-fi dealers, etc., might pay off.

In terms of whoever might have them ending up on this site, is there anything on the anniversary head units which labels them as Meridian (perhaps the tweeter surround)? It’s been so long since I saw a pair I can’t recall. I know the bass units have Meridian labelling fairly clearly.

There is an "M" logo on the tweeter and that is about it. Anyone not familiar with high end hifi may not connect the dots on that one.

I thought there was an engraved plaque on the back that says Meridian Audio with the number xx/40.