Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems 568.25 popping from side left channel

Ive put up with this for nearly 6 months, more fool me and Ive finally checked every component in the chain to discover that the pooping is being produced by the 568.
Before I post it back to the nice people in Huntingdon, has anyone else come across this or knows a solution ?

Incidentally when I told my normally-very-positive Dealer, he simply shook his head and said, "Its a Meridian, you have to expect that kind of thing." Perhaps he wants me to upgrade to a G68.

You are not alone. Mine is from the right rear channel (7.0 setup). I straight swapped the phonos and speaker cables to the rear amp to prove it was the 568.25 and not later in the chain. There is a low-level mid-range pop noticable on quite sections or occasionally after a mid-bass note from the front L&R.....

I had only noticed it on playback from Sky+ hard drive using DPL2THX on compressed channels (e.g. Hallmark) and assumed it was momentary loss of signal/lock. Never experienced with a DD or DTS source.

You have got me thinking. I will test with other analog and digital sources to focus on the culprit component.

Anyone else?

I get it on all sources and all DSPs that send information to that channel. Look forward to hearing the result of your investigations.
Anyone else ?

Patrick

I have had the 568.2 for 4 years (converted 568.1). I am not sure if the problems I had are the same as yours. The speakers I run are thiel analog speakers not the Meridian DSP speakers.

Problem 1: Used to loose signal only on pcm from a Cal Audio CL2500 DVD player. All chanels would loose the signal for about a secont ever couple of mimutes. This occured only when playing a CD and with the upsampled digital output from the cal unit. There was no problem from the non upsampled signal nor with Dolby Digital or DTS. I changed DVD players to a Theta Carmen II and the problem went away.

Problem II. Would get a loud poping sound when changing channels on the satelite or imputs with the 568.2. By chance when calibrating the speakers one day I set the calibration point at 70 db instead of the 75 db recommended in the manual. The poping sound went away. Again this occured in all channels not just one. I noticed when reading the threads one day the other members were doing this already and noticed the same results as I did. Hope this helps.

Doug

Hi Patrick,

How do you have your speakers set up? Are they analog? Set to small or large? Mono sub or Centre Sub or LFE?

Reason I'm asking is that on my 568.1, I have always had an occasional pop from the left or centre speaker on certain music DVD's (concert type not DVD-A's). After a lot of experimentation, I found that it only occurs when the speakers (analog) are set to small with mono sub. It does not happen when any other type setting is applied.

It annoys the hell out of me and I'm at a loss as to what could cause this. To be honest I'm close to giving up on Meridian -- far too buggy!

Regards,
Steve

Steve,

I've had a 568.1 and 568.2 set to all small analog and mono sub from day one. Never had any pops except for pops out of my Sat box but that wasn't the fault of the 568. I also run all my digital through a 518. Smartlink connection and my 568.2 I don't use a 518 but everything else goes though a 518.

I found that when speaker levels are set above zero in the calibration that you will get pops. I've owned a 568 since they first were released back in late 1999 early 2000. If any channels are above zero...drop all your channels by an even amount so that they are all below zero.

Ron

Ron,

I've had all my channels set to -3db since you first suggested it and noticed an audible improvement. However, it didn't cure the popping sound.

Steve,

I'm wondering if the 518 solves the problem although smartlink has been fine.

My old 568.1 was pretty stable...not needing reboots very often. My 568.2 with 2.5 firmware is rock solid for me. It never screws up although my 598 needs frequent reboots.

Interesting your having these problems.

Does anyone else have problems with a 568?

Ron

I just got a pair of DSP-33s and they were running fine. Then I upgraded and they were popping. Then I hard Reset them and the popping went away.

Check Cables
Check Levels
Check Firmware
Check everything is in a clean state (i.e. reset/type).

P.S. What's a 568.25?

George is right on the money! Reset/type! Especially when so many others don't have problems. It must be a bad install.

George I think 568.25 means 2.5 firmware.

Ron

Wow. What a fantastic response. Thanks everybody. I`ll take my laptop home and do a reinstall. I have a feeling that all my levels are set at 0 or less, following similar advice from Ron that it improved sound quality but will re-check anyway.
Just remind me - how do I do a reset/type on the 568 ?
I really have checked all the cables, plugs and other ancilliaries. Ive even tried some of the Nordost antistatic spray. None of the mains cables are running next to the signal cables.
Its an analogue system. A Meridian 559 driving B&W 804s and a 558.2 driving 4 x B&W SCM1s, plus a B&W nautilus 850 Sub.
Im certain that it is a 568 problem.

Addendum - steve c. I DO have the centre and surrounds all set to small as I understood that this gave the best balance. Should I not ?