Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion HiFi & HT Chat Trinnov Altitude CI

Thanks Bruce.

Trivial question regarding the Front Power Button on the Meridian 271 :-

White = powered on & active
Blue = standby
Red = ?

Do people generally connect the 12V trigger to a Trinnov (for standby on / off) and does it work well ?

I power my 271 on with IP commands and then use the trigger out of the 271 to power on the Trinnov. This has worked much more reliably in my system as at the time the wake on lan commands for the Trinnov didn't seem to be as reliable if the Trinnov had not been powered on for some time.

A red led on the power button for a digital input setup means the 271 is not receiving a valid signal.

An interesting quirk that I've noticed - and that I think I've seen written elsewhere - is that even after pressing 'store settings' and power-cycling the 271 with the front button, the settings don't seem to be communicated onwards to SpeakerLink attached devices (i.e. DSP speakers).
The 271 seems to need a complete power-off cycle (rear power button or disconnect power plug) for any changes to have an actual effect.

The other thing I noticed / learned is not to forget the channel numbering - I don't have a sub (currently) as I've always let my front 3 speakers take care of Bass duties - so channel 4 is 'missing' in any config (the Centre is #3) and the SL / SR are #5/6...

@spinaltap. Have collected your Trinnov yet?

Yes, but it remains stored in its box until Trinnov releases finalised post-beta software.

Van Damme produces Black, Blue, and Green DB25 to DB25 Cables.

I'm aware that Blue is analogue, and Green is digital, but I'm uncertain on if the complimentary Black variant that I've been given is analogue or digital (?).

The Van Damme Digi-Tour multicore digital 110 Ohm cable has the same electrical characteristics as their green AES cable.

For use between a Trinnov Altitude CI and a Meridian 271, you want the the digital cable wired to the Tascam Analogue straight through standard. Most off-the-shelf DB25 to DB25 digital cables will be wired to the Tascam digital standard where the pairs are wired in a corssover to allow for 8 channels in and 8 channels out as opposed to 16 channels out which is what is wanted for Altitude CI -> 271.
I had a black Digi-Tour cable made up as above and it works as it should, cable is marked 'Vandamme 268-418-000 DIGI GRADE AES EBU 110 OHM PRE-JACKETED 8 PAIR MULTICORE ANTI-KINK CORETECH'

So if your Van Damme cable is as above, it will be a digital cable and you just need to confirm to which standard it has been wired.

John

Mine is labelled the same as yours.

My remaining question is what is the technical difference, if any, between the Black and Green ‘digital’ cables?

Just the outer casing material / colour - if you look at the Van Damme website they explain why they added the black colour cable as it is more suited to certain markets than the green colour.

That is rather frustrating I am sure.

This is even more frustrating!...

When saving the pennies for my AltitudeCI I also made provision for buying KEF Ci200RR-THX in-ceiling loudspeakers.

My detached home is brick n' block constructed with a 7cm wide beamed ceiling in my lounge. It was completely redecorated two years ago. On watching this installation video for in-ceiling speakers without having to lift the upstairs floor panels, I felt assured by my dealer's advice that they would drill/run the cables through the outer brick wall, run the cables via external conduit to ground floor level, and in through the wall to where my Meridian 258 would reside.

I bought a Bosch Inspection Camera to determine which way the ceiling joists ran, and a separate Bosch Stud Detector to determine the space between joists. My beamed ceiling runs across the width of my lounge, and, as the Stud Detector revealed, the joists run the length of my lounge.

Post purchase of the AltitudeCI, and once they had learned about the direction of the ceiling joists, my dealer bailed on installing in-ceiling speakers, as they would be unable to drill through the final ceiling joist/outer brick wall.

Before you suggest it, I don't want to run unsightly trunking down the internal wall.

The dealer's current suggestion is to mount satellite speakers under the ceiling beams, run the necessary cables hidden behind the beam/s, and then drill through the brick wall. Their other solution was to just use it as a 5.1 system (!).

I subsequently investigated possible options by Focal, B&W, Epsilon, and Cabasse. The least worst option is to install Gallo A’Diva SE speakers aimed at the MLP via Gallo's 4cm wide pivotal wall mount. I used ChatGPT to illustrate the reality on how they would look in situ, and, while they look acceptable, it's at best a sub-optimal alternative to discretely installed in-ceiling speakers.

I've spoken to Gallo for their advice: while the A'Diva SE is not a suitable full-range speaker for the Meridian 258 in 'stereo configuration' A'Diva SE is more than suitable as an Atmos speaker.

I am a tad irritated at having purchased arguably the best AVP on the planet that I'm not able to find someone with the skills/abilities/tools to install in-ceiling speakers in my particular home. If found, that dealer will get my business for 4 x Atmos speakers, even if they aren't by KEF.

Feel for you Spinal.
I know you are on AVForums, have you contacted any of the chaps there like cinemahome or seriouslycinema to help with any possible solutions.?