"(1) it's not like you MUST upgrade. the system won't sound worse than it did if you choose not to upgrade."

You're quite right. You don't have to upgrade anything. You can keep your 561 or 565 and your 18-bit or upgraded 20-bit speakers. However, if you do upgrade to a 568, you need to upgrade your Meridian DSP speakers to 24-bit capability to take advantage of the 96kHz/24-bit processing and upsampling features of the 568. If you upgrade to a 568 without upgrading your DSP speakers, you will not derive the primary benefits of the 568, in which case why upgrade?

"(2) if you had to upgrade a high-quality outboard DAC that of course wouldn't be free."

If you already have analog amplifiers and speakers and upgrade to a 568, it has 96kHz/24-bit DACs built in, so no further purchase is necessary. The 568 is a brilliant piece of audio equipment. Perhaps there ought to be a 568A and a 568D. The 568A would contain the internal DACs for those using analog amplifiers and speakers; the 568D could omit them at some cost savings which could be applied toward upgrading your DSP speakers.

"(3) IME, you can usually work with your dealer to get a better price on the upgrades than MSRP."

My understanding is that many dealers will upgrade at cost. My further understanding is that there is not much mark-up on upgrades. However, having never upgraded (other that EEPROM upgrades) any of my eight Meridian components, I'll let others who have share their experience. I hope the discounts are significant as I would like to upgrade my 506.18 to a 506.24. If someone knows what the mark-up is, I would be especially interested so I'll be in the best position to negotiate with my dealer.

Please understand, I am not Meridian bashing; I am merely pointing out that integrating the DACs in the speakers has significant economic consequences when upgrading. If in doubt of my intentions, read the first post where I go ga-ga over Meridian stuff.

Cheers.

[This message has been edited by Frank (edited 07-16-2001).]

561, DSP5500s, DSP5000C, analog sides and rears