Hi DJones

There is something very wrong going on here. I owned 6000s for 2.5 years, and although my room was smaller, I can't imagine them running out of steam. I couldn't ever get the volume above 75 with any CD, nor 80 with a DTS DVD soundtrack without seriously hurting my ears, and I could only endure that for a few minutes.

Over the years on this forum, I've rarely heard of home visits in the US by Meridian staff (not to say that they don't happen), but I'm most surprised to hear that you had two Meridian techs, and a total of four guys coming round to assess your problem, all the more so over a set of upgrades to used gear. The suggestion that an upgrade to DSP7000s might cure the problem seems puzzling. The spec sheets would suggest that DSP7000s won't manage any more volume than 6000s, and if you are already way off beam in what the 6000s can achieve, I doubt that the 7000s will do much better (assuming 6000s working properly. The 6ks are rated as max >114dB spl @ 1m, and the 7ks at max >112dB spl @ 1m).

Your Denon is quoted at 170w per channel. The 6000s are 4x75W per channel so there's no real discrepancy in volume to be expected there. The 6000s should have protection circuitry which shuts them down if they are being over driven, so there ought to be no problem with distorted sound. If the speakers are overheating so obviously to the touch, it suggests that there are circuit faults of some kind. I find it odd that the suggested solution to a piece of equipment suspected of having a fault should be to upgrade it, and indeed to buy more kit. I may be wrong, but I think DSP speaker boards go back to Meridian for 96/24 upgrade. Did all three of the speaker rear panels go back to Atlanta, or has the local dealer swapped out the boards at his premises? Were you given official Meridian certificates of authenticity for the upgrade work?

I'd recommend that you speak directly to the guys at Meridian Atlanta, and do a serial number check for the 96/24 upgrades which were done. I'd also ask what their tech guys (who visited you) made of the situation. My over riding feeling here is that there are questions to be asked about the dealer support which you are receiving, but do let us know how you get on after calling Meridian directly.

Cheers

George