Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems DSP8000 Audition

The 8ks are expensive depending on the view.

1) From a system point of view they are cheap, as a complete Meridian system offers benefits simply not available in other systems. You get their own developed technologies making it possible to get high resolution signals from the source digitally up to the speaker before D/A.

2) Besides that they are are horrible expensive. Without the DSP you get primarily a 3 (or was it 4 way) active speaker (I think it was 3 way, right, a 2 way main unit and a 6 driver bass stand unit). The 8K cost here in Germany around 100.000.-DM list price. Not looking at the DSP or the "integral Meridian benefits" I get equal performance for 1/4th the price, leaving me 3/4 to get a good DSP x-over offered also as an option by other manufacturers that are offering active systems, and of course a nice new car.

It all depends on your view, although I really like the 8Ks I'm just too tight to my current sized wallet and would rather think "rational" if I would have that cash in my hands for the very first time.

The "comparisons thing" is truly subjective. With a friend I discovered very quickly that the human brain is forgetting very fast. You listen to 2 songs on the 2nd pair of speakers and struggle to tell the difference to the first speakers, due to the setup "time fence". You unplug, bring back the others, think "oh, I hear a difference", listen again to 2 more songs and find again that you get used to what you hear.

In our case it was so very difficult because we compared 2 pairs of very neutral studio monitors. In case of ths 8Ks and the B+Ws you are right. One will hear the differences better. I forgot that my active monitors slayed my former passive speaker as well, yes, without a doubt in a short time.

Cheers,
Andreas

[This message has been edited by Andreas (edited 11-27-2001).]