Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems F80

Im with you guys who thinks this is an interesting concept for M to pursue. So whats the tie in with Ferrari? WIll this be available at M and Ferrari dealers? Btw- all the "not excited" kind of comments were exactly what the Apple fans were posting when the original iPod was announced. Not that this is likely to be the next iPod but take it from one of the guys writing that about the original iPod!

best regards,
Jerry

Bob mentioned "conection for i-pod dock".
Have you seen what people are using?
There are this tiny little plastic docking stations with speakers for i-pod. Apple have a product they call i-hifi witch should be a little better, but I can see a market niche for the F80 as a high end i-pod dock with radio fm/dab and a disc spinner.

I assumed Bob was talking about the Meridian iPod dock.

My conservatory has my old 506/541 combo, this takes up alot of space and the F80 would easily be a better sounding solution.

If you factor in the cost of land, the F80 makes even more sense.

It would certainly be noticed more!!!

You dont need other speakers.

It has a tiny remote but can be used with MSR+, this feature can be defeated if you have other Meridian kit in the room. Smart hey!

Weather its for you or not, this is a great sounding piece of kit. As you would expect.

Meridian have to notify the world of the 'Best kept secret in Hi-Fi'
What better way to touch the iPod generation?

Just add a matching idock.

Meridian have to look at the 'Whole picture' not just our own individual needs. That will come.

They are a small company and perhaps they are not perfect!! (Shock Horror).

Who is? ( I am close lol)

I think you will rarely find better Business integrity anywhere.

Cheers, Chris

Glad to see the F80 is one of the more sensible strategies for Meridian as I set out a few weeks ago........

Quote
STRATEGY

Where should they focus to get sales up whilst not spending a fortune?

- Is it selling upgrade cards for existing users (a limited market of lower value unit sales)?

- Is it going even higher end and selling fewer more expensive units (the 900 series)?

- Is it going down market and creating a cheap all in one media solution (HD based) with Meridian engine under the bonnet built in Taiwan (high volume low priced units)?

- Is it carry on doing what they are today? (Remember 2004 and 2005 were lossmaking)

I think the boys going to the Factory in February ought think hard about making some REALLY good suggestions for the business.

Andrew

Have M missed a golden egg or is there more to come? I`m sure most users of apple/squeezebox/HD music will agree that the facility of playing random tracks/albums has breathed new life into listening to old music. I had imagined the F80 to develop this listening style, and take a step ahead by being able to stream music from it's own CD/FM radio/DAB and also from a separate hard drive to other synchronised F80's and even our main systems.

A high quality yet simple, expandable multi-room system - unlike SB with speakers attached.

Perhaps I just don't understand the limitations of technology.

The F80 is apparently just the start.

Its clearly missing some functionality that existing Meridian owners would like to see. But I think there is more to come.

I would like to see:

Meridian comms - so it can be a one box second room zone plus also a be used as a controller when the rest of the kit is out of mind.

Mono mode. Linked with Meridian comms, this would allow the unit, in conjunction with a second unit to be used as a surround speaker. Compared with the cost of a 3100, it would be quite cost effective. Not sure if 80 watts is quite enough power.

A speaker only version. Same style, just without the radio and CD/DVD. Same reasons as above plus also to widen the sound state - not that it needs a great deal of improvement

Wireless/wired network input and built-in squeezebox type functionality. I guess we will see this in some form or other when Meridian consider themselves best in class.

But the F80 is an excellent start. I have just the corner for one...

Several comments based on the last page of posts. #3 is very worrying.

1) If this isn't sold at Ferrari dealerships worldwide, Meridian is missing a massive trick.

2) The reason for the iPod dock suddenly becomes clear.

3) I remain to be convinced that Bob Stuart (and therefore Meridian) has any personal interest in, or understands, streamed music. He is a very clever man and may have put on his poker face, but the vibes I picked up on Hitcher's day were definitely along the lines of "reverence of the physical CD", "non-availability of downloadable lossless audio", and "not remembering on which computer you downloaded your music too" (seriously). The whole point of streaming losslessly exact-ripped CDs and internet radio seemed to have been missed, as did the potential replacement - for many of us - of the CD player with streaming clients with high quality digital outputs.

I am not expecting a Meridian streaming solution any time soon.

Why no SPDIF input rather than just analogue and Toslink - I thought SPDIF was recognised as being more jitter free that toslink?

I agree that M comms would be useful, though not sure where I would plug it into as my sockets are already filled up with DSP speakers and a 2nd room system - we really need some kind of M comms hub (like the 511 but for 5C rather than 5M/S cables).

To my mind, the real killer is that it's a DVD player with no HDMI output. Possibly more to do with not undercutting the G9x players?

I'd be astonished to see M produce a music server today - when you can download Slimserver for nothing and run it on a NAS box that costs relatively little.

And while it would be neat to see Squeezebox functionality in an M product... how much are they again? A couple hundred bucks? How much could M charge for the capability?

Plug an SB3 digitally into an F80... cool!

VK,

Re: your #3

I was also following Bob's responses quite closely on the day w.r.t. the streaming question.

Maybe I'm just being optimistic, but the politician's answer we got, i.e. the answer didn't match the question asked, was more to do with M's policy of not discussing future products. I think Bob chose his answers very carefully on that one and for that reason. Anything else would have been a clear indication of a Meridian streamer in the pipeline.

If I am wrong and there really is no intention of making such a device, then I'll a) be very dissapointed, b) I'll really think that M will have missed a trick....with far greater potential than the F80.

Given the F80 and the potential for other 'interesting devices', and M's expertise in digital audio, this would be a quick win for M....surely ?

Finally, can you really take Bob's comments about silver discs literally ? If that were the case, why on earth would the 880 have ever hit the drawing board ? And that was way, way, way before server music was a twinkle in most hi-fi geeks eyes.

"Are they stupid?"...I don't think so.

IMO...it was poker. Watch this space I say...