Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems 511 S-Patch Box ???

Can somebody explain what exactly the Meridian 511 S-Patch box does and why it's necessary?

The 568 manual says you must have it if you run more than two DSP speakers. So if you have a pair of 5000s up front you're okay, but if you slot in a 5000C center channel you suddenly need the 511.

The 565 doesn't seem to have had this "feature".

Any data?

Thanks,
SAB

The 565 had the slave connections on the back. There is no room on the 568 for those 4 din plugs.

You can actually daisy chain all of the speakers if you don't want a 511.

Run normal comm from 568 to master speaker. run slave comm from master speaker to another speaker. Run from that speaker to yet another speaker.

Thanks sspears. I kinda guessed you could just run it all serial, but the language in the user guide is unequivocal (and apparently wrong!).

SAB

The reason they suggest the 511 is to keep the digital cable with the comms cable. It makes for a nice clean install. (since you have to run a digital cable you may as well run that comm with it.)

Is the 511 a passive device or does it require power?

The 511 is passive.
If you own a 861, then there is a 511-equivalent card (S00) that can be used. Still, if you want to do home-run wiring instead of daisy-chaining, it is helpful to have a 511.

You could make one yourself with half an hour and a soldering iron.


Simon

simon, i tried but couldn't find any way to plug the comms cables into the soldering iron. i did get the digital audio cables connected to the soldering iron, but then i burnt myself. the speakers ended up sounding "tinny" so i'm not sure this is a good solution.

;-)

sab