Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Meridian should have its own stores

Just wrote this all out in another thread and realized it probably deserves a thread of its own so here it is- Ill be deleting it in the other one- this was written in response to whether Meridian should have "elite" dealers. I say no....

hello from vacation land! took a quick look here. IMHO Meridian does not need to designate dealers as "elite" or not. They are too small and frankly, I doubt many would live up to this designation. IMHO Meridian has a real tough nut to crack in the name of B&O. B&O has retail stores and a high end name people know. Outside of we enthusiasts, many do not know Meridian. And they do not have a retail presence. The traditional Hi-Fi retail experience is basically dead to the general population. No one wants to be talked down to. IMHO Meridian needs something along the lines of an Apple store or B&O type store. Just like these companies, Meridian's gear is really meant to be a soup to nuts system and therefore they need to properly train and maintain staffing etc. This can only be done when you control the whole process. As retail is expensive it would make sense to me that Meridian find a partner whose products would compliment their products. Perhaps a high end furniture outlet or some other product that makes sense. Im sorry to say but I think Meridian is losing substantial business to B&O due to their lack of retail presence. One of my best friends just bought a whole B&O system when they could have gone Meridian because the local M dealer has a reputation for arragonace and the wife went into the B&O store and she loved the look and the friendly approach. "sure we can set it up- may we show you this horribly overpriced panasonic plasma with a nice case on it.." (Ok, I added that last part) but really, Meridian has the Faroudja name, which people outside enthusiasts don't know, and they have in wall stuff, projectors, could easily rebrand a plasma or lcd, and take on B&O. Additionally, sell some furniture to house the gear and also sit your tired rear end on and you have a winner IMHO.

Oh, and carrying costs to the manufacturer are probably less than for a typical hi-fi shop.

one suggestion for a retail partner that comes to mind is Ralph Lauren. You might laugh but they sell furniture and high end clothes and full room sets too and imagine if in their room displays they had a Meridian branded flat screen and then they had in walls in another room or the same room and at select locations they could have a full on M digital theater which is decorated by Ralph Lauren himself. M kicks in some $ and some equipment- give it a year to see how it works and if its not working youre out. No long term leases etc...

best regards,
Jerry

Jerry - I agree. The B&O store in San Francisco is something to behold (as is the Ralph Lauren Store on park Ave NY!!).

Meridian has dipped their toe into the waters of co-branding with Ferrari. Why not take it to the next step and put the equipment in the Ferrari show room. They could even offer an F80 to color match the Scaglietti you just bought :-)

violent agreement.

VERY expensive, of course....

doody.

I started a thread on this very subject in February ('Scope for Meridian Franchise?') -

http://www.meridianunplugged.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=000213;p=0

There is no reason why B&O should not have some competition in this space - I agree entirely. But as mentioned in the other thread, Meridian need to take system integration to the max. DSP speakers are just the beginning.

Park Avenue? Not in NY.

Kal

Oh no.

B&O spend all of their budget on promotion and little on RnD.

A plush show room is not what we want,
sensible prices for sensible gear.

Mark Levinson went the B&O route with Red Rose
Please not M.

Red Rose was an obscure name wasn't it? Didn't Levinson start it up after selling out to Harmon? I think he tried Cello as well. He was taking on the higher cost before building the brand, whereas Meridian has an established brand already. More importantly, he was still selling complex, non-integrated systems (the kind of stuff purchased by audiophiles/hobyists). Boutique stores like B&O sell the system first, and complexity is not at all perceived - simplicity and elegance are desired. It is a lifestyle system, and now they make excellent lifestyle speakers. Meridian would be starting with a great deal more traction than Cello/Red Rose.

Nearly ten years in on owning my (analogue) Meridian system I eventually saw the light on the superiority of DSP loudspeakers (after reading the white paper on the subject).

At the time, I asked Meridian why such fundemental information was not included in their prime sales brochure. The response was the kind of customers Meridian is aiming for don't want to concern themselves with the technical aspects that underpin their products (!).

On that basis, doesn't that make Meridian a (superior) lifestyle product too?

Meridian exists on 2 levels

Custom install, fit n forget.
Tweaky geeks agonising.

It is further divided by stereo
and HT.

Not sure B&Oists agonise.
Their speakers ,lifestyle or not, do
not compare with M's DSP.
Even the 10KW a side ones.

No flashy boutiques please
Perhaps more education of the great
unwashed public.

Certainly the crowds que at the shows
for a fulsome demo and now they have
a static display with sales types answering
questions in a friendly manner.

It is aspirational , but only within
the genre, more out reach and the magic
may be lost.

They are 30yrs old as a company
Good record for Hi End
The computer is king and M is in a very
good position to surf the Sunami.

That's a bit harsh. B&O developed their own Class D amplifier modules, whereas M bought in the ones they use for the G95.

Mark S

They do good driver research
but bought in the acoustic lens for
their top dog speaker with digi amps.

Those glossy shops and ads cost ...