Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Best partner for dsp8000 ?

I just burgh a pair of dsp8000 and dumped 1000 kg. of high-end equipment, cables and + 10 liters of “snake-oil”. The best thing is that I have stopped reading/buying hi-fi magazines and looking back on the many articles and reviews I have read over the years I now think that a high number of the reviewers must be on drugs or more understandable; commission!

I am running the D8Ks with a relatively inexpensive Pioneer DVD-player. I am very happy with the sound, far better than what I had before. My Meridian dealer suggested that a “better” CD/DVD drive would result in an even better sound-quality. I have now become very skeptical to any hi-fi woo do. Please share some of yours experience with CD-drives for the DSP-speakers? Can the difference between a $ 200 Pioneer and a $12000 Meridian 808 be justified? A secondhand Meridian CD-player ? but is it n better than say a new Pioneer DVD!?

Greetings from Norway

Congratulations on your decision and purchase, and welcome to the board! Only your ears will be able to measure the value-for-money of the differences between your Pioneer and the 808.

I would recommend a two step process. Look for a second hand 596/508/G08/G98 player. This is a not-too-expensive route where you can test if there's a worthwhile improvement for you.

If so, then have your dealer loan you an 808 for testing.

Also if you can try and test a network solution like Squeezebox, Sonos etc. This is clearly the future of digital media and you may feel it's a better investment.

Regards

Mark

For second hand, I would slightly alter that list and pick a Meridian player that has FIFO buffering of data read off the disc. If you are only interested in CD then a 588, 596 or G08 would do. For DVD-A, pick one from 598, G91 or G98.

The cost of a 596 is tiny compared to the performance.

Congrats on the purchase.

MarkH & VK offer the best advice above. FWIW - I use 8k's also with a Squeezebox+ and am very pleased with the result. I haven't played a CD is a very long time.

Only your ears (and bank balance) will really be able to decide what is 'worth' using.

I have a G91 driving a Meridian 5.1 system. There is a huge difference between the G91 and various Sony/Pioneer DVD players that I've tried. I almost stopped listening before investing in the G91 and now it's on all the time. I recall the analog days when Linn were saying it's all in the front end. Certainly true in my experience. Good luck from JimK

In terms of “Bang for your Buck”, I would try the following Steps in order.

(You mention your “Meridian Dealer”, so my guess is that you have bought a new pair of D8k`s from him locally. For that reason, he should be more than happy to LEND you the equipment mentioned below so that you can listen yourself in YOUR OWN ROOM and with YOUR OWN EARS. I think you should aim to get the Loan equipment for a Long Weekend or even longer, as listening for just a few hours is not enough (IMHO) Any Dealer should allow you to do this, never mind one that you have already spent some serious money with)

You should select 5-10 of your favourite Tracks (i.e. ones you know very well) from different musical genres (e.g. Rock, Folk, Female Vocals, Classical, Opera etc) and listen to them with the various equipment mentioned below IN the the loop and then OUT of the loop. (For what it`s worth, I always find the biggest difference in going Back rather than in moving up, e.g. put in a Centre speaker and then take it back out again, (easily done in Processor DSP Settings))


STEP 1
Install a Meridian G68 / 861 Processor between your Player and the D8k`s. At a minimum, this will give you Meridian Room Correction (MRC) which, depending on how “ideal” your room already is, might make No difference or even a significant difference. In any case, it is worth exploring in your room

Either of the G68 / 861 will give you many Meridian Presets to try and I would strongly recommend that you try Meridian Trifield mode for CD replay, using 3 speakers (see Step 2) across the front (no rear speakers necessary at this stage)


STEP 2
Insert a VERTICAL Meridian Speaker as a Centre speaker between the D8k`s. This will allow you to try Trifield for CD and DVD-A replay. There will be many proponents of Trifield on this Forum, but you should try for yourself to see what you think in your room

In descending order, the single speaker to try in the Centre would be as follows, in decending order

DSP8000: Obvious, given that it`s the exact same speaker as your front L-R and as it is undoubtedly Meridian`s best sounding speaker. The biggest reason is that its Tweeter height is that same as the front pair, a much desired feature when using Trifield

DSP7200 / 7000: As the 7200 is new, you will not be able to try but the Dealer may have a 7000 that he can loan. If you like it, be aware that the 7200 will sound even better when it becomes available

DSP5200: This will be the most likely option that the Dealer will have available to loan. It`s a superb sounding speaker and a good voice match for the D8k`s, even if the Tweeter height would be a good bit lower. It will still give you a good idea of the possibilities of Trifield. If you wanted to push the boat out, the you could try mounting the D5200 on something solid to raise its Tweeter height closer to the D8k

(Obviously, I`m not factoring in any “AV Screen Height” issues when suggesting a Vertical Centre speaker for Music, but it sounds like you are coming from a 2-Channel Analog Music system anyway, so this may not be an issue)


STEP 3
After trying Steps 1 and 2 above, try a Meridian CD / DVD Player in the loop to compare with the Pioneer. Again your ears in your room will be the deciding factor.

One thing I couldn`t recommend highly enough though would be to purchase some DVD-A`s off the Internet before you try any of the above Steps. The 2-Channel 24bit / 96KHz mixes on many of these DVD-A`s is worth trying, (either in Direct 2-Channel or Trifield) There are also quite a few Music DVD-V`s out there with 2-Channel 96/24 mixes on them and again, these are worth hearing on your D8k`s

Make sure that your Dealer gives you a Player that will allow you to try DVD-A`s and DVD-V`s into your D8k`s. These would include 598, G91, G98, 800 DVD, 808 CD.

Good hunting and good listening with your new D8k`s

First of all thanks for all the response, this is a very good forum. I never thought of the G68 but getting to think about it this is properly the best route to take. The dealer borrowed med a Meridian 500 transport yesterday. Tested it last night. This is not a good solution as my new and inexpensive Pioneer DVD sounds just as good is doing a much better job reading my “problem” CDs. I now plan to test out the G68.

I have now tested the G91A (Dealer loan)A very nice combi and it realy works with my D8k. I am just vundring if there will be a G92 soon ? If so I will wait in order to have the latst in HD, HD-sur. etc.

Several huge hard drives (500GB costs about $100 these days), dedicated music network (Sonos recommended, as it creates its own "tunnel" and is not dependent on working PCs), DSPs. CD is not for playing, only for ripping to FLAC, Apple Lossless, WAVE or AIFF!
I have found that DVDA is not really worth it. Sounds a bit more dynamic, but the real drama is in the totally different mix. Often prefer the original. Pristine, untouched masters is difficult to get in hi-rez. 16/44.1 seem to be the gold standard. Unproblematic and user friendly.

I like RHurely's recommendations.

But these are my recommended adjustments.

1) I'd go for 2 rear 5200's before going with the center for Trifield (and other formats). Or if you can swing it do center and rears. Match the front 3 speakers as close as you can afford and cosmetically fit. I would do less than a 5200 for a center. You could get away with even less for rears depending on room size.

2) I agree try some HiRes recordings. But you don't need a DVD-A player to enjoy HiRes. A SlimDevices Transport will do 24/96, it's the only source you'll need for music. A cheapo SlimDevices SqueezeBox 3 can do 24/48 and gets pretty damn close to what the Transport can do.

I also like RHurleys suggestions. The most important thing you can do is get the processor.

best regards,
Jerry

Why is every one so keen on me getting a processor? All I am interested in is 2-ch. (musik)CD playback! DVD-audio or SACD are not available here in Norway(where are they?)
Is it because of the 96/24 signal to the D8K ?