Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems 808 vs 808.2

Oh all the electronics, thermal de-stressing of the casing, all the "wires" inside but mostly it's training the little Meridian pixies who collect and transfer the bits with perfect timing to remove all that jitter.



Chris

I find marinating in snake oil far more effective than burning in.

Mark S

Burn-in / Break in periode? audio components need break-in, exactly like cars!

This is taken from this site:
http://www.odysseyaudio.com/setup_tweak.html

"Even though most high-end audio equipment such as Meridian products have been burned-in at the factory for a minimum of 48 hours, there is still considerable operational time needed for your unit to perform at its best. For enhanced sonic performance, it`s recommend you leave your unit on at all times until break-in is complete. The length of the break-in period is highly variable and dependent upon the specific product. There are specially-designed CDs, such as Reference Recording's Test and Burn-In CD's that contain special tracks that help with break-in. As a general rule, most equipment requires several hundred hours of playing to fully break-in. There are several factors that determine the extensive length of "break-in", such as charging of capacitors, establishing the electron flow on the PC board, cables, soldering joints, etc. External conditions, such as the power quality and stability of your power in your listening room, the kind of music you are listening to (more or less dynamics), and many more factors will contribute to the break-in process. It is important to note, that the more a given electronic unit has been played, the smaller the audible differences get.
Within the break-in process, we distinguish four distinct phases of performance:
First Period: After turning on your amplifier or preamplifier for the first time, the units will require a few minutes to stabilize. The sound will be rather harsh on the higher frequencies, and the dynamic range is rather restricted with a flat overall presentation. This sonic signature will always be apparent when you turn on "cold" components.
Second Period: This stage will be reached after approximately 1-2 hours of playing time and lasts about 3-4 days. This stage is all about the charging of the power supply, and during this time, the dynamics, soundstaging, focus, and transients will improve noticeably. Essentially, your unit will start "opening up and relaxing." However, please also note that the amplifiers do a "Jeckyl and Hyde" during this time to some degree. Meaning that one day you might not have any bass whatsoever while the next day you might have too much of it, for example. Overall, the presentation might be very unstabile.
Third Period: After approximately 10-14 days of playing and being charged, the upper midrange and highs will "smoothen out". The bass will improve in speed and articulation with less overhang. The result is more even and natural tone balance.
Fourth Period: After about 6 weeks + of operation when left on continuously, your unit should be very close to being fully broken in. The sound and performance has progressively improved and your unit will perform to it's full sonic potential.
Even after the initial break-in period, the internal components lose their charge each time the unit is turned off. The full re-charging can take hours (and sometimes days!). Therefore, the best sonic performance is achieved when the components are kept fully charged at all times. This essentially means leaving your equipment on at all times--if you are comfortable with that arrangement. If not, at least be aware that it will take some time for your unit to warm up and fully charge each time you power up. These charged-based performance issues are applicable to most electronic equipment, and are especially critical in high-end solid-state gear such as Odyssey amplifiers and preamplifiers.
To realize ultimate performance of your audio system, fine-tuned adjustments or "tweaking" should be considered. This can involve everything from simply setting up the equipment properly to using expensive system-enhancing products and acoustical room treatments. We will attempt to categorize by cost the various options and provide some basic advice on optimizing system performance


PerS

I believe things that physically move (voice-coils, speaker cones, disc drives) will run in - like a car engine or motorcycle suspension.

I believe things have an optimum operating temperature window. This is achieved some time after switch on.

I believe components age and go out of specification. Occasionally out-of-spec components may change to being in-spec - but that is luck not design.

I believe that voltage drops at changes betwen metal types can create oxidation and change the electrical behaviour of a connection. Sometimes that is audible.

I believe that one gets psycho-acoustically more accustomed to the sound of a system over time.

I would never express my beliefs in the way that web-site does.

Coming back to the issue of changed drives, we still do not know why G series has changed to slot loading with a claimed improvement but the new 808.2 has not.

Perhaps M asked themselves whether anyone would pony up GBP7000 for a CD player with a slot loading mechanism.

Mark S

Have auditioned the 808.2 at home, and will again. Concur on the lack of slot loading, but I was very unimpressed by the wobbly plastic tray that came out for me to insert the disc on! I have had over a dozen CD players and this was the lowest quality tray I have ever seen!

Perhaps it doesn't matter, once it is in the player (it may be dropped onto a sturdy spinner, and perhaps this is the change....so that the insertion tray is irrelevant, as opposed to being part of the spinner??). Other high-end CD players have sturdy insertion trays, usually aluminum alloy.

Sound seemed to be less harsh (smoother) at the upper end than the 808, but I had different speakers and electronics so I cannot compare the two. The mid-bass was stunningly rich and authoritative. I used very high quality balanced interconnects and speaker cables as well as electronics and 4-way speakers that fully integrate the drivers.

I was listening analog direct to the amps, bypassing the 861, hence 2-channel only with no sub.

Enjoyed what I heard, but I did not have too long to settle in before the unit had to be returned to the dealer. Have also listened to the unit at the dealer showroom and it was flawless, but the CD's are usually of the very best recordings, so I intentionally varied the CD quality while at home.

Perception of quality at this price point is very important and helps to build brand value. If you think that the loader looks well engineered then your expectation will be that the unseen parts are also of top quality. IMO this is a mistake by the engineers who should take note of marketing input on this. (I say this as an engineer.)

I agree with you, and my (irrational) dislike of the flimsy plastic tray is one reason that I've stayed with the "clunking fist" disc carrier in the 500 transport. But to play Devil's advocate, there is a certain elegance in the flimsy tray, in that it does what it is required to do, in a cost effective manner.

Mark S

Meridian has been using Computer ROM drives for eons. You're paying for the processing not aluminum like with many other high end brands. They hold up reasonably well, they are easy to replace and Meridian has been good about replacing them even when out of warranty if you have an issue.

Something I did not realise that M discs are read many times and are effectivly streamed rather than a single read. Presumably this is a key part of error correction and jitter.

Yes, the disc is spun quicker to allow multiple reads. But its more like 2x rather than 52x read, so the disc is not spinning at a high rate causing stress on the mechanism and causing excess noise.