Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems New Meridian / Alfred Dunhill AD88

Outside the UK, Dunhill is a luxury brand.

[Alfred] Dunhill is part of [Richemont] group that is part of the consortium who own [a minority share holding in] Meridian.

Interesting, but, it doesn't sit well with me. I really dislike smoking and the linking of my favourite hi-fi brand to a cigarette brand is naff. It diminishes the M brand rather than building it in my eyes.

As for luxury brand..LOL..luxury cancer anyone ?

I suspect that one of M's new ��$$$ backers is somehow involved with Dunhill.

Maybe it will be a good avenue for M w.r.t. marketing...who knows. I'm sure they've done the research to back it up.

Aesthetics ? If they had unveiled that last year instead of the F80, I'd probably have liked it. The F80 is so radical yet retro to look at it's hard to beat. This one is more 'high-street boom box' retro. The top reminds me of the 5500 top. At least it might look better than the Zeppelin.

Sound? That'll be interesting. There's a premium here but I doubt it's for SQ. I expect the engine room shares an aweful lot with the F80...and why not exploit that I guess.

Agreed, but I'm not sure whether Dunhill cancer-sticks are big outside of the UK. It's all sales of ties, watches, suits and pens...

The Richmont Group (= part of Muse) owns the Dunhill brand.

One of the sick (IMO) aspects of luxury brands is that you're not necessarily paying for product excellence. You are paying for exclusivity which, obviously, doesn't come cheap.

Another "tax on stupidity"?

Mark S

In many cases, absolutely. WRT the AD88, probably not, though whether it merits a �500 hike on product features and quality alone is up for discussion.

FWIW on the Wot Hifi page that Tuscan provided the link to, there's now a comment from M.

Mark S

Are they already trying to pre-empt criticism of bling, vulgarity and smoking?

The Pic on the F80 is great on a 32"LCD and I reckon thats as big a screen as they had in mind at development.

The more I use it, the better it gets. I dont think it will get or ever needs HDMI. Who really knows, things can always be better.

Cheers, Chris

The new smooth, taste of Dunhill - now with apodising filters for greater satisfaction.

My mother died from Cancer when I was 9 - which had a profoundly negative effect on my early years. Two Uncle's, and more recently, my Cousin, have also died from Cancer.

So, from my perspective, for Meridian to partner themselves with a peddler of death is totally reprehensible (no matter how Meridian may wish to spin it).

Subsequently, I don't think that I will be buying any more Meridian products.

I'm sorry to hear that and understand your position completely. Unfortunately, most people won't care about the association or hold opinions strong enough to act on them. I wonder if Meridian even considered that partnering with Dunhill might have negative connotations?

As I said before though, I'm not sure how much Dunhill is a tobacco brand outside of the UK. Perhaps others can chip in here?