Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Meridian at CEDIA

A white paper at CEPro.com lists new products being shown at CEDIA. The only product listed for Meridian is the new 7200 series speaker. I wonder if the solution for HDMI connection to the G68 processors will be delayed again?

Ron

You really didn't expect them to pre-announce their new offerings did you?

HERE is the release.

I really did not view this as a pre-release since we are this close to the beginning of CEDIA. From a marketing standpoint it would seem the earlier information is provided to potential customers for a product that is going to be released the better. Any way I guess we will know for sure in the next couple of weeks. I believe the new Classe SSP-800 will handle HDMI when it is released later this year. This may be an option for me if if Meridian continues to delay their HDMI solution.

Ron

Meridian normally issue a separate press release for each new product. This one is specific to the 7200. So there is room for other press releases to follow, possibly under embargo until the day of the show as has happened on previous years.

Classe too, eh? The list of competition gearing up to roll out their HDMI/TrueHD/DTS Master Audio offerings is certainly growing now as Theta`s upgrade for the Casablanca 3 seems to have been revealed, and Krell`s EVO707 monster is on the verge of shipping (with upgrade options for the S-1000 forthcoming I think?). Cary have their revised Cinema 11 as well which was originally going to be an external box linked to their Cinema 11 via their proprietary digital link but they abandoned that and the revised unit does everything internally. I'm sure there are others...

This CEDIA is Meridian's last chance IMO. If nothing is announced it will surely hit their core business and I, for one, will source a 3rd party HDMI-to-SPDIF solution; any remaining loyalty to Meridian will vanish if it can't deliver.

On a positive note though, there have been enough rumours (leaks?) to suggest that our magic box will - finally - be revealed. If so, I hope the lead time to availability is short.

It still actually concerns me just how an external box might be perceived by the press, retailers and potential new customers when the competition are going to be offering less cumbersome/space saving internal solutions (some which just accept LPCM, but most accepting both LPCM and doing internal decoding of DD+, TrueHD and DTS HD MA bitsteam signals). I`m not sure how many will take to being told "well, if you buy this, you`ll need to buy this other box as well” to be honest, and it'd be a shame if it ends up putting potential customers off choosing Meridian components (I hate not even being able to recommend Meridian products to anyone at the moment as we await the conclusion of this transition period with HDMI...etc). It`s interesting Cary abandoned the external box solution for whatever reason.

I suppose price of a Meridian box would have a lot to do with whether it is easily embraced or not should it be limited in some ways (in perhaps only accepting LPCM and possibly not even being able to handle 7.1). As a 568.2 owner keen to move on to a G68 or 861 the direction Meridian take with HDMI and the new codecs will really dictate whether I do or not. I'm certainly intrigued to see what CEDIA might bring.

I agree and, as I've pointed out before, even if it comes in at a "reasonable" price, it will raise the price point for all Meridian processors for a feature(s) that is regarded by many as a check-box item.

Says the man that wanted a G62

Personally, *I* would prefer a G-series HDMI to MHR conversion box with Meridian proprietry bitstream decoding inside for HD and vanilla DD/DTS bitstreams. I think it's an elegant solution as *I* like the idea of the G68 as a PCM processor.

But the second box *is* problematic from a business perspective. Hence I reckon that the "magic box", assuming it does arrive, will be very minimal: six channel support only, without bitstream decoding, and with HDMI switching and splitting; hopefully a six channel MHR input as well. The long term solution will have to involve HDMI input cards in the processors as I'm sure that that's what the market expects. Meridian has been know to go its own way though.

Just wanted to add my 2c.

It is my understanding that the external box will do decoding of the HiDef formats and will pass on to G68 via the MHR link. This should allow them to maintain HDMI compliance.

As to the cost anything is possible ... they are still saying the G98 is great player. Not sure when and if they will have a BD player yet. I agree with the prior poster .. no way paying $4k for a spinner. Not with the current options in the market. We are going to convergence .. like it or note .. we will be there.

My questions to you folks:
1. Can M produce a decoding option for a fair price?
2. Since I have one of the first G68s, can they support the new formats?
is there enough processing power for decoding the codecs?
3. If yes ... can they provide the codecs through firmware update?

Thanks in advance.