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

Oh Please... Nothing against u Ian but If M really states buy for now that's utter hogwash!!! We're discussing how to get features that are years overdue for M products we own ($$$$$) that are not suppose to run obsolete because of firmware and expansion capability

From a company who gives you the 861, .1,.2, v1, v2,v3,v4 and firmware upgrades. The rhetoric doesn`t match the business model.


Buying into Meridians philosophy and approach is anything but "buy for now" It might be different if it were an appliance or a throw-away.

1) The price of entry alone does not support that statement.

2) M's products are designed to keep pace with moving technology (861 card approach, firmware etc.).


Many other corp. models in the same markets and others outside of M's world are smart to follow the same approach. One can respect certain business policies but when your policies get in the way or model follows 1 & 2 above you are doomed to fail if you don't partner and keep your clients apprised of product roadmap, features, cost as they have to make decisions too, (budget & discretionary income needed, will I spec M gear into my new home or theater, will I tell a friend or am I stuck) it feels more like a unilateral partnership. The only way this model works (no comm. with public) if you`re not going to share openly your product road map is to be the leader in the field (buys you some time) and always be out in front of the competition with introduction of products & upgrades. Problem is once you fall behind you do nothing but frustrate your installed base, constrict future sales, and lose market share to competitors

What`s the old saying, it`s much less costly to keep existing customers then to secure new or regain the old ones that have left you.

Alternately M may think they don't have any real competitors in which case the rules don't apply to them at which time it conveys a sense of arrogance, ignoring your customers for prolonged periods of time seems to be a foolhardy and doesn't benefit either themselves, their customers and-or potential addressable market.


Listen, we can appreciate the need for strict confidentially but at what expense?


"As Meridian keep saying. Buy for now, not for what may be the future."


These are just words and aren`t applicable!


I have 500`s, G and 861 series, what am I suppose to do now or next?

Yes, the lack of communication is Meridian's biggest problem. They make great products but do not explain their full potential well enough to the outside world. The 808.2 is shipped with a 808.1 handbook! The website remains a disaster despite repeated promises to overhaul and update it. If a leading digital company do not know how to use the net they should close their site down! [sorry about all the !!]

SACD is not so dead if you listen to classical. It now seems to be the main format for European independent companies (I do not know about elsewhere). Meridian originally said, many years ago, that they would support it if it proved popular but I suppose were hamstrung by DVD-A.

Kal did a nice article for day 4 of Cedia...shows a number of high end processors...Levinson, Sim,BK, Bryston, Classe, Anthem ...no mention of Meridian's effort. That silence speaks volumes. True that not all will ship now but at least they had units at the show with some mention of shipping time tables.

Can you provide a counter argument to my point of view that the 861 with extraneous A/D and D/A cycles sounds better than the $500 receiver?

You don't like the way I responded to hikejohn, that's your prerogative -- I'm not a customer service specialist, nor do I claim to be one.

C'mon. You are overinterpreting. Silence (by definition) is saying nothing.

Kal

Only one is shipping now, the B&K Ref 70.

Anthem: Anticipated October.

All others, at least CES.

This is very true, and being primarily a classical music listener, I've accumulated a couple hundred SACDs without even particularly prioritizing the format. BIS, Ondine, Harmonia Mundi, Channel Classics, etc. are releasing much of their interesting content on dual-layer SACD - and those labels account for much of the interesting Classical content released these days, period.

I think that M will have a solution. This may take a bit longer not an issue to me. I want a good stable solution that will take care of my audio needs. I understand that everyone wants to move the latest ASAP, but we all would have taken M to task if they had come-up with a half backed solution and that had a series of upgrades and compatibility issues.

For BD solution now, we can always have SFogg mod us all a player of decent quality and move on from there. I am sure there are a lot of expert users (please note, I am not one of them) who can live with a patch solution for the next 6mths and still enjoy the BD collection and the advanced codecs.

I hope people buy M gear for excellent audio, upgrade path (not having to buy a new processor every time a new feature is introduced) and good service. We should all try calling Sony, Samsung, et. al. and experience their service and we will stop complaining about M :-)

We just now are seeing the most stable and complete BD player in the market. IMHO expecting M to be in the lead in a highly changing and evolving market is not reasonable.

As to the lack of M communication on the roadmap ... I am dumb founded. I am really surprised not to see a single official press release. While it is understandable, not wanting to talk till M has a product, at least tell us a little :-)

I work in a high-tech environment, for a fortune 50 company and I would submit M's product development is not bad. High quality with minimal hassle for the user.

Ok .. my last rant will hold my peace.

So, we come back to the criticism, not that Meridan don't have a roadmap, but that they are reluctant to discuss it publicly. But this is a double-edged sword: no annoucements makes users nervous; announcements set-up the likelyhood of missing timescales and changing functionality which makes users unhappy! Not sure which is best, probably some middle ground, but Meridan have decided that less is better until a product is finalized.

Sure, I am a little dissapointed there was no formal HDMI annoucement at CEDIA, but I think it is now pretty clear this product is coming and while there will always be some who will quibble with functionality, most of us I suspect will be happy.

If Meridian competition actually get their HDMI solutions out to market and ther is still no response form Meridian, then we will have basis for compliant, but until then I am personally satisfied.

All i want to know is should I buy an G68 or a 861 now? I would prefer to save a bit and buy a G68 but only if it will be able to accept 4x SPDIF after an upgrade, If not i'll get the 861. And I need to know very soon. They have a solution and thats confirmed so im happy what every it is. It would really hurt if I went the G68 route and could only do 6.1 and not 7.1. Please someone tell me what the upgrade solution to the processors are.

I doubt anyone outside Meridian knows for sure (or is embargoed).

I reckon that if they do have a HDMI box that converts to 4xMHR, it would make sense to integrate it into a future G68/861 to keep it competitive with other manufacturers. Having said that, some of the prices that G68s have been going for recently are a steal.

If I could get back what I paid for my G68 and G98 tomorrow - I still wouldn't.

861 is probably still more future proof but that will come at a cost for new cards etc. G68 is lower price of entry but to get those extra channels would probably involve mode upgrading than to the 861 chassis. I can see the reluctance for someone to jump into either one today. I think this really has to come down to economics and if the G68s are out there at "steal" prices then that is how I would go. That being said- I have had an 861 for close to 10 years now with zero regrets. But I made my purchase decision 10 years ago!

Btw- JK has always been very helpful and courteous to people here and I did not take his post to be harsh or rude. Just pointing out the obvious. I don't think he gets any monetary reward for taking our questions to M and doing the work he does here which is appreciated.

best regards,
Jerry