Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Will Meridian survive?

Re: Entry level pricing and upgrade paths, I still think that a passive, upgradable to active, upgradable to DSP speaker would be a great way to tap into the traditional separates market. It's a big step to move even from stereo separates to DSP speakers in one go, particularly as Meridian doesn't produce a standalone digital stereo switcher any more. Moving to Meridian digital surround is an even bigger and expensive commitment.

Its not 100% clear, but another page on that site says "So it`s very significant that two of the most prestigious audiophile hi-fi brands in the world have appointed us to be their manufacturing facility." and their home page states "And, if craftsmanship concerns you, reassure yourself by the fact that we are commissioned to make some of the best loudspeakers on the planet." To me it sounds like they do make the production cabinets.

Seem to recall when I visited Huntingdon to buy 7200's I was told that the cabinets were made using manufacturing techniques used for the WW11 Spitfire and some of the original kit was also used by the manufacturer. Tends to suggest that this is not China unless the history books are very wrong!

As Spitfires were I believe metal formed, could be the Hurricane which was laminated wood.

May be my memory is wrong but sounds good anyway.

Think this thread is going off topic a tad - even more so now!

David

Yes, I thought the initial run was made in the Far East but because of quality control problems they brought it back to the UK. Could be dreaming though. It happens occasionally

Seven weeks to CES!

I think one needs to look at the assets and core competencies of the company. If the company were to liquidate today, what are the assets that would have value in a fire sale
• Modern, emotional industrial design
• Psycho-acoustic algorithms

And now think about core competencies that may not be the huge competitive advantage that they might have been in the past
• Digital audio data transport. Think about Sonos synchronizing music in multiple rooms, all over Wifi. Or for $100 I can buy a set of JBL SoundSticks that are USB to the speakers. I understand that they are not DPS7200, but it is a single digital link to a remote DSP that retains signal synchronization to each speaker. GigaBit Ethernet is a commodity today, (cabling, terminations, switches etc). Alternately, with 802.11n, there is more than sufficient bandwidth for 8 channels of hi definition audio.
• Distributed control via a comms link. Great work on RS-232 decades ago, but the world has also changed. This should be at least IP based.
• I recently bought a Linksys Media Extender DMA2200 to attach to my Windows Media Center PC. It cost $130 and includes a DVD player. It attached via HDMI or Component to your TV and receiver. Will up-convert video to 1080p. It can eitherplay loccaly from the DVD in the box, but it will also play video streams (from library or from TV tuners including HD) and audio streams from my PC over wired or wireless network, including PCM plus numerous audio formats. Several CE manufacturers have announced embedded hardware support for the protocols.

Video on the other hand is a non-core competency. Digital video is moving even more quickly that audio. 1080p is now a commodity in both rear and front designs, and frankly Sim2 has the industrial design prize sown up, at about 1/5 of M`s price. Give it up, the financial returns are just not there.

What this all means to me is the competitive quality edge (i.e. charge more) in digital audio and video processing is either gone or soon gone. The algorithms are very valuable. The ability to produce great speakers is still part art part science. The differentiator is the software and design. M needs to re-invent itself. The golden age of digital audio and video is here. M brought us here, now what?

Normj, you make a very good post for only your third in 5 years


Indeed ,it's quite ironic that the world is now largely doing what M recommended 20 years ago. It's a good challenge to ask "now what ?"

I have been lurking forever ;-) I work in technology and what Meridian did, just made so much sense to me, and it still does; for example lossless data transmission on digital cables at $1/ft vs $100/ft for analog cables. I have had a 500 series system for 9 years (568, 596, 3xdsp5500 and 4xdsp33), and contemplating what to do next. The half life of products in the digital age is getting shorter and shorter. Bluray will come and go - it may even last longer that DVD-Audio. But today I am being penalized if I want to integrate Bluray into my homogenous Meridian system, and to be able to take advantage of higher resolutions (eg HDMI) as well as internet integration e.g. Bluray Live. Oh, but what about radio you ask ? Today, through sites like www.radiotime.com, I can get streamed radio from just about anywhere. Do I still need a tuner at home?

There are two real options - produce a highly integrated single box that can be cost effectively replaced more frequently that every 10-15 years, which is the expected half life of an old analog receiver 30 years ago. Or go very modular using commodity components. Not modular as in series 800 since it is not commodity component based. Today Linksys has a IP-PBX for 16 nodes that is the size of a paperback book and sells for less than $400. For example, use Gigabit Ethernet or 802.11n for transmission, both for content streams and control (see Sonos). What would the rear of the next gen controller look like? What plugs would you expect? If it were me, 4 HDMI/displayport inputs, 1 HDMI out, and one Ethernet jack. The Ethernet would plug into a standard Gigabit Ethernet switch and Wi-Fi router. Even in today`s G series, there is a huge overhead (space, design, production, test) for all that analog gunk on the rear. What about amplification? Great analog amps will be around for a long time. But digital amplification will get better and simpler and more efficient - cell phones and portable media players will force that to happen. Enthusiasts will continue to pay for great speakers. Many kids will live with the earphones that come with their iPods, but Sennheiser will also sell phones that cost more than the iPod. Music today and tomorrow will be stored and streamed. The USB port on the G-Series is a start, but it makes the G look like a USB speaker. Yes it was easier, but why not just adopt the media streaming protocols. I believe that the reality is that M will have to move from being a proprietary DSP software house in to a general purpose software house working on open protocols and adopted standards. Eg. MHR was early, but HDMI won. DVD-A, SACD, HDDVD were all interesting, but BR won. Get over it.

Meridian was the digital clairvoyant in the analog age. But we are now in the digital era; what will Meridian be?

Hmmm. I don't think that I'd say that BR won yet although it has outlived HD-DVD. SACD/DVD-A, otoh, were/are audio-only and not in competition with DVD, HD-DVD or BR. If anything killed them, it might be the iPod.

Fabulous summary. I also agree to a large extent that in the fast-moving digital age driven by short-term profiteering, embracing open standards may be the way to go.

Well, they aint lying down.

http://Meridian.connectdigitalllp.co.uk/news.aspx
Cheers Chris

http://www.saksfifthavenue.com/main/ProductDetail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524446204490&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=282574492706635&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474399545537&bmUID=1226940069350&ev19=1:9

I love the term "executive audio systems". George you're going to have to ditch the DSP5000s at work if you want to be an executive

I fear for Meridian. Having spent a while reading this post, I can't get round this.

- We are in for a severe and long recession in the UK and M's key markets

- M only makes money from "New" sales and buyers are few and far between

- I expect sales to fall by over 30%, maybe even 50%

- Moving to mass market is the right business strategy but isn't acheivable quickly enough and would most likely fail against stiff price competition from Sony etc

- Losses will widen, despite redundancies, to over �5m per year, maybe more

- Shareholders will be asked to inject more money to keep the business going, at a rate of, say �5m per annum - call it �20m to ride out the recession

- Add the �20m to the original cost and see how long it takes you to get a decent return (say 20%)

- It takes WAY TOO LONG.

I would be devastated to see my lousy predictions come true (even in part) as for a teeny tiny minnow like M the storm is huge and hasn't even arrived yet - some small waves could sink it.

Sorry .... I hate myself for posting this .....