Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems 8Ks vs Magico Minis (Split From Do you use CD Poll thread)

I think we may not have explained multi-amping of active speakers well enough.

The individual amplifiers are matched to the general electrical and sonic characteristics of the drive units and not to a specific individual unit. Thus, if a drive unit is damaged, it can be re-placed with another one of the same design and the system performance is retained.

I have had a drive unit replaced in one of my active analogue monitors and it sounds identical to before the change.

M Fanz
Please don't act like you are the only person on this Forum to have had exposure to high end Passive and Digital Systems and formed their own conclusions

Also please don't act like you are the only one who has ever thought to turn off all the Meridian options (Upsampling etc) and arrived at diametrically opposite opinions to your own (Believe it or not, there are many Posters on here that are Far more Technically Astute than you give them credit for)

You're entitled to your Opinions, but that does not make them a Fact for everybody else reading here. Your posts give the impression that you have dismissive opinions of other Meridian users on here and that somehow your listening experiences should hold as fact for everybody else here

Many here have listened as you have suggested and have formed different opinions. By no means does that make them wrong, just different views to yourself

You obviously don't understand what resolution enhancement is or does. Take some time to learn what it is and what it does before you condemn it. That way you won't have to rely on hunches.

Here is my take.

First I completely respect those that just want M CD players and/or Processors and wish to use third party amps and speakers. They can sound JUST as good as anything Meridian does.

What attracts me to Meridian DSP speakers is how they accomplish it. I've gone down the analog approach to the $15K level of 2 Channels of Speakers and amps (Krell and B&W). It "Demoed" good but could not listen long without fatigue and it had to be loud to sound good. I'm sure if I worked harder at analog I could have got a less fatiguing setup and I've heard them. Expensive to experiment though until you find a combo that works.

What I have learned is there are a lot of tradeoffs. And one is not necessarily better than another. It just has different trade-offs.

I like the trade-off's Meridian makes. I don't believe everything that comes out of the marketing speak. But I do like how it sounds because I can listen all day long and I DO listen ALL day sometimes for 10 hours. I have music blasting right now at work (sometimes up to 80). My ears don't ring and no headache.

Back to how Meridian does it. All in the box. There is no way I could have an equivelent analog setup at work with big amps and cables. I just put the speakers down and plug them in. Done. There is no way I could have another setup like I do in out vacation home. In fact my wife loves the setup.

Same goes at home. I just would not be able to have the level system I have due to space and WAF. I truely believe Meridian's white paper is correct in they can get a away with much smaller (and cooler) amps using their digital crossover approach. It is cheaper for Meridian to build it that way. Problem is they pocket the difference not the customer

Meridian's DSP speakers give me way more flexibility than any analog. I recently switched from DSP-33 size to DSP5000. Just swap the box, done. If that were analog I'd probably have to upgrade to a beefier amp and cables and make room for a bigger hotter amp. And perhaps try several amps.

I personally don't believe the mega expensive CD players are worth it. I don't deny they might sound a fraction better to a trained ear. But I much prefer invest the money in other things like speakers which you get much more bang for your buck.

So, do you use a CD player any more?

Only to rip'em

Wouldn't that technically be a CD-ROM (or DVD-ROM) drive in a computer, rather than a "CD player" per se?

Dan

Not really, I use the PS3 to rip some types of "CD's".

Do you use any Meridian components in your system, and if so which ones? I'm trying to figure out why your experience with Meridian hasn't been more positive.

"Do you use any Meridian components in your system, and if so which ones? I'm trying to figure out why your experience with Meridian hasn't been more positive."

I use a Meridian G68, and my experience with it is extremely positive. My experience with Meridian hasn't been negative. I just believe that the full Meridian system is not the only means of achieving the 8000's level of sound quality. In my experience you can match and exceed the 8000s with separates. In the case of surpassing them, the primary example that comes to mind would be the Magico Mini V2. The Magicos did indeed bury everything else I heard. They are the first speaker to be able to genuinely go beyond sounding excellent, to sounding 99.99% believably real. It was freakish.

Do you own the Magico Mini V2? What amplification and cables do you use?

Hi Fanz,

I've never heard of Magico before, so I checked out their website and took a look. Just wondering, are you running the "Mini II" or the "V2"? What amplification are you driving the Magicos with?

Regards,

Dan W.