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

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.