"Perhaps if the more tempered approach recently taken on by our new member had been there from the outset, then there may have been less issues"

So essentially you are blaming me for your inability to maturely provide an alternative point of view? I'm not taking a more tempered approach. I'm simply refusing to respond in kind to the vitriol of those who obviously took great offense to my views.

To summarize and stay on topic:

- When I moved from disc spinners to servers, my system performance shot upwards a great deal. The improvement is so great that I have stopped using SSP on the G68. Two channel now provides a superior, far more realistic listening experience than Meridian's simulations of 3D to me.

- I cannot tell the difference between servers when fed through my G68. I have serious doubts that Meridian can do anything with Sooloos that will surpass the sound performance of any other bit-perfect server fed through my G68.

- As with Meridian's attempts to simulate a 3D soundfield, I do not think that they are a purist company. Given this, I have serious concerns that what may sound pleasurable is not actually accurate with Meridian sources.

- Upsampled 16bit recordings on my G68 sound softer, and not necessarily clearer or of higher resolution. I do wonder what is really being done when Meridian speaks of resolution enhancement, and I have provided my questions about it.

- I think that Meridian speakers are excellent, but I do not think that they are doing anything that cannot be achieved or surpassed with separates. Revel Salons, some Genesis speakers, I could go on. There are passive speakers that are as good as or superior to the 8000s to me.

- I think that the Magico Mini V2 is vastly superior to everything I've heard in terms of realism. They are the only speaker where I can say that if I was blindfolded I might have thought that a real saxophonist was in the room. To me they do something in terms of realism that no other speaker has been able to do. I take no offense and provide no vitriol to those who think that they could not be vastly superior, or superior at all. These are subjective comments. RHurley states, "I would be extremely reluctant to say that ANY Meridian Speaker or Component offers "Vast" performance differences over decent �500 BookShelf speakers..." I respectfully disagree. The 8000s are vastly superior to �500 speakers in my listening experience. As an aside, I sincerely doubt that I would have been attacked for claiming ad-nauseam that the 8000s were vastly superior to anything I've heard, despite the fact that "apparently" such a comment would have been just as absurd.

For the record:

Frank - The questions you are now asking or claiming I did not respond to are all answered on the first two pages of this thread. I own a G68, and I love it. I won't comment on my other equipment, because it is an irrelevant distraction. At least to me it was a blatant joke that I'd run a G68 in front of Jamo speakers and an Onkyo amp. I was jokingly trying to make the point about the irrelevance of the other equipment to my points - not being dishonest. To add to those previous comments, I bought a G68 because I fell in love with Meridian SSP for 2ch material and because they provided the best surround sound for films. The G68 today meets all of my needs except for the lack of HDMI. But this is through 2ch instead of Trifield/Music modes for music with upsampling turned off.

Roger - Shop demos serve a critical and practical purpose. A dealer is supposed to be presenting the equipment in the best manner possible for the simple reason that they are trying to convince us to part with a great deal of money. What that gear sounds like in your home is a separate matter, but that in door demo is supposed to give you a very good idea of what the maximum potential for the equipment being sold is. If you can find the kind of dealer willing to lend you whatever you want in your home before you buy, then that is great. The majority however are not so flexible. The demo for the Minis was vastly superior to anything I've heard. It is utterly illogical to me that you would dismiss the idea of in-store demos where you can at least hear speaker x, and then claim without even hearing the Minis that they cannot compare to the M8Ks. Oh well.

George - Please show me where I claimed that others wasted their money on Meridian speakers and processing. I have carefully invested my money in both Meridian and non-Meridian gear. Did I get upset when I heard something vastly superior to my own system? I fail to see the justification for the vitriolic responses. Meridian's brochures state, "Meridian invented DSP loudspeakers over 15 years ago. Nothing better reveals the feeling and emotion of your music library than a Meridian digital
loudspeaker system." I don't own Meridian DSPs, and I disagree that nothing better reveals the feeling and emotion of my music library. Is this claim any more offensive than my claim that the Minis are vastly superior to everything I've heard? Can I start sending hatemail to Bob Stuart?

I would not have believed that the Minis can do what I heard them do. I'm totally fine with anyone who thinks that it is impossible for them to be vastly superior or worth the $30k they now cost. All I can suggest is that you might want to demo them for yourself.