Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Absolute Sound Review Feb/March Issue

Check out the review of the 800/861 version 3 combo in the new edition of the Absolute Sound. It does not get much better than this in terms of critical review and highest recommendation. Highly insightful.

I just got the Absolute Sound issue mentioned above and read the review by Anthony Cordesman. It is a rave review like you seldom see. The article also has interesting comparisons and comments related to SACD vs DVDA. Like Alan indicates, you really should check this out for yourself!

Here is the online version:
http://www.avguide.com/newsletter/2003.01/meridian.jsp

It is quite positive indeed. But too bad he did not look more into the DVD-V capabilitys of the 800/861 combo as well.
Only the short remark that DVD-V can be upsampled to 96/24. Would have been nice if he had made some comparisations to other equipment in that area as well.

Jaco

Absolute Sound is strictly and audio publication, so I think it is ok. TPV covered V2 a while back, perhaps they will handle V3 as well.

Anthony is also one of the few reviewers for TAS that felt that 24/96K PCM was as good as DSD way back when.

But all in all, a most excellent review.

Regards,

I don't want to hijack this thread, but "learned" comparisons of DVDA and SACD are sadly lacking, multiple years into both formats! Cordesman tries in his review to do "apples to apples" comparisons to the extent he can. He also does comparisons to analog with his VPI rig. I admire his effort. It should not be that hard to record something optimally in each format for comparison purposes. Then the test becomes which is closest to the master. When will someone do this?

[This message has been edited by mwiebelhaus (edited 01-22-2003).]

No, we just need to find someone who has done it. It really needs to be a neutral party so that one format is not sabotaged.

You will probably also need a large sample of music.

HT Mag puts the 568.2 558 and 598 combo at 95% Can any here attempt to articulate the $15,000 difference between the 568.2 and the 861?

You really need to compare the 568.2 + 562V.3 w/ 861.

With the 861 you are paying for flexibility and future potential. More channels (Height, subwoofer, ?), better DACs (more often with new DAC cards.), Multichannel analog input, <insert feature here>.

What is the future potential worth to you? Do you think you will ever want more than 8 speakers? Do you want multichannel input? (I am sure this comment will stir the pot. )

Is the BMW 750 worth $20-$30k more than the 740?

[This message has been edited by sspears (edited 01-22-2003).]

In terms of comparison materials,

Ray Brown's Soular Energy is available on both Hi-Res Music (DVD-A) and Groove Note (SACD). According to David Schwarz @ Hi-Res, both companies worked from the same master tapes.

The LA4's Just Friends is out on Groove Note, and will shortly be out on Hi-Res Music.

The Hi-Res titles have 24/96K for DVD-V or DVD-A on one side, and 24/192K for DVD-A on the other.

These could be excellent comparison titles.

Regards,

You have both and the switchman, get busy!

Does the switchman have trim controls so you can level match? Or a way to set volume per source so you can level match?