Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Should I upgrade my 565 to a G61R?

Hi all, I have noticed with interest the Meridian Upgrade program which ends this September.

I currently have a 565 Z3, 596 (DVD), 518, 3 x DSP5000 (not 24bit/94khz)and 2 x M60 (similar to the 5000 but non-digital).

For Bluray I use a Sony PS3 and my screen is a 60 inch Pioneer KRP-600A.

Whilst I love the idea of an 861, it's simply too expensive and I am leaning towards the G61 and HD621 upgrade offer.

My question is: Will I really gain anything from such an upgrade? Is the G61 a big improvement?

I love the 565, but I will sometimes get very loud cracks from the speakers e.g when chapter changing on a Bluray or even skipping to the next MPEG video - I wonder if the G61 has similar traits?

I am not all that familiar with the HD621, what does it really do? - is it likely to improve Bluray picture performance for example?

I would welcome all suggestions and opinions.

Thanks

Conan

Ok, the G61/HD621 will open up new possibilies with higher soundquality, room correction and the ability to clean up and dejitter HDMI audio and video as well as deliver lossless HD concerts and movie audio.

What I see as a problem is with your 18bit speakers. They would need to be upgraded as well to take advantage of the apodizing upsampling and soundquality that the G61/HD621 has to offer.

So yes, I definately concur with you doing the upgrade/tradein, but you will realize the full potential of your system when your mains are upgraded to 24/96.

Hi Conan,

I upgraded my 565 to the C61R, the rack mounted version of the G61R along with the HD621 just before the upgrade offer....curses!!! I have an analogue system and my sonic opinions apply to this setup. The newer DAC's take some getting used to. The sound is initially brighter and more forward than the comfy 565 with greater resolution. There is also greater depth and clarity to the sound but the forward nature of the DAC's did worry me. As the processor has run in, I found the bright sound softening becoming warmer and more musical, something that is still maturing. I now use the PS3 not only for DVD/Bluray playback through the HD621 on my 92" wide cinema screen, but its also connected to a hard drive from which I now play all my CD's encoded in the WAV format. I use a second hand PSP as a remote. The sound from both CD and film is glorious and I feel the HD621/C61R are worth there weight in gold. I've never had such audio/ video satisfaction and fun in my system.

Good luck,

Regards,

Paul

Paul,

I'm curious, when you stream CD's from the harddrive connected to your PS3, what bitrate does the C61R report that it is receiving? Is it 44 or 48?

Thanks,

Dan

Thanks Crion and Paul for your replies.

Crion - how will I benefit from getting my 3 digital speakers upgraded? Is there really a big improvement to be heard? Sounds like a lot more expense - maybe it's something to think about further down the road.

Paul - It sounds like you really like your C61R - is it a BIG improvement over the 565. Also what do you mean by "forward sounding DACs"? I would also be interested in how you use the PSP? - do you get a small GUI with it?, is it a big improvement on the standard PS3 remote?

If anyone else has any experience of the 565 to G61R (or just G61) upgrade path I would be VERY interested to hear of your experience.

Thanks again,

Conan.

Conan, Blu-Ray sound is 16-24bit and 48-192KHz. But most discs are 48KHz so your speakers will be fine on most discs if HD621 is configured not to upsample.

If you upgrade your speakers to 24bit/96KHz the speakers can accept an upsampled signal from the HD621 or a native 24/96 audiostream. This upsampling will also mean that apodizing filters are applied. This will improve soundquality.

Is Meridian still offering the upgrade for 18-bit speakers?

I think so.. But haven't checked this year.

As of a couple of months ago in the U.S. they are not.

Ken

You may be better off selling your 18 bit speakers and Buying 24 bit ones when some appear for sale.. Cheers, Chris

I don't think that it worth considering upgrading 18 bit (22 bit?) speakers. When I last looked the cost was comparable to buying original 24 bit second hand.

I had a similar problem to you and upgraded a 565/596 to a G68/G98 set up when they first launched to get the HDMI link to my projector. I stuck with my 18 bit speakers and still thought that the sound was a worthwhile upgrade. Last year I saw the chance to update the front to DSP5200. If I ran the upsampling in the G68 I lost sound from the rear speakers. If I left the upsampling out the front speakers upsampled. It was another good improvement. Fortunately I then got the chance to replace the rear 18 bit with DSP3100. I know others say you should have the same speaker all round but I think it is a good compromise. I always thought that full size rear speakers were rather wasted.

This year I have added an HD621.

My advice is to do it in stages. I am sure that you will appreciate each upgrade.

The 18 bit speakers still give great service. One pair is connected to the 565 and for the other I found a second hand G91. It's Meridian all round!

OK regarding the speakers I will probably hold off for a while as I am pretty sure the 565 can not benefit from 24 bit ones - could well be wrong though.

Any more opinions/experiences on G61R and HD621 advantages over the 565? Keeping my existing DSP5000's and Sony PS3.

Thanks again.