Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Thread Like Summary - Meridian vs...

I've been out on a listening spree today taking in the likes of Audi/Bose, Audi/B&O, Lexus, Jaguar/B&W and Land Rover/Meridian. Here are my notes from the day.

In all cases, I started off by ensuring that all tone controls were set to their default mid position. My test music was a CD of tracks including London Grammar, Katy B, James Blake, Daft Punk and several others covering music from the bass heavy electronic to acoustic vocal.

I should note that my hearing appears to be hypersensitive to 2-4kHz since taking some medication recently. However, it isn't very noticeable in the home environment, but the highly reflective and small car environment seems to amplify the effect.

Audi A5 2014 B&O.
Good extension 30/35Hz maybe, fairly taut bass, a little hump at 50Hz, a touch boomy around 80Hz, decent imaging, soft treble and nice midrange. A little forward in the upper mids. DSP set to driver sounded best for imaging and most natural in general. Some door panel vibration under heavy bass at high volumes (approaching 30). Seemed a little edgy in the upper mids at higher volumes although that might be my ears. Bass/treble control only available which can't correct for boom. Not sure if there is a sub or not.

Audi A6 Avant 2014 Bose
No driver position DSP so chose 'front' presentation. Similar bass to B&O although roll off higher at 40Hz maybe. Similar 50Hz hump and a little boomy also. Mids at 1-3kHz more pronounced. Want to reduce volume more than B&O. Good treble but not quite as refined. Rather than being soft, it sounded roll off at the top and more pronounced lower down (10kHz maybe). Not as refined overall.

The offerings from Audi are average, like going to Richer Sounds and buying low end hifi. I wasn't impressed.

Lexus GS450h 2011
Standard 10spk audio
I was hoping to hear the Mark Levison offering but the car only had the standard Lexus 10 speaker system. I was pleasantly surprised. Strong bass, deep and taut, excellent authority. Extension easily into the mid 30s but it was actually too strong compared to the rest of the audio spectrum. It wasn't boomy, just louder than it should have been. Sitting stationary, -2 notches on bass sounded more natural. Upper mids a little pronounced but ok for me. Soft refined treble. No rattle from doors or panels during heavy bass tracks although interestingly, the rear-view mirror was vibrating heavily, moving the mirror image visibly and making a rattling noise. An easy fix probably. To my surprise, the standard system has a centre speaker making the imaging pretty good. On the road it sounded bass heavy at the mid position, reducing bass to -1 helped, -2 was too weak. It sounded a little incoherent though; there wasn't a gel between the sub/bass, midrange and treble, like there was a hole between the sub/bass and the rest of the spectrum. Very pleasant to listen to and the car was so quiet on the road. I was seriously impressed.

I then listened to an IS300h Mark Levinson premium surround. Overall it sounded quite similar to the GS standard system but the imaging was terrible (sounded like a phase issue) and the upper mids were hurting my ears. I preferred the GS standard although I'm going to see another GS450h with the ML system to see what its like.

Freelander 2 2014 Meridian 825w
I checked out the Meridian setting, DPL2 and DTS Neo and the M setting was obviously the best. Bass was deep and taut. Extension to the mid 30s. No boom or humps. Mids beautiful. Upper mids a touch forward compared to what I'm used to with the 5Ks at home. Treble soft and delicate and good level of detail. Not as lush as the 5Ks though. The image was central until lower vocal registers when it shifted to the speaker door a touch. I also heard way to much from the surround speakers so I experimented with adjusting the fader and settled on 3 forward. This worked wonders for vocals creating a much more stable image in front of me but did rob the system of power overall for more bass heavy tracks. Some door panel vibration at really high volumes. Not sure I'd buy one as didn't sound as close to home as I'd hoped, although I think a lot of that was to do with the Freelander cabin, it's pretty big and sounded a little echoey.

Jaguar XF 2010 B&W
Out of DSP modes stereo, 3 ch and DPL2, 3 ch mode produced the most natural sound and the best image. With the tone controls centered, bass rolled off at ~40Hz, hump at 50-60Hz. Adjusting sub to max helped extension to mid 30s. Mids very good. Treble soft and delicate. Some upper mid forwardness, not as prominent as the B&O. Cabin muuuuuch nicer than freelander, no echo. Goes way louder than any of the others before it sounded strained. No rattles anywhere. Best results were bass -2 sub +8. Bass now down to 30Hz but perhaps a little hump at 100Hz. No combination could produce even bass. Pl2 mode just awful.

My order of preference:

1. Jaguar XF B&W
1. Lexus GS450h Standard
3. Land Rover Freelander Meridian 825w
4. Audi A5 B&O
5. Audi A6 Bose

The Jag and Lexus (more so) were both surprises and although they were different, I couldn't decide which I thought was best. The Jag/B&W's strengths was solid imaging and highly commendable overall sound quality, especially at high volumes. It's weakness was uneven bass response and I had to choose either extension with a 100Hz hump or a more even response but settle for 40Hz extension. The Lexus/Standard's strengths was nice even bass response, excellent imaging and a very easy listen overall but its weakness was a perceived lack of cohesion on the road.

I wasn't expecting them to beat M. I suspect that M in an Evoque would win hands down, though. I still have one more car to audition which is the GS450h with ML installed.

So where did I end up? After years of cars that were functional and with ICE systems so poor I didn't bother using them, I'm now the proud owner of a 2021 Jaguar I-Pace fitted with the Meridian Surround system.

It's a brilliant car in every way. Quiet, refined, powerful. Utterly sublime for getting around.
Being an EV, and especially a Jaaaag, that quietness really lends itself to listening to music without it needing to be loud.

But it's the M sound system that really makes it enjoyable. Sure, it's not perfect, but it's about the best I've ever heard.

For me, it needs the fader set forward, about halfway between middle and front to make a good soundstage, otherwise it sounds too indistinct, too much from behind and the rear door speakers.
The centre speaker helps imaging and it's pretty good! You don't get a feeling that the sound is coming from the door card next to you.
A touch less treble and a touch more on the subwoofer control helps it sound balanced on the move.
A few tweaks in the upper midrange for my own personal taste and a 7db cut in the 60hz area applied to all the lossless tracks on my USB stick and the final result is... nearly as good as at home!

Honestly, this is the closest I've got to the 5k experience in a car.
It could use a beefier subwoofer, it seems to roll off below 30hz.
It also does that thing that M DSPs do, which is sound good at any volume. It doesn't need to be played loud to be enjoyable and doesn't descend into harshness if you do want it a bit louder.

I can't say I can hear much difference between the Meridian Trifield and Trifield Surround modes but overall it's got the edge over stereo mode, unless you use the fader in the centre position and then I think stereo sounds better.

Since selling the Jag XF, I've stopped having music on in any car I've owned since because it was just too unpleasant.
I find myself putting music on again. And it's wonderful.

Frequency response measured in case anyone is interested:


6 measurements taken around the driver's headrest and averaged. M surround mode, fader set forward 4 clicks, treble -3, bass 0, subwoofer +4

It's been several years since I was in the XF but there is no question the I-Pace is a quieter car than my previous Hyundai EV. I would imagine it's on par with the XF for road noise but better overall without the engine noise on top.

I always thought I'd end up in a supercharged V8 XF one day. The I-Pace has similar acceleration but with EV quietness and low fuel costs (charging at home offpeak etc).
It's an utterly serene place to be.

Time will tell if I've got a good one or not but having 2 years warranty helps with that.

Range is a bit on the low side for such a large battery, but I don't need much day to day. Fully charged its 230 miles at the moment, I hear it's nearer 260 or more in the warmer months. Plenty enough for me without needing public charging.

I'm glad I bought it, despite the things you can read online about the I-Pace. Of course, many manufacturers have similar stories of woe, including Hyundai.