I think the other aspect to consider is that as far as I remember there have been no consistent reports of unreliability in Meridian DSPs, a lot of other electronics have had issues but DSPs have been very solid. Two reasons for this, linear power-supplies and no moving parts beyond the drivers themselves. The Meridian electronics have been let down by SMPS and the disc drives (not saying there haven’t been other issues but these two are the biggies I feel).

If you like the presentation of the Meridian DSPs then go for it. Then just enjoy the music. If you like the sounds they make stop worrying about what chips the DACs are or what cables you can buy next, they don’t need you to mess about with all that.

Best wishes

Richard