Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Thread Like Summary - Meridian System setup advice

Hi Everyone,


I have recently acquired some older Meridian Digital Theatre kit and would really appreciate some help!


Firstly, I have a Meridian 565 digital surround processor, which I have had in storage for over 15 years, which I can now finally get out and try to use in a new flat I have. And I have added to that with the purchase of a pair of DSP5000 speakers (smiley face 96/24 version) and a D1500 subwoofer (again 96/24 version). Unfortunately, none of the speakers came with any Meridian comms cables, so that is my first issue.

How would you recommend connecting the speakers up?

The speaker user guides I have found on this site don't seem to cover the speaker setup I will have, they either assume that there will be a centre speaker, or that it is a straightforward stereo system. In the D1500 guide, it shows the D1500 daisy-chained between the DSP5000 speakers, but I assume that this is not optimal for me as this would mean that it is using the DSP5000s' main left and right digital signal rather than the dedicated centre/subwoofer digital signal. Would it work to have one of the DSP5000s connected with an M-lead to the 565, then this DSP5000 connected to the other DSP5000 with an S-lead, and then the D1500 connected to this DSP5000 with another S-lead (so daisy-chained like in the user guide), but then have the digital input on the subwoofer connected directly to the centre/subwoofer digital output on the 565?

This would mean I need to buy an M-lead and 2 S-leads. I have seen that someone is selling custom M-leads and S-leads on eBay without the digital coaxial connectors, but this would be fine as I could easily add them separately. Alternatively, is there anywhere else you could recommend buying the leads from, including second-hand if anyone has any spare ones here, I'm not too fussy about the length that they need to be?


I have connected the Meridian 565 to the mains, on its own, and it is showing up as version 3.7 AC-3. Does this mean that it is the second version of the 565, as I understand the first version didn't have Dolby Digital (AC-3)? I'm not too fussed about the lack of DTS processing, as my intention is to run my AV sources to the television, and then output Dolby Digital from there. My main source will be streamed files via Plex, and I'm pretty sure that will be able to process everything to plain vanilla Dolby Digital for me.

I have also connected the speakers to the mains, and they have powered up, but they are not turning on, and are only staying on standby. The MSR I have with the 565, and another MSR I have from the 541 I own, doesn't seem to get them to switch to an input source. Do the speakers need to be connected together or have a digital input connected to them before they will turn on? Or do I need to reconfigure something about them or the MSRs?

Many thanks for any help that you may be able to give to me, and if you don't mind, I'll have some extra questions about potential upgrades at a later point.

Russell

You will need at least a M link cable and two S link cables to connect what you have. The subwoofer can be daisy chained off the 5000's in a stereo configuration such as with a digital source feeding the speaker directly without a processor, Using the 565, you would connect the digital cables direct to the processor for L+R and C+Sub directly. Comms can still be daisy chained or you can use a 511 slave patch. Get yourself a copy of the DSP speaker configuration manual as it will answer many of your questions and guide you through the setup.

Just to finish up on this thread.

I have now ordered the required Meridian leads from MI' on this forum, and retyping my speakers as per Stuart's guidance has made them respond to the remote, so thank you very much everyone for this very helpful and friendly forum.