Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Thread Like Summary - New Product - Meridian Audio Ellipse

Meridian Audio release the Ellipse
Meridian Audio Ellipse Webpage

£1,900 GBP UK List Price

Some of the negative comments are interesting. In these very forums members were asking for exactly what the Ellipse is, a F80 like product with updated features. It can be a stand alone device or a neat little soundbar for a TV. The reference to being sold in Best Buy is amusing as that clientele is highly unlikely to pay thousands for what they perceive to be a bluetooth speaker. Put the Ellipse on the counter in a high-end kitchen store and the lady of the house will want one. It might bring a few newcomers to Meridian but we will have to see. If you look at the big picture, what Meridian is doing makes perfect sense for survival. Take a look at the fabulous DSP9 for instance, it is so much better than the 7200SE yet only one member of this forum owns a pair as far as I have seen. Dealers have reported quite a number of sales so that tells you that a great many Meridian owners don't spend time on this forum.

I think this post probably violates several forum rules, perhaps you should refresh your memory of them at the link at top of page.

Russ Andrews have been a Meridian dealer for many years, over a decade if I recall correctly. Presumably, they were showcasing the new Meridian speaker as a part of the overall range of products they offer.

Irritating; they managed to include Tidal Connect but somehow can’t manage to update the 210 to include Tidal Connect.

What on earth is all that carnage surrounding it for?

I have just returned from Sevenoaks in Reading (Thanks Richard) after a very long lunch break to listen to this and so it’s quite fresh in the mind.

Though I haven’t yet bought one I am definitely going to do so in the next month or so once house renovations allow me a room to put it in.

I had wanted to listen to my F80 as a reference point this morning but that appears to have succumbed to the fuse issue, that being said it hasn’t been that long since I last heard it.

Meridian have pretty much taken the F80 and tipped it backwards, placing the drivers on what would be bottom. The old dimensions are very close (F80 - 408 x 230 x 185 vs Ellipse 410 x 219 x 163) so 2 cm wider, 1cm deeper and 2cm shorter if you were to place them side by side in the F80 stance. With this in mind it allows you to make a very clear comparison between what Meridian have achieved since the F80 and packing it all in to the same sized chassis is to my eyes a very subtle nod to this.

Out of the box settings wise it sounds superb but leaps up significantly in the Bass / Width(I think thats what it is called) mode set to Medium. If you were in any way impressed with the F80 you will be extremely impressed with the Ellipse. The soundstage pushes moves 5 feet out to the left and right and the bass extension drops down impressively low given it’s size.

Clearly it’s not going to go toe to toe with it’s bigger cousins in the scale department but on the detail and vocals it’s really really impressive.

Volume wise it goes loud and it’s only when it’s at levels that you wouldn’t sustain for long does it start to become less composed.

I listened to:

London Grammar - Hey Now (Does really well with the bass drop and the decay/detail on the opening bars is impressive)
Rag and Bone Man - Skin (State of the Ark Studios Live). This can be found as a video on Tidal and also on YouTube though the Tidal version is much better. The vocals on this are huge and on the Ellipse sounds amazing with a huge sound stage.
Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms - Really impressive and tons of detail.
Freya Ridings - Lost Without You - Really impressive, good bass and alot of detail on the pianos. I noticed a mis note partway through which I haven’t noticed before and just had to re listen to this on my Flare headphones and sure enough there it is.
Joe Bonamassa - Blues Deluxe - Guitars sound amazing and Joes vocals are front, centre and prominent, sounds great!
Deadmau5 - The Veldt - Wasn’t expecting much from this owing to the bass heavy content but what a surprise.

Essentially if you have an F80 and were curious, you can do absolutely no wrong in trading up, it’s a huge leap in performance. If you haven’t got an F80 but wanted a system that is both very pleasing to eye and would blend in to any room plus give you the impression you were listening to a much bigger system it’s a no brainer.

I bought my son a Denon CEOL N10 which is a little lifestyle system along with some Wharfdale speakers that probably cost around the £600 mark to put together but is a much larger system and more difficult to accomodate. This completely knocks the spots off it and at a fraction of the footprint. Granted the price differential but I actually think it is worth it.

Meridian is going full Harman. Only a matter of time before we see them selling products like this in big box stores like Best Buy. How they plan on squaring this with the likes of DSP9 or DSP8000XE will be interesting without lowering MSRP.

They're well on their way to massively cheapening the brand like Harman has done to JBL with the masses, while maintaing a bespoke high end, home integrator and commercial theater division. Now a days only audiophiles, cinemaphiles and pro audio people over 30 even know JBL is still around let alone a great speaker maker.

Disappointing.

Meridian would be much better served making a new mainstream down-market brand if they are going for this business model. It also will hurt their ability in convincing OEMs and car manufacturers to use them as a 'high end' upgrade vs the likes of Burmester, NAIM, Dynaudio etc.

I hope the new Meridian ownership/consortium is aware this stuff harms the long term value retention of our M gear and arguably dealers and customers willing to pay MSRP for DSP speakers.

Just look how badly JBL gear depreciated ever since Harman made a cheap mass market product line using the JBL name. The 800 and G series also took a healthy resale hit with the re-arranging/discontinuation of most of their high end non speaker product line. This won't help it.

I think all of us know full well HiFi isn't an investment, but rather for enjoyment - However those of us loyal to the M brand for our love of their products deserve responsible stewardship of the brand, much like how the old ownership kept in production models for a long time by updating them keeping new buyers, dealers and sellers alike happy and conservatively bringing in new products.

Juat my 2 cents...

The more I look at it the more I like it 🤷🏻‍♂️

I think that £1900 is a great retail price.. the M80 was fantastic at £1500 all those years ago!

Yes I’m sad to see the end of the road for G series and 800 series products, but, I can understand why they have scaled back the range... Meridian's vision of the future is clear… 271 and DSPs to “any” surround processor for the movie enthusiast. DSP9 or XE for the serious music fans. I was sad to see the 500 series come to an end as well.

I think we also need to be patient as Meridian enthusiasts and followers while the brand undergoes a revamp and I am just pleased they are revamping and are still evolving. Yes I’m in the camp that hopes they fill in the middle space between this new product and the XE range but they’re still bringing new products in.. that’s a good sign. Plenty of other brands have failed to change and keep up with the times.

I think we also have to accept the days of Meridian under the leadership of Bob and Allen has gone. Meridian still have some great minds there and they are working behind the scenes to keep M on the map. Which map though is still not clear just yet.

Regards
David

It's definitely pricey vs whatever the competition is.

e.g. It's >10x the LG7 Meridian Boom. I bought 2 of those and they were terrific for my kids at Uni or for us on holiday.

However, I don't share the negativity with the ref to Harman etc. If someone buys a $3000 table top speaker it really isn't going to upset the XE owners unless there is a whiff of snobbery. Meridian has to be profitable and it's incumbent on the board to drive strategies to achieve that. In recent years it suggests they are beginning to succeed.

I wasn't too far away with my guesses! £1,900? That's quite pricey but I suppose that's to be expected. Would I buy one? In principle I might but I don't currently have any need for one but I hope it's a success for Meridian & for our PPs.

How long have we been waiting for a successor to the M80/F80? Better late then never, I guess. I'd like to see how this stacks up against the Naim Mu-so, Sonus Faber Ombia and other premium "lifestyle" wireless speakers.

But frankly, I'd be more excited if Meridian came out with a speaker to complete against the KEF LS50W II, the Sonus Faber Duet and Dynaudio Focus 10. An updated and wireless version of the DSP3200, perhaps with a matching wireless subwoofer.

Hi,

The user manual is available if you follow the link on the first page.

Brian

We've has ours and I would say it's a superb product. Obviously not cheap but nothing made in this country ever is.

The DSP technology is mightily impressive though and it creates a huge sound stage with the Bass and Space modes.

I'm definitely replacing my F80 with one.

Highly recommended.

Cheers

Richard.

There seem to be some audiophiles who like to see all the wiring and equipment on show. Personally I find it a huge distraction from the music. I’ve always hidden my equipment away in cupboards and buried my speaker cables in walls or floors. I will just about tolerate seeing my Dsp7200se speakers because at least Meridian design good looking speakers but I don’t ever want to see any of the back room stuff thanks.

Well the claims stand up if you consider the design of their speakers.

Triamped and tri digital crossovers plus the source for something like a 5k and you’d have quite the mess…

I recall a story from way back that when Russ Andrew first heard the M80 he was leaning back in his chair and nearly fell out of it in surprise! He has supported Meridian from way back.
Best
relham

Very interesting thoughts, thanks!

Hi
l did recently hear one positioned between a pair of xe’s and dsp9. The sound stage was amazing as it seemed to be as wide as the Dsp9 which were the outside speakers. l just felt it was a very wide stage without necessarily positioning instruments. The majority of my listening is classical and been to many many such concerts and so have expectations of where instruments would be placed on stage. l didnt feel the Eclipse achieved that but Blue Monday with New Order was amazing likewise Eurythmics.So a truly remarkable unit but it is what it is and very much down to one’s listening.
Best
relham

Looking at the improvements they've been making with their other speakers, I would imagine this would be a pretty amazing way of getting on to the Meridian ladder. Their size would likely make them WAF friendly in the living room, potentially at a price point that could make them very popular.