Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Thread Like Summary - MC200 2TB SSD SATA Upgrade Advice

Hi all,

I’ve recently purchased an MC200, which currently has a 1TB mechanical HDD installed (this could be 10 to 15 years old and maybe coming to the end of its life). I’m planning to upgrade it to a 2TB SSD, most likely a SanDisk 2TB drive.

My intention is to use Macrium Reflect to clone the existing HDD directly to the SSD. Since I don’t have sufficient storage space available for a disk image, I plan to connect both drives to my laptop using USB-to-SATA adapters and perform a direct disk-to-disk clone.

As the replacement drive has a larger capacity, is there anything specific I need to do during or after the cloning process to ensure the MC200 recognises and utilises the full 2TB capacity of the SSD? For example, will I need to resize the partition(s) manually, or should Macrium Reflect handle this automatically?

The MC200 will be integrated into my Meridian system, which currently comprises DSP5200.2 speakers, an AC200, an MSR+, and a laptop as the digital source, which shall be replaced by the MC200 and IPAD.

Any advice or recommendations from those who have carried out a similar upgrade would be greatly appreciated, as I don't wish to lose any of the music I have stored on the existing drive.

Many thanks.

Over the weekend I downloaded a package called EaseUS, which allows an existing partition to be extended into unused space on an SSD.

First, I removed the SanDisk 2TB SSD from my Meridian MC200 and connected it to my laptop using an SSD-to-USB interface. Using EaseUS, I extended the existing partition into the previously unused area of the SSD.

The laptop — an Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1065G7 CPU @ 1.30GHz (1.50GHz) — took just over 2½ hours to complete the operation. Once finished, I checked the SSD on the laptop and confirmed that the partition was now approximately 1.8TB.

I then refitted the SanDisk 2TB SSD into the Meridian MC200. With the multitude of screws involved, taking the MC200 apart is a bit like Fort Knox!

I switched the Meridian back on and tested it using my iPad running Sooloos. Everything worked as expected: the MC200 could see and access all of my music albums.

The only thing I wasn't initially sure about was how to check the total capacity of the drive from within Sooloos. I eventually found that, using the Meridian Control PC software on my laptop, the drive capacity could be viewed under Information. It showed approximately 1.8TB, confirming that the partition expansion had been successful.

To make absolutely sure everything was functioning correctly, I then used Control PC to download a 96/24 album from my laptop to the MC200. The album transferred in around 10 minutes. I was then able to use the iPad and Sooloos to play back the new album without any problems.

So, the upgrade has been a complete success. My Meridian system — comprising the DSP5200.2, AC200, MC200 and MSR — is now happily playing 96/24 music from the enlarged SSD.

I would like to thank everybody on the forum for all the help and advice. It was extremely useful and gave me the confidence to carry out the upgrade.

If anyone else is considering upgrading the hard drive/SSD in their Meridian MC200, please don't hesitate to contact me. I'm happy to share my experience of the process.