MQA is Vaporware

[MikeyFresh]

29 minutes ago, Tintinabulum said:

I don't think you're the target market. More installer, which is quite profitable

 

Thats a big nothing burger, everyone knows the traditional HiFi sales channel has been tilting towards custom install since the early 90s with the advent of home theater and 5.1 systems. Thats true for nearly all brands, not just Meridian.

 

That said, I'm not sure how to lose £40 million while supplying that profitable installer market, unless of course you've done a very bad job of it.

[Tintinabulum]

13 minutes ago, MikeyFresh said:

Which history would that be, the one where Meridian lost a cumulative £40 million with their fantastic product offerings and savvy business acumen?

The history where they made excellent hifi products, the first digital actives for instance. The Hifi history, not the money history. I thought this site was about Hifi, not money. Shoot me....

[Tintinabulum]

9 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Words to never be in the same sentence as Meridian. As evidenced by their continued multimillion pound losses.

Yup, as I said "soft target". For me it's about Hifi, not how much money a company makes. Their excellent products e.g. DSP speakers are exceedingly good value. But don't let listening to good music on good, cheap equipment distract the group from MQA hate...

[botrytis]

4 minutes ago, Tintinabulum said:

The history where they made excellent hifi products, the first digital actives for instance. The Hifi history, not the money history. I thought this site was about Hifi, not money. Shoot me....

 

If MQA is about Hi Fi - I can shoot you. No worries there

 

MQA is all about money..... Most Hi Fi is. At least it is now. On one forum it is all about being the best dumpster diver, on others it is 'your system is not resolving enough. It all comes down to money.

[The Computer Audiophile]

2 minutes ago, Tintinabulum said:

Yup, as I said "soft target". For me it's about Hifi, not how much money a company makes. Their excellent products e.g. DSP speakers are exceedingly good value. But don't let listening to good music on good, cheap equipment distract the group from MQA hate...

Guess the market must be dumb if it missed these great values. 

[Tintinabulum]

13 minutes ago, MikeyFresh said:

home theater and 5.1 systems

They do indeed make excellent 5.1 systems, ever heard one? I doubt it. How much of the £40m was installer related?

[Tintinabulum]

2 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Guess the market must be dumb if it missed these great values.

errr actually yes Chris. I challenge you to pick up a pair of say 7200.2s, put a decent source throughout and listen. 

 

You believe the market is intelligent? Multi thousand dollar cables? Yes the market can be dumb but have a listen and speak from experience maybe...

[Confused]

2 hours ago, firedog said:

 

No connection to USB DACs. Only SPDIF and Meridian proprietary link. It seems to be intended for use with Meridian equipment.

Agreed.  Although another way of looking at it is that most “network attached endpoint” devices only have USB out, which is of no use to someone who has a DAC that works best with S/PDIF input, or a DAC that does not have USB input at all.  I have zero idea if it will be any good though.  I also suspect is popularly may be poor on this thread.🙁  

 

I also see that it appears to have a blue light, which is nice.

[Tintinabulum]

8 minutes ago, botrytis said:

If MQA is about Hi Fi

And if we weren't talking about Meridian and it's excellent product history, you'd have a point. But you don't.

[kumakuma]

8 minutes ago, Tintinabulum said:

Yup, as I said "soft target". For me it's about Hifi, not how much money a company makes. Their excellent products e.g. DSP speakers are exceedingly good value. But don't let listening to good music on good, cheap equipment distract the group from MQA hate...

 

Interesting products.

 

I'm not sure I would use the word "cheap" to refer to speakers that range in price from  £3,300.00 to £26,000.00 a pair.

[botrytis]

2 minutes ago, Tintinabulum said:

And if we weren't talking about Meridian and it's excellent product history, you'd have a point. But you don't.

 

I have heard their stuff and there was better out there and cheaper too, to me.

 

But I do have a point. If their products were as good as you say, they would have sold well, but they don't. So what does that say?

[Tintinabulum]

2 minutes ago, kumakuma said:

I'm not sure I would use the word "cheap" to refer to speakers that range in price from  £3,300.00 to £26,000.00 a pair.

List prices only. You can buy an excellent active speaker for £600, just add a streamer, you'd be amazed. Really.

I'm listening to a list price pair £18500, you can pick them up in mint condition for under £6000. 

List prices are mainly for the brand imaging...

There were bit niche but now you can just plug a streamer in, possibly the best kept secret in hifi...

[Tintinabulum]

4 minutes ago, botrytis said:

So what does that say?

Err people don't know how good they are? They are niche? They don't market them?

I doubt you've listened to many DSP speakers with a decent source input. 

This is about MQA hate, not hifi, it won't result in a serious conversation unfortunately. 

Get a pair of 6ks, get someone to re-cap the PS, possibly other caps. Probably $2500, stunning for the money. 

Hate blinds (and deafens).

[botrytis]

Just now, Tintinabulum said:

Err people don't know how good they are? They are niche? They don't market them?

I doubt you've listened to many DSP speakers with a decent source input. 

This is about MQA hate, not hifi, it won't result in a serious conversation unfortunately. 

Get a pair of 6ks, get someone to re-cap the PS, possibly other caps. Probably $2500, stunning for the money. 

Hate blinds (and deafens).

 

 

I have - Linn was one and there were others. Nice but for the cost, not enough of an interest to me.

[Ishmael Slapowitz]

1 hour ago, Tintinabulum said:

I don't think you're the target market. More installer, which is quite profitable and something you'll struggle to sour.

If you want to have a go, they dropped Airplay from this product. Not a good move.

 

Meridian are an easy target for you guys, It doesn't change their history though and bang on as much as you like, there's some excellent, exceedingly well price Meridian audio gear out there that play music very well indeed. You've got the wrong guy...

Why am I not surprised Meridian's White Knight appears on cue to defend the honor....

 

The wrong guy? It was posted on webzines distinctly targeted at consumers.  

[Ishmael Slapowitz]

46 minutes ago, MikeyFresh said:

 

Thats a big nothing burger, everyone knows the traditional HiFi sales channel has been tilting towards custom install since the early 90s with the advent of home theater and 5.1 systems. Thats true for nearly all brands, not just Meridian.

 

That said, I'm not sure how to lose £40 million while supplying that profitable installer market, unless of course you've done a very bad job of it.

Exactly. Well stated.

 

The fact is most of Meridian's products were square pegs trying to fit into round holes.

 

Stuart had an absurdly poor ability to read the market..no stand alone DAC until 2017???  $25,000 CD

players (with a built in preamp lol) when the market was dying? And we could go on.

[Confused]

3 hours ago, Ishmael Slapowitz said:

 

And when did John Dark get a middle initial?

Around about the time his birth was registered, I would imagine.....

[MikeyFresh]

29 minutes ago, Tintinabulum said:

They do indeed make excellent 5.1 systems, ever heard one? I doubt it. How much of the £40m was installer related?

 

It doesn't matter, there was no profit, only losses each year totaling over £40m. Giant failure of a company in HiFi marketplace terms, without significant and repeated cash infusion they'd be long gone by now.

 

I agree the DSP speakers are both very good sounding and were early trend setters, I first heard them in 2004 and they had already been around a while. However I don't think they represent any kind of substantial value, they are quite expensive and so taken in that context, not as impressive at all.

 

No I haven't heard any Meridian 5.1 systems ever, and that's by choice, I have zero interest in 5.1 in general and that's not at all limited to Meridian product.

[John_Atkinson]

1 minute ago, Ishmael Slapowitz said:

no stand alone DAC until 2017???

Hate to interrupt a rant with facts, but Meridian's 203 DAC was introduced in 1990.

See https://www.stereophile.com/digitalprocessors/990meridian/index.html

 

John Atkinson

Technical Editor, Stereophile

[MikeyFresh]

23 minutes ago, Tintinabulum said:

Get a pair of 6ks, get someone to re-cap the PS, possibly other caps. Probably $2500, stunning for the money. 

Hate blinds (and deafens).

 

Who cares, now your just blathering on about buying used HiFi at a bargain price. Thats off topic in this thread.

 

28 minutes ago, Tintinabulum said:

List prices are mainly for the brand imaging...

 

Umm, no...list prices are generally what you'd pay if you walk into a dealer and wish to buy high-end audio brand new in box.

[MikeyFresh]

10 minutes ago, John_Atkinson said:

Hate to interrupt a rant with facts, but Meridian's 203 DAC was introduced in 1990.

 

How many years did they go with no standalone DAC in their lineup at all?

[Rt66indierock]

20 minutes ago, Tintinabulum said:

Err people don't know how good they are? They are niche? They don't market them?

I doubt you've listened to many DSP speakers with a decent source input. 

This is about MQA hate, not hifi, it won't result in a serious conversation unfortunately. 

Get a pair of 6ks, get someone to re-cap the PS, possibly other caps. Probably $2500, stunning for the money. 

Hate blinds (and deafens).

 

Well consider the OP has listened to Alan Sides speakers with his own material. So the source is as good as you can get and his actives sound stunning. Better than the Meridians by in my opinion a large margin. The reason better quality drivers.

 

Yep we don't like MQA but your comments here are only your attempt to disrupt the thread. And any serious discussion of actives probably excludes you.

 

Hate doesn't always blind many times it sharpens focus. But in your case your hate of us is blinding you.

 

 

[Rt66indierock]

27 minutes ago, John_Atkinson said:

Hate to interrupt a rant with facts, but Meridian's 203 DAC was introduced in 1990.

See https://www.stereophile.com/digitalprocessors/990meridian/index.html

 

John Atkinson

Technical Editor, Stereophile

 

Thanks for the facts it is what I expect from the Technical Editor of a heritage magazine.

[crenca]

1 minute ago, Rt66indierock said:

 

Thanks for the facts it is what I expect from the Technical Editor of a heritage magazine.

 

Now if said magazine only printed the facts that its Tech Ed acknowledges to be true 😉

[The Computer Audiophile]

1 hour ago, Tintinabulum said:

errr actually yes Chris. I challenge you to pick up a pair of say 7200.2s, put a decent source throughout and listen. 

 

You believe the market is intelligent? Multi thousand dollar cables? Yes the market can be dumb but have a listen and speak from experience maybe...

Trust me, I’ve been wooed by Meridian many times but the demos were all ho-hum. I’ve spent time with the systems elsewhere as well. 

 

Its a neat concept but performance wise it’s a no-go for me. Dutch & Dutch smokes anything Meridian has ever made.