Description

And now for something completely different... Well for us anyway. This digital uber-system replaces the purist two channel tube system that previously resided in our dedicated listening room (See Main System under same user name). A more modest Meridian based HT system in our livingroom convinced my wife and I that it was possible to integrate music and home theater in one system with results that even a tube audio hardcore like myself could love. We still have some minor tweaking to do. The additional acoustic output of the 5.1 setup may require the fabrication of a few more DIY abfusors. We intend to order some custom Sound Anchor 4 post stands to raise the rear channel DSP5000s a foot or so to clear the couch back better, improve the sense of envolopment further, and better match the tweeter height of the DSP6000s. We will also probably experiment with LC-1 and LC-2 line conditioners on the sub EQ and subwoofers. This is the most fun I've had in this hobby for years!
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Components Toggle details

    • Oracle Audio Technologies Delphi mkV
    Another refugee from our prior two channel setup. This very sexy Canadian table fits in perfectly with our Meridian gear both sonically and visually. Its superior suspension does a brilliant job of isolating the cartridge from the prodigious bottom end output of the DSP loudspeakers.
    • SME Series V
    Not much to say here. The V is continues to be one of the world's best pivoting tonearms.
    • Benz Micro MC Reference
    A great cartridge- our Ref seems to track most anything, is well balanced, and on the forgiving side of neutral. We like it.
    • Audiomat Phono-1 phonostage
    Yup, a bit of a step down from the Aesthetix Io that used to do phonostage duty in our two channel rig! The fact that our vinyl signal gets digitized in the Meridian processor meant that we lost a little resolution here and the Io simply wasn't neccessary anymore. However, the Audiomat is a real overachiever, is very compact, musical, and gets the job done.
    • Enlightened Audio Design T-8000 CD/LD
    This beast of a CD/LD transport has served as the front end of our 2 channel setup for years. It sounds great as a redbook transport, better than the Meridian 598DP in fact. We still have a ton o' laser discs too and through our DVDO scaler they look great.
    • Meridian 598DP
    This is a great DVD player. Not the last word for redbook CD playback but through its MHR smartlink upsampled to a Meridian processor it excels on movie soundtracks. We run the video through an SDI output board into our DVDO scaler and the picture is great.
    • Toshiba HD-XA2 w/ 3X S/PDIF output mod
    The best HD-DVD player made, period. Fantastic SD upscaling playback too with its HQV chip. Shawn at www.switch-box.com installed a 3X S/PDIF output board which outputs the HD audio codecs at full resolution via multi-channel PCM for ideal output to the Meridian 861's muti-channel digital inputs.
    • Sony PS3 Blu-Ray/Game console
    Truth be told, this unit sees little action as it was bought primarily for its gaming capabilities but there have been few game titles I liked to-date. However, it is a great looking Blu-Ray player. One must figure out a way to address the excessive fan noise though. Along with my Xbox 360, the PS3 resides in an adjacent sound-proofed closet . I run 35' lengths of Blue Jeans best Belden HDMI cable to the Radiient HDMI switch and long Toslink cables digital audio to the 861. Noise problem solved...
    • Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite
    The new 360 Elite permits HDMI/DVI connection to my PJ and thus a significanyly better picture than the prior component video-only 360. I LOVE 1st person shooters on my 360 and the big screen- way too much fun! Like the PS3, I deal with the 360's ridiculously loud fan by siting the console in an adjacent sound-proof closet. Long Blue Jeans Belden HDMI and Toslink cables deal with the interconnection requirements.
    • Meridian 861v4.25
    This is a great sounding processor. Yeah everything is digitized- no analog pass-through, but it makes music. Trifield reproduction of both CD and Vinyl is completely satisfying. On movies it is killer! The MHR 3x S/PDIF connection to the 598 DVD player allows an upsampled high bit rate direct digital transfer of the signal. No conventional DVD player/HT processor combo with their redundant DAC and ADC connections can touch Meridian's pure digital approach.
    • Meridian DSP-6000
    Well these are certainly a different approach than the Merlin VSM/ARC tube monoblock combo we used to use. And yet, maybe not. Our old system was tubed and analog front to back. Even our DAC used tubes. The Meridian DSP loudspeakers allow us to keep the signal in the digital domain and at high bit rate (upsampled where required) right through the speakers dsp crossovers and to within inches of the drivers themselves. This is a different kind of purity. Pure digital but similiar in its single-mindedness none-the-less. Our 24/96 DSP6000s are incredibly wideband reproducers, very low destortion, very dynamic, and they image very well. The Merlins were a little more open with their amazing tweeters but can't touch the Meridian's mid and low bass authority.
    • Meridian DSP-5000c
    We would have prefered a matching DSP6000C center but the almost 5' height simply would'nt work with our wall mounted screen. The 24/96 DSP5000C is mounted as high as we could on a 24" high 4 post stand and angled upward towards the listener. We were very happy to discover that this arrangement seemed to work very well for music playback with no apparent sound field discontinuities.
    • Meridian DSP-5000
    The 24/96 DSP5000s are on surround duties. Although they are fairly close the back wall they've been placed using golden ratio principals and deliver a well balanced sound. They are far enough away from the listening position to work well and enjoy the same sidewall abfusor and corner sited tube trap treatments the main speakers do. The result is great Trifield and multi channel music playback and fantastic envelopment for movies. THey are currently on 5" Corian sandbox plinths but we intend to moun t them on 12-16" custom Sound Anchor stands shortly.
    • Paradigm Servo 15 pair
    These potent black beasts are another holdover from my two channel setup. They are sounding the best they ever have with the recent addition of a Behringer Feedback Destroyer digital parametric eq. They now measure flat to 15hz! I only use the Servo 15s for movies now. The bass reach of the Meridian DSP6000s requires no help for music. The Servo 15s rest on large "Brightstar-style" DIY Corian sandboxes in an attempt to minimize the excitation of my hardwood floors.
    • Velodyne SMS-1 Parametric sub EQ
    This parametric sub EQ is conceptually similar to the inexpensive Behringer BFD prosound piece it replaces but has a vastly more friendly user interface. Although the SMS-1 is many times more expensive than the BFD, its ease of use and included measurement mic and real-time display of room response still make it an incredible value. Highly recommended!
    • DVDO iScan HD Plus scaler
    This is a great scaler at a very reasonable price. It is the nerve center of the video side of our system. The Meridian 598 player is connected via SDI and then DVI from the scaler to our projector so the video signal avoids DAC/ADC conversion entirely. The rest of our video sources are connected to the scaler with component or s-video cables.
    • Projectiondesign Action Model One Mk 3
    This new PJ just arrived. Comments to follow...
    • Vutec Silverstar Projection Screen
    A 110" plasma TV! The best fixed mount screen you can buy for DLP, DILA, or LCD projectors.
    • Cardas Golden Reference Phono & RCA ICs
    A holdover from the previous two channel tube setup. Why fix what ain't broke? Here it runs from the Oracle to the AudioMat phono to the Meridian 861.
    • River Cable DigiFlex Gold Plus S/PDIF cables
    The S/PDIF portion of Meridian's M & S digital speaker interconnects are simply dreck. The problem was that I required 30 meters of S/PDIF cable total. River Cable came to the rescue with this ridiculously affordable cable. It handily bested the stock wires. In fact it is so good I may not bother upgrading it. Highly recommended!
    • Kimber Illuminations D-60 S/PDIF cable
    I run this cable between the EAD transport and the Meridian transport. I used to run an AES/EBU Illuminations Orchid between the same transport and my SF Dac. My Meridian gear only accepts S/PDIF so this was an easy choice.
    • Stereovox XV2 1.5m S/PDIF cables
    These are used in sets of three between both the 598DP and modded XA2's multi-channel digital outs and the corresponding inputs on the 861. The best value in an S/PDIF cable!
    • River Cable Audiflex Gold RCA
    Again a well made, ridiculously affordable interconnect I simply use to feed the LFE output of my Processor to the Behringer sub EQ.
    • River Cable Starflex Subwoofer RCA
    Truth be told, any well shielded decent interconnects would have done the job here. These looked great, are very affordable and actually sound a little better than the Monster sub cables I'd originally bought with my Servo 15s.
    • Foundation Research LC-1 and LC-2 conditioners
    No downsides whatsoever. These are simply the only line conditioning product I've found that when operated within their current capabilities are totally beneficial. A (way) lower noise floor, increased dynamics, improved air and space, improved bass clarity and power- these are just some of the things that ED W's little black boxes accomplish. I run one of these dedicated power conditioners on everything but the PJ!
    • Target welded steel 2 & 3 shelf racks
    I use 3 of these, one particularly robust version for my Oracle turntable. I have a bunch of DIY "Brightstar-style" Corian sandboxes that rest on the racks and support all the gear.
    • DIY Corian Sandboxes
    These were a, "If MDF works great for the Brightstar originals, Corian must be even better." -sort of idea. A local Corian installer built 'em for me. They worked fantastic under all the tube gear we once owned. All the new gear is still really new and I haven't really experimented with isolation and footers yet under the Meridian stuff. I just plopped it all down where the old stuff sat. I'm sure it can't hurt.
    • Black Diamond Racing Cones, Pucks, Record Clamp, & Shelf
    This stuff simply works! I've yet to try a BDR product I didn't like. Highly recommended!

Comments 4

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Owner
System edited: System edited to include new 861 Pre/Pro, HD-DVD player, and the pair of game consoles along with their interconnect requirememts.

vincehoffman

Owner
System edited: Updated with pre/pro and sub EQ upgrades.

vincehoffman

Owner
System edited: Added some photos...

vincehoffman

Owner
An update...

We recently received new custom Sound Anchor stands for the center and surround speakers. The guys at Sound Anchors are great and the custom order process is painless. The stands are custom 4 post models, their best. They are the best speaker stands I've used, better than the Target Reference R4(?) stand I used under the center previously. The center channel stand puts the speaker in about the same place as the previous stand- about 22" off the floor. The 4 post Sound Anchor has a larger footprint and tubing and weighs much more than the 4 pillar Target did when filled with sand. Thev rear stands are only a foot tall. They get the DSP5000 tweeter axis above the back of the couch, into line with the much taller DSP6000s up front. The sonic payoff is a cleaner, tighter bottom end, and better surround envelopment. These were money well spent!

I also built 8 addition abfusors panels. I bought some Grey GoM fabric to cover the new panels and re-cover the old ones, some ceiling absorbers, and my DIY tube traps to match. The extra panels were placed at the first and second sidewall reflection points of the surrounds and the remainder distributed higher up on the walls to eliminate some ringing in the upper mids. The ceiling panels were re-positioned to absorb the ceiling reflection of all 5 speakers. A good thing! The GoM fabric panels look much better. the repositioning and addition of more abfusers has completely removed the slap echo in the room without sucking the life out of it.
The sound is much cleaner at HT blockbuster volumes now, and big improvements in soundstage localization and suirround envelopment.

Happy Trails!
[email protected]

vincehoffman