Meridian/Sooloos First Offspring

CES 2009

Meridian/Sooloos First Offspring

By Jon Iverson • Posted: Jan 8, 2009

The recent marriage between Meridian and Sooloos didn't take long to bear progeny. They've started resorting the Sooloos line of media server products beginning with the Control:One touchscreen which is now the Control 10.

Next they've developed a tabletop touchscreen called the Control 20 which features a 15" screen (the Control 10 screen is still 17") and along with the 10, an interface on the back allowing it to be directly connected to Meridian's powered speakers and Comm S network.

The Control 20 will retail for $3,500 and is expected to be available in a couple months. Though the prototype being shown at CES is still not finalized, there were also a pair of 12 volt triggers and S/PDIF output on the back.

On the front of the Control 20 is a volume knob, meaning that all you'll need is the touchpanel, some storage, a Sooloos Source and Meridian active loudspeakers to be in business.

We'll have more Sooloos interface news later in the show.

Comments

Submitted by RW on January 9, 2009 - 10:29am.

Who wants that huge touch screen on their table? Laptops are now coming out in 9" screens. This accessory should be designed around a 3.5" or max 5" handheld module. You could carry it around the home or put it on the end table. Everything else should be designed to be hidden away in a data closet.

Submitted by Corbey on January 9, 2009 - 3:30pm.

Is this system designed for anything except impressing your technology-challenged audiophile friends? No thanks. I'll stick with my Squeezebox and Bechmark DAC, with an iTouch as the controller. At least all disk drives and large LCDs are in another room.

Submitted by Crion on January 10, 2009 - 6:08am.

Guys, using small 3" screens like the iPod Touch for controlling is not too great when you have a very large collection. I think that small screens look neat, but when I really want to find something and perhaps make a playlist I go up to my 24" screen.Now, this system is both neater than your stereo systems as it can replace it easily with the Meridian DSP Speakers and this! Talk about something that your kids or wife will cherish!Or are you more (stereo) altar boys? ;-)

Submitted by Corbey on January 11, 2009 - 7:35am.

Crion, for my very large collection, I have a 24-inch monitor attached to the PC that is running my music server. However, I find that I seldom need to use it. From my iTouch, I can choose the music playing in 3 different rooms (either the same or different programs), tune-in Internet radio stations, sync or unsync the playback, separately control the volume, control the power of each unit, and much more.