News

This is the time of year we are generally inundated with press releases announcing new home theater products that debuted at CEDIA Expo last week (and as audionerds, er 'philes, we are fascinated, of course). However, this year we also received word of some interesting audio products from two of the most consistently innovative high-end audio companies, Meridian and Classé.

Meridian's newest and shiniest: Meridian announced an audacious new active analog in-wall loudspeaker, the $2185/each M420, which is based on the company's popular digital DSP420. The M420 utilizes a 25mm silk dome tweeter, driven by a 65W amplifier, and twin 5" carbon-fiber midrange/bass cones, driven by an 85W amplifier. The M420's cabinet is aluminum and incorporates back damping, giving it "exceptionally low cabinet coloration."

Also new is Meridian's latest compact DSP (digital signal processing) loudspeaker, the DSP3100, which replaces the DSP33. The speaker comes in two configurations: a vertical model and a horizontal one (presumably aimed at center channel duty in a home theater setup). Both feature high-efficiency long-throw doped carbon-fiber bass drivers (a single 6" for the vertical model or dual 5.25" for the horizontal model) and "a very high quality" 1" drive-unit with a doped-fabric dome. The drivers are powered "directly by independent high-power, low-feedback amplifiers fed from an audiophile-grade power supply with a substantial toroidal transformer."

The DSP3100's DSP is provided by a Motorola 56367 running at 150MHz; dual 24-bit multi-bit delta-sigma converters handle the D/A conversion. The vertical unit features a two-way rear-ported design, while the horizontal center is a 2.5-way closed-box design.

The DSP3100 will ship in October 2005. The vertical units retail for $4795/pair; stands add $595 per pair. The horizontal model retails for $2895/each, and its stand adds $345. An active analog version, the M3100, will be released "later."

Meridian is also adding two subwoofers to its product lineup: a 12" model, the $3949/each SW1600, and the $4995 dual-12" SW5500. Both employ class-G high-efficiency ultra-low–output impedance amplifiers.

Both subwoofers accept digital and active analog inputs, allowing them to be connected either to a Meridian digital surround controller or digital source with a digital coax output, or to an analog preamplifier or surround controller with phono or balanced (XLR) outputs. The subwoofers' digital inputs employ 96kHz/24-bit DACs and accept inputs up to 96kHz, including Meridian High Resolution (MHR) signals; this, the company observes, allows digital signals "to remain in digital form until the last possible stage."

Separate analog and digital power supplies derive the juice from "a substantial toroidal transformer feeding high quality, audiophile-grade capacitors."

Classé's class of 2005: Classé debuted its new two-channel preamplifier, the $7000 dual-chassis CP-700. Classé's executive vice president of brand development, Dave Nauber, said, "The CP-700 is central to our firm’s identity ... a design that stands as the standard-bearer among stereo components for performance and sound quality."

The CP-700’s power supply resides in a separate chassis from its signal pathways and incorporates three fully discrete transformers with multiple secondary windings. Left and right channels are delivered by independent voltage and current sources (two each, since it is a differential configuration), with another for control, logic, and AC-supply–monitoring circuits. The CP-700's chassis, is a Delta-series–based design that combines aluminum and steel, employing Navcom™ damping feet.

The DC-coupled CP-700 employs instrument-grade buffer-amplifier technology and input-circuit topology that physically disconnects all unused sources’ signals to prevent signal degradation or cross-talk, the firm's press release states. It accommodates stereo line-level sources in balanced or single-ended formats, and provides two-channel output in both formats as well (unbalanced sources are converted via the CP-700's three-stage, true-differential buffer).

The CP-700 has a bright, highly legible color-TFT touchscreen front-panel display, which Classé points out, "not only makes operation all but perfectly self-prompting, [but] also delivers valuable user-customization options, including source-name labeling." A remote control is also provided.

Classé has also introduced a new five-channel power amplifier, the $5000 100Wpc CA-5100. Like its big brother, the 200Wpc CA-5200, the 5100 employs a "massive power supply and enormous current reserves," including a separate supply for control and AC-monitoring systems, and three current-rich, fully discrete audio supplies devoted to front/rear-left, front/rear-right, and center channels, an arrangement the firm says it has "determined to optimize dynamic potential and sonic integrity."

Like the CP-700 and other current Classé designs, the 5100 accepts single-ended and differentially-balanced inputs for each channel. Infrared control, CAN BUS, and DC-trigger control connections are provided, facilitating configuration and integration.

In other Classé news, the firm recently announced that London's Abbey Road Studios has acquisitioned "no fewer than 33 Classé CA-M400 monaural power amplifiers to drive its mixing and reference systems." Dave Nauber comments, "We’re delighted and honored that Abbey Road has chosen the CA-M400 for its amplification needs. To be an integral part of a site associated with so much great music-making in all genres, at the very highest level of professionalism, is a special thing—fittingly, since the CA-M400 is a very special amplifier."