Products of the Year

Joint Home Theater Components of 1995

Audio Research SDP1 Multichannel Music Processor ($2995; reviewed by J. Gordon Holt and John Atkinson, Vol.18 No.8, August 1995 Review)
Meridian Digital Home Theatre ($16,325–$34,785/system; reviewed by J. Gordon Holt and Thomas J. Norton, Vol.18 No.6, June 1995 Review)

Finalists (in alphabetical order):
B&W Cinema THX loudspeaker system ($7000/system; reviewed by Thomas J. Norton, Vol.17 No.10, October 1994; and Stereophile Guide to Home Theater, Vol.1 No.1, December 1994)
Energy Reference Video Loudspeaker System ($2250/system; reviewed by Robert Harley, Stereophile Guide to Home Theater, Vol.1 No.2, September 1995)
Infinity Composition Prelude surround speaker system ($4448/system; reviewed by Robert Harley, Vol.18 No.9, and Stereophile Guide to Home Theater, Vol.1 No.2, both September 1995 Review)
Meridian 565 digital surround-sound processor ($3595; reviewed by J. Gordon Holt and Thomas J. Norton, Vol.18 No.6, June 1995)
Snell Music & Cinema Reference loudspeaker system ($29,393/system; reviewed by Thomas J. Norton, Vol.18 No.7, July 1995)

The ARC SDP1 is a non-Dolby system that handles movie soundtracks amazingly well, for a system that lacks steering, but JGH, WP, and SS—among others—were even more impressed by its impact on two-channel music recordings. The SDP1 can put the ambient space of a recording around you rather than in front of you, an effect that also enhances the perceived "realness" of the instruments within that acoustic. In J. Gordon Holt's opinion, this processor should dispel any misgivings that music-listening audiophiles have concerning surround-sound.

The Meridian Digital Theatre may well be the most versatile surround-sound unit on the planet: every parameter is adjustable—and in the digital domain to boot! Yet the unit is fabulously transparent, musically. JA, the magazine's token two-channel hard-liner, has been heard to mutter that even he could be persuaded to go multi- if the results are this involving. Palpability, stage-depth, and a beguilingly attractive tonal response all earned praise from our reviewers.

On the other hand, TJN and JGH both felt that the MDT was better suited for music playback than Home Theater use, citing the sweetness of the sound as a softening of detail. Even so, JGH concluded that he could be persuaded to succumb to its charms, asserting, "It sounds so damned good in so many respects."

The cost for the 565's total flexibility is a bafflingly complex control system that is anything but intuitive. Listening to its lush, spacious, involving presentation, one is tempted to forgive it much more than that. The 565 may offer a glimpse of the possibilities awaiting us in digital, multichannel musical enjoyment. A cheering thought, and a job well-done.