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All of the digital adjustments are available from the Meridian System Remote. The processed digital datastreams for each speaker's drive-unit feeds are sent to four 24-bit/192kHz delta-sigma D/A chips, the outputs of which drive the power-amplifier modules. Five separate bipolar amplifiers are used in each speaker: three 150W amps each drive a pair of woofers, while two 100W modules drive the tweeter-and-midrange unit. According to Meridian's downloadable literature on the '8000, these low-feedback amplifiers offer "extremely low noise, high detail, and fast bass" due to "the combination of…
"Wait a minute," I hear you say. "Doesn't the Technics downsample/truncate to 16/48 from its digital output?"
Well, no. The DSP8000's front-panel display unambiguously showed "PCM 96kHz," and I checked the data format with RME's DIGICheck software. It appears that it is not the player but the disc, and therefore the content provider, that controls the presence or absence of a hi-rez digital output. Put a Classic or Chesky DVD-V disc in a DVD player and, provided the manufacturer has included the necessary double-speed interface hardware—Technics, Panasonic, Pioneer do; Toshiba, Onkyo,…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Remote-controlled, powered, three-and-a-half-way, floorstanding, sealed-box loudspeaker with two Meridian Comms ports (5-pin DIN), 9-pin D connector for RS-232 PC setup and control (null modem, 9600 baud, 2N1, no handshake), two digital (S/PDIF) inputs, and one digital (S/PDIF) output mirroring selected input. As supplied, handles input sample rates of up to 96kHz; FIFO buffer locks at 44.1, 48, 88.2, or 96kHz, ±150ppm (LPCM or MHR encoding); 176.4kHz or 192kHz supported with special firmware and cabling. Drive-units: 1" (25.4mm) composite-dome…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: Meridian 800 DVD-V/CD/CD-R player; Apple Macintosh 8100, 80MHz, fitted with two Sonic Solutions SSP3 digital audio workstation NuBus cards, connected via 15' TosLink optical link; Technics DVD-A10 DVD-A player; Accuphase DP-100 SACD transport and DC-101 D/A processor (this used from its balanced analog outputs and redigitized at 24/96 with a dCS 904 A/D converter).
Equalization/format conversion: Z-Systems rdp-1 digital control center (updated to handle 96kHz sources).
Cables: Datalink: AudioQuest SVD-4, Meridian S/PDIF. AC:…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
Performing acoustic measurements on a speaker that has only a digital input posed some problems, as the DRA Labs MLSSA system I use for all of my loudspeaker tests outputs only an analog signal. I therefore digitized the MLSSA stimulus at 24 bits/88.2kHz with a dCS 904 A/D converter, and converted the AES/EBU datastream to S/PDIF using a Z-Systems rdp-1, this set to do nothing but convert formats. The peak level of the digital signal, measured with a Dorrough digital-domain meter, was -6dBFS.
The second problem involved the sheer bulk of the DSP8000—it was…
But before you jump to any conclusion about the subjective effects of this behavior, look again at fig.1: The midrange unit narrows its dispersion in the exact region where the on-axis response is a little "hot." Similarly, the tweeter's lower-octave flare occurs where the on-axis response begins to plateau down. In a typical listening room, the '8000's on- and off-axis behaviors will tend to balance each other, resulting in a neutral perceived balance.
However, the use of a short horn surrounding the tweeter dome does increase that drive-unit's directivity above 11kHz or so. In all but…
"You can't get deep bass in your room," a reviewer from another magazine who'd never visited my room insisted recently on the phone. "Do you know how long a 20Hz bass wave is? It's 40 feet long, and your room is tiny."
"Then I guess headphones can't reproduce any frequency longer than the length of the ear canal, which, of course, is absurd." I responded. "That would mean headphones can't reproduce midrange—not to mention bass. And we all know they can."
The problem with small rooms isn't that they can't do deep bass, it's that below the frequency of the smallest standing wave (a…
The Rhea includes two controls to deal with "room gain." One adjusts for the amount of increase in level below the standing-wave mode, and the other compensates for the frequency at which the pressurization occurs in the room. In other words, the first deals with "room stiffness," the second with room size. The "stiffer" the room—ie, the less the walls flex—the greater will be the amplitude rise below the pressurization frequency. The more the walls flex, the more "leakage" of low bass into the outside world. The smaller the room, the higher the frequency at which pressurization occurs.…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Powered subwoofer. Drive-units: two 101/2" Vifa coated-paper-cone woofers. Amplifier: 300W, with velocity feedback circuit. Frequency response: 10Hz-80kHz +/-3dB, restrictable to 35Hz, 46Hz, and 61Hz. Maximum SPL: 98dB at 10Hz, >110dB from 30Hz up. Input impedance: 600 ohms. Suggested room size: 125-1050 sq. ft. with average ceiling height (around 2400 cubic feet).
Dimensions: 29" H by 18.5" W by 18.5" D. Weight: 88 lbs.
Finishes: Cherry, white, black ash, or custom.
Serial number of unit reviewed: 059.
Price: $5995. Approximate…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Lyra Parnassus D.C.t and Koetsu Urushi phono cartridges, VPI TNT Mk.IV turntable, Graham 2.0 tonearm; Simon Yorke Series 7 turntable/arm, Immedia RPM arm.
CD players: Bow Technologies ZZ-Eight and Naim CDX CD players.
Preamplification: Ayre K-3, Jadis JP 80 Mk.2, Stax SRM-T1W passive line section.
Power amplifiers: VTL MB-450 and Conrad-Johnson Premier Twelve tube monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: Sonus Faber Concerto Grand Piano, NHT Super One, Audio Physic Virgo.
Cables: Yamamura Millennium 6000, Cardas Golden Cross, and Electra-…