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Because, most of the time, I used the Meridian gear as a complete system, only limited comparisons were made to specific reference equipment. However, the resident system at the time of the Meridian auditions was as follows:

Digital sources: California Audio Labs CL20 DVD/CD player, Meridian 508-24 CD player, Mark Levinson No.360 D/A converter.
Preamplifiers: Klyne 6L3.3P, Sonic Frontiers Line 3.
Power amplifiers: McCormack DNA-1 (with Rev.A modifications), Sonic Frontiers Power 2.
Loudspeakers: PSB Gold-i.
Cables: Interconnects: Cardas…

Looking at the Meridian 800's performance as a CD player from its OA20 digital/analog card, its output impedance was a low 47.5 ohms from the single-ended outputs, and almost twice that figure at 94.8 ohms from the balanced XLR jacks. The player didn't invert absolute polarity with the absolute phase set to "+," and the XLRs were wired with pin 2 positive. Although the volume control operates in 1dB steps up to an indicated "99," the analog output stage clipped with a full-scale digital signal when set to "88." All subsequent measurements were…

Channel separation revealed the usual 6dB/octave decrease with frequency, due to capacitive coupling between the channels, but was still…

Although Kal used the DSP5000s as rear-channel speakers, they are respectable full-range speakers in their own right. I thus performed a complete set of measurements using the DRA Labs MLSSA system, a calibrated B&K microphone, and a dCS 904 A/D converter running at 96kHz sampling to convert the analog test signal to digital.

As a digital-input active speaker, the DSP5000 doesn't have a meaningful voltage-sensitivity rating. However, driving it with a noise signal at -12dBFS and with its volume control set to "70" (out of a possible "99…

Fig.15 Meridian DSP5000, step response on tweeter axis at 50" (5ms time window, 30kHz bandwidth).

Other than the tweeter resonance,…

For logistic reasons, I measured only the Center version of the DSP6000. However, as this model differs from the side version only in the angle of the head-unit's sidewalls, this set of measured data should be representative of all three speakers.

The DSP6000 appeared to be around 0.5dB more sensitive than the DSP5000 with the same noise signal at -12dBFS and a volume setting of "70." The difference is inconsequential. The balance averaged across a 30 degree horizontal window on the tweeter axis (fig.18) was almost as flat as the DSP5000's…

They say you never forget your first time, and that's certainly true of my first experience of the Meridian Reference 800 player ($17,000-$19,000) and Reference 861 preamplifier-processor (also $17,000-$19,000), reported on in the February 2000 issue. As it was also my first exposure to multichannel sound—in the context of a full Meridian system including their DSP6000 and DSP5000 powered speakers, no less—I was deeply impressed.

Now I can look back and see what I missed. I…

Which is why I suggested to John Atkinson that JMlab's Mezzo Utopia would make a good subject for my first Stereophile loudspeaker…

The slim tweeter baffle is made of solid Tauari hardwood and looks similar to the side panels, while the upper and lower…