General Asylum: REVIEW: Meridian 861 DAC Processors by John C.

Background

The author has been involved with analog sound in its various forms since the 1950's and has accumulated several thousand LPs, mainly of classical genre ranging from Baroque & Early, through instrumental, chamber, orchestral & choral to opera. The collection also features some jazz and other artists of renoun in the more popular field. This vinyl collection is reproduced in fine detail, articulation, soundstage etc via a Dynavector Te Kaitora on a FR64X arm mounted on to a Townshend table fed into a Plinius M14 phono amp. This is a reference system that up to now, has not been approached by attempts to reproduce PCM redbook digital. In comparison to the superb analog sound, many digital signals have sounded harsh and gritty on both CDs and the many operatic & other music LDs in the collection. At best the sound was tolerable. At worst it was unlistenable. The main audio DAC at this time was a Theta Pro Basic IIIA.

In an attempt (successful) to avoid room resonance & other problems our new house was designed around a large (350 sq ft, 6300 cubic ft) elongated pentagonally shaped room with cathedral ceiling. Walls are plaster over double brick, the floor is carpeted over a concrete slab and the ceiling has special mineral fibre fire retardant insulative tiles which have proven to have excellent acoustic properties as well. This room is used for three purposes - as a lounge living room, as an audio room and as a home theatre. A Barco 808S and Barco VSE40 (switcher & line quadrupler) has been installed for the latter purpose. Various HT processors have been used, a Fosgate 2 being the most suceesful. A Lexicon CP3 proved incompatible and a Technics 500 was a disaster in attempts to hear DD.

The Meridian has now been in place 3 months and it has taken this time to properly configure it and to fully appreciate the audio it processes.

The Audio System

A Plinius M16 preamp handles all analog signals while the Meridian looks after digital signals from a Theta Data III player (CDs & LDs), a Pioneer 1750 LD player (PAL LDs only) and a Toshiba K310 DVD player. A custom built quality switching system allows output from the Meridian to be bypassed so the analog signal passes through unprocessed although this has proven to be unecessary as described in an earlier post.

A P300 power generator tops off the front end audio (and video) control.

The main stereo output from the preamps feeds to a Bryston 10B crossover via Siltech cabling and above 300 hz at 18 db per octave to a Plinius SA 250 IV to custom built 9.5 foot high electrostatic speakers via Van den Hul cabling. Below 200 hz at 12 db/octave slope feeds to a Plinius SA 100 III to KEF B139's in transmission line enclosures.

A centre channel from the Meridian is biamped to another Plinius SA 100 and a pair of VASS electrostatic speakers for signals above 300 hz & to a third B139 in a tuned vented enclosure below. A Dahlquist DLP1 active crossover is used here. Side channels go through a custom 200 watt mosfet amp to Celection SL600's at the moment. These are to be soon replaced with a pair of custom made VASS electrosts. Rear speakers are custom made electrostats (same breed as the main stereo pair) fed by a RB 850 Rotel amp while the surround subs are Alpine DDW F30A (car) drivers in tuned reflex enclosures driven by a Rotel 960Bx amp.

It is a complex system with Siltech, Kimber and Transparent reference cabling in the important interconnects and van den Hul and Audioquest speaker cabling featuring in the front three channels. All front end components are on shelving set in a cupboard between the lounge and the sunroom behind so cabling etc is easily accessed from the rear. The Plinius amps are on a special open metal frame in the room behind. I consider this arrangement of components effectively isolates them from any feedback or resonance effects. It involves long runs of speaker cabling but quality van den Hul & Audioquest components seem to work effectively.

The Meridian 861 DAC

This is an expensive and sophisticated piece of componentry. It took months to come to terms to its cost and has taken a similar time to learn how to effectively control it. It is, like most computers, card based so it can be configured to individual requirements. Already having control of our video signals through the BARCO, the 861 under review is only fitted with an analog input card, two digital input cards (one accepting AED/BSU transparent cabling from the Theta Data III) and RCA outs. The system is dead quiet so no attempt has been made to use balanced options.

The 861 is most easily configured using a computer. Speaker loadings, distances, designation of initial DSP mode etc are relatively easily managed from the keyboard. Easy if you have a laptop, but a bit of a pain, if like us, you do not. Using the manual is not as simple and easy to follow as one could wish, but, once over the initial awe of it all, configuring is not too bad.

The sound of the 861 on 2 channel PCM stereo

In a word - magic. I would never have thought that digital sound could be so delicate, have such a soundstage, be goosebump generating etc etc. Violins, which previously sounded quite gritty, waft through with an analog like authority.

I read posts on AA attributing better bass to digital than analog, analog better than digital in â€¦. but my conclusions are that, given good equipment, the quality of the final sound is more a function of the software than the medium. We get superb bass from both analog & digital, thanks to carefully tuned and placed speakers and first class amplification by Plinius.

The 861 will not turn purely recorded digital into nirvana sound. Most of these poorer recorded discs come from the early 80's and, unfortunately quite a few of our music laserdiscs are from this era. The sound is better through the 861 than previously, but some hardness and harshness remains. I have been told that a lot of that is attributable to recordings done at an odd sampling rate which had to be later converted to the redbook standard for commercial release.

Conclusion

Posts praising digital sound as being the equal of vinyl analog seem to irritate some vinyl enthusiasts just as posts praising the joy some inmates get from vinyl analog seems to irritate others. Both attitudes are somewhat childish and I must confess to previously belonging in the former camp. Components now exist which offer quality music reproduction for both formats. And this is the bottom line - enjoying the music. Basically it is irrelevant which medium is chosen and arguments about which is to be preferred become more subjective than objective and are ultimately pointless. As for me, we have thousands of beautifully recorded LPs which we will continue to enjoy. However the 861 has now opened the door to CD purchases and has made our laserdisc collection much more listenable and enjoyable.

REVIEW: Meridian 861 DAC Processors Review by John C. - Aussie at Audio Asylum