Meridian vs Genelec vs Event Opal etc

[crimsondonkey]

Friend came round to listen to my Opals the other day, largely out of curiosity because he's not heard an active speaker, and perhaps also to tell me they're not nearly as good as I've been banging on about!

Two tracks in and he was grinning ear to ear. We listened for about 3-4 hours, it was just 'one more track' over and over. We moved them into a bigger room and I know from experience what this will do in terms of expanding the size and solidity of the stereo imaging. Anyway in short he was really impressed - staggered actually.

He came back a couple of days later just to make sure he hadn't imagined it, and in the intervening period had clearly reflected on what's possible with an active set up. He's looked at all manner of alternatives out of curiosity, including the usual suspects of ATC, Meridian and Genelec etc. I've not listened to many other actives myself so couldn't really advise him, apart from telling him to go listen for himself.

So, the advice I'm seeking on his behalf is some sort of guidance as to the relative merits of alternatives to Opals:

- He isn't so keen on ATCs when he heard them (a while back) and imagined sneaking a pair of classic active 50's in might be tricky.

- He's not sure about the Genelecs ('too big or too small' / 'bland looking') but open to persuasion

- Thinks that Meridian styling would be easier on the WAF but not sure which to go for (5200/ 5500/ 6000/ 7000/ 7200 at a push)

- Likes the idea of DSP

- Has a TT, I presume you need an ADC or similar with the Gen's/ Meridians)

I'd also be interested in the relative merits compared to the Opals (no not thinking of upgrading, plenty of other places to pour my money thanks).

Let the wisdom commence!

 

[Purite Audio]

Not terribly insightful but ideally he needs to hear all three in his room, and check out the specs , some actives have a/d and d/a built in and some room correction too, which he may or not need/like.

Keith.

 

[tkimages]

I'm running DSP 5200s but I can't comment on them compared to the other speakers you mention as I have not heard them. Meridian products are supposed to have a 'laid back' approach to sound presentation, it doesn't seem that way to me and I come from a full active Linn set up. There was no aspect of the Linn sound that I missed when when I switched over to Meridian. The DSP function allows you to tailor the sound to suit your taste and room placement.

I use a TT and you do need an ADC. I'm using the Meridian one (MPmax221), but I did use a cheaper Behringer one initially which was OK.

 

[crimsondonkey]

@Keith - yes he's definitely interested in room correction as I can see him moving them around the house (chased by wife with broomstick) and therefore needing to be adjusted to different rooms.

@tkimages - two things you said have struck a chord, firstly that from my quick look 5200s looked a good match, and secondly that I had also previously heard Meridians described as laid back too (that had put me off).

So quick question - whats the difference between speakerlink and non SL 5200s (apart from SL!)

Any other comments on the Meridian presentation re the laid back comments - I had wondered whether people meant smooth, or is it really too polite?

 

[Purite Audio]

Crimson, most active monitors will have 'placement' filters for free field, wall ,corner etc.

A few have their own room correction built in, where you would acoustically measure the room etc.

I don't think Meridian are particularly laid back, monitors generally strive for a pretty flat response.

Keith.

 

[Rodney Gold]

I have owned various ATC's , Genelecs , Meridians , KrK etc.

A lot depends on the models you are talking about..the smaller studio actives are well - just that , small speakers with all the same characteristics of any other small speaker I had a small set of genelecs and the KRK vxt8's - you need a sub - but most small actives and ordinary actives have some sort of tone controls , so you can tune them , in a limited way.

ATC's I have owned and heard mostly appear bass shy in a domestic environment .. due to their flatness in this region (most audiophiles prefer an uptilted bass) and have amazing mids - they normally have had to be played at louder levels to come into their own. Look's wise , a matter of taste

Never heard the Event opals , so can't comment

I have owned and listened to the whole meridian range , and despite forays into normal analog and active setups , always come back to them.

I own a set of 24/96 DSP6000's , a set of 18 bit 5000's and a set of 18 bit 5500's

The DSP active speaker is a very elegant solution.. you just need a source if you want to play digital , you will need a processor or an AD to play analog or want to implement Meridian room correction. A used processor with 24/96 ADs wont set you back a fortune and is a good buy for all the other things it can do.

One of the advantage to meridians is the amount of control you have over the sound , you have a 10 db range of treble and bass compensation , you have 3 DSP positioning options , free , wall or corner , virtual speaker tilt and more beside.

There is really not much difference between SL meridians and older ones so long as the older models have 2496 boards. Drivers have not changed ( they might be using a slightly updated tweeter in some new models) and neither has the house sound (slightly laid back at stock settings) but as I said , you can change that and tune them to sound whichever way you want.

The range is divided into 2 sort of models , the slightly lower end ones with front firing ported woofers and the high end models with a separate mid/tweeter head and side firing woofers in a sealed box

The 6000/8000 end of things is capable of huge power and output , more suited to big rooms and relatively far field distances.. the newer models are VERY expensive , but an older set of 24/96 DSP6000's can be had for around 3000quid. They are quite tall big speakers

The newer models have whats called a smiley face display , only the display changed for most of these , so it doesnt make a difference which you get.

It is probably better to get a NON SL model as the method of linking these is just a digital spdif rca cable and meridian coms chord which is purely a din plug with a cables.

The 5000/5200 series is great for smaller rooms , it does however have more midrange colouration over lets say a 5500 or a 6000 as one of the bass drivers does double duty as a mid and bass driver - not that pronounced tho. slim elegant speakers.

The 5500's are really one of the better value products , a 5500.2 with 24/96 boards can be had for 2000 odd quid. HUGE bass power , and the same mid/tweeter performance as the bigger models. Bass power can also overwhelm smaller rooms on this model . They are not small either and sound best with room to breathe - port is a slot at the back.

In terms of room correction , a Meridian processor can be used , the later series of these have MRC .. but they are not that cheap.

I would rather use one of the many DSP room correction devices out there.

In fact , if you use the same one that I use , the Dspeaker antimode 2.0 it already has a 24/192 AD built in so he can run a digital and an analog source and switch between them at will. It also has its own built in tone controls and 16 digital parametric filters and does SUPERB bass correction. Even more ability to tune to taste.

Once again , its not just the speakers that make a difference , but the room it's in , at least with DSP bass correction , you have solved a lot of those problems already

Meridian is more of a domestic solution than the other actives I have owned looks and sound wise . Still has all the good features like unlimited dynamics etc.

I have found they they play all genres of music well , from classical to electronics to heavy metal. Also found them sounding good at lower levels , most likely some loudness compensation in their DSP.

Apart from all that , Meridian DSP speakers make an amazing foundation for multispeaker 2 channel music modes like Trifield and so on and an even better solution for a combination of top class stereo and top class HT if you want to go that route.

 

[Camverton]

I would also like to compare the Opals with Meridian.

I have heard a few Meridian speakers and own a pair of 5500s. I don't think they are in any way polite or laid back; they just present what's on the recording. They aren't coloured sounding and they don't have a fizzed up treble so they could only be considered unexciting when compared with more colourful "speakers".

As to the range, as you go up in size you get a greater sense of scale and the ability to fill a larger room. The newer models seem to have a slightly more refined sound. I auditioned a pair of 5200s with a view to buying but found that they weren't convincing with orchestral music, the whole thing sounding scaled down; maybe a sub would have compensated. The 7200s are wonderful beasts giving weight and scale as well as delicacy when required. If I had the spare cash I would have a pair like a shot, they also look rather nice as well.

I ended up with a second-hand pair of 5500s at less than a quarter of the price of a pair of a second-hand pair of 7200s. They are great speakers but very large and probably with no WAF appeal at all. They can give a weight and power to orchestral music that is very convincing but the treble is sweet enough to cope with a string quartet on overdrive. They can produce a great deal of bass which the inbuilt room placement processing can sort out to a limited extent, but for serious listening one of their processors with room correction is almost essential.

They are probably the nearest thing I have heard from a box that sounds similar to an electrostatic, but without that airy quality that a well positioned electrostatic can give. Mind you, at a processer and a surround system playing music in trifield and it gets pretty close, in some ways giving a better illusion of being in a concert hall.

Speaker link is Meridian's digital connection between their processers and speakers. Earlier non speaker link models accept a standard digital out from a CD player etc although, on the 5500s at least, there are only two inputs so you would still need some form of "digital pre" if you have more sources. They don't accept analogue inputs.

edit: I seem to have repeated some of Rodney's points, but we were composing our replies at the same time - I'm just slower of thought and typing speed!

 

[Rodney Gold]

Good to see that we are independently of the same mind re the speakers/meridian and their sound etc.

 

[eastsoutheast]

I have never found Meridian DSP's to sound laid back. I owned a trio of 5500's and they sounded amazing. They are large speakers but you can find them in many finishes with gloss black and silver looking surprisingly wife friendly for such a large speaker.

The VFM is also fantastic when you consider what you get and as a long time member of Meridian Unplugged I can't recall any stories of failures/breakdowns of DSP speakers.

A pair of 7200's would do for me unless I had the pennies for the 8000's!,

 

[jobseeker]

There are inexpensive ways around the 'speakerlink' connection too if you went for current spec DSP 3200's, 3300's, 5200's or whatever

 

[Tenson]

I've never been more impressed by a standmount active than with the PMC AML1. It really does so many things right they are addictive. The PMC AML2 has now replaced it at a higher cost and from what I read basically no difference.

Yeah I know strictly speaking something like the PMC MB2 or MEG RL901K can be classed as a standmount but I'm thinking of more 'domestic size' speakers.

 

[crimsondonkey]

Thanks all for the helpful comments. I'll be looking to go with him to audition a pair of 5200s. Anyone recommend a friendly dealer in the West Midlands?

 

[Brumjam]

Music Matters in Solihull stock Meridian and have always been helpful whenever I've been for auditions.