Meridian F80/ Vita R4

[vea]

Has anyone heard the Meridian F80 or the Vita R4? Reviews?

 

[vinod_david]

Hi:

If you've got the budget and channel to source both, I'd put my money on the F80, I mean, the looks alone could kill you, leave alone the SQ; has some rave reviews everywhere.

What's your status, are you serious in getting the above or just interest check ?

 

[gopi]

Haven't heard either. I have the B&W Zeppelin. I am pretty sure F80 is gonna cost a tonne here and lot more than Vita. I would suggest you one thing though. I am myself a proponent of lesser boxes and giving convenience and looks a good thought as well. But, I would say that still Meridian might be pushing the boundaries on the value for money factor. I am thinking you can do better than Meridian but with one box + 2 speakers for the same cost. Unless you are specifically tied to a one box for all. My zeppelin can go loud and also can bring out very good details or even quantity of bass. But, the moment I hear 2 speaker setups its simply that more bigger sounding. I am not talking about loudness, but the wall of sound is quite bigger than single boxes. But of all the one boxes I think the Meridian has got the highest ratings.
Assuming a budget like Meridian which should be around 1.2L to 1.5L, I would recommend quite a few combinations:
1. AVI ADM 9.1 - 80k : just 2 speakers includes dac and remote. No CD or DVD player. You can add a Blu Ray Player like Oppo to this and you can now play Blu Ray as well.
2. Peachtree Audio Nova/Decco 70k, Sonos or Squeeze box duet/touch 25k. No CD player or DVD player. Can be added but then you might find extra boxes.
3. Arcam Solo Mini or regular for around 70k to 1L. CD player but no DVD. If you are interested in only CD player, then this should be fine. You can add rDock for ipod.
4. Benchmark HDR or Pre - 1L and add Quad Actives or Dynaudio Actives. This should push your budget close to 1.75L. At the moment I can suggest you cheap second hand. But this combination probably will give you the most detailed sound of all. Here Benchmark DAC is quite small. so, won't obstruct from anything. You can add a Oppo Blu Ray player as well here making it look like just a player and 2 speakers with one small box hidden or on display.

If you are more keen on beautiful looking speakers another option then the Martin Logan Motion series is just coming to India. These are tiny but very good looking and hopefully performing speakers as well. You can pair this with something like Arcam Solo Mini and hide a subwoofer. These Motion's can be wall mounted easily and are known to produce huge sound.

Ok, I'll leave it at this. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[vea]

Hi:

If you've got the budget and channel to source both, I'd put my money on the F80, I mean, the looks alone could kill you, leave alone the SQ; has some rave reviews everywhere.

What's your status, are you serious in getting the above or just interest check ?

I am pretty much serious about it. But I am not brave enough to buy an equipment worth 1.5 Lakhs before hearing it. Or atleast I would like to hear from someone who have personally listened to it. I have read some good reviews, but just cant go by that alone. I can source both without much trouble, but have no means of auditioning it at the moment.

 

[vea]

Haven't heard either. I have the B&W Zeppelin. I am pretty sure F80 is gonna cost a tonne here and lot more than Vita. I would suggest you one thing though. I am myself a proponent of lesser boxes and giving convenience and looks a good thought as well. But, I would say that still Meridian might be pushing the boundaries on the value for money factor. I am thinking you can do better than Meridian but with one box + 2 speakers for the same cost. Unless you are specifically tied to a one box for all. My zeppelin can go loud and also can bring out very good details or even quantity of bass. But, the moment I hear 2 speaker setups its simply that more bigger sounding. I am not talking about loudness, but the wall of sound is quite bigger than single boxes. But of all the one boxes I think the Meridian has got the highest ratings.
Assuming a budget like Meridian which should be around 1.2L to 1.5L, I would recommend quite a few combinations:
1. AVI ADM 9.1 - 80k : just 2 speakers includes dac and remote. No CD or DVD player. You can add a Blu Ray Player like Oppo to this and you can now play Blu Ray as well.
2. Peachtree Audio Nova/Decco 70k, Sonos or Squeeze box duet/touch 25k. No CD player or DVD player. Can be added but then you might find extra boxes.
3. Arcam Solo Mini or regular for around 70k to 1L. CD player but no DVD. If you are interested in only CD player, then this should be fine. You can add rDock for ipod.
4. Benchmark HDR or Pre - 1L and add Quad Actives or Dynaudio Actives. This should push your budget close to 1.75L. At the moment I can suggest you cheap second hand. But this combination probably will give you the most detailed sound of all. Here Benchmark DAC is quite small. so, won't obstruct from anything. You can add a Oppo Blu Ray player as well here making it look like just a player and 2 speakers with one small box hidden or on display.

If you are more keen on beautiful looking speakers another option then the Martin Logan Motion series is just coming to India. These are tiny but very good looking and hopefully performing speakers as well. You can pair this with something like Arcam Solo Mini and hide a subwoofer. These Motion's can be wall mounted easily and are known to produce huge sound.

Ok, I'll leave it at this. Let me know if you have any questions.

I was quite interested in the zeppelin. But i am looking for an all in one box thing. The zeppelin, i believe doesnt have a cd player. I had a decent stereo setup, but due to a move and space constraints i have to be content with something in a bedroom. It should be either an all in one or a cdp+amp and wireless speakers that can be wall mounted. I intent to use it at very low volumes only. Only thing is that it should sound like a proper hifi. I too feel the f80 is not a VFM products, but good sound always comes at a price.

 

[iaudio]

Vea, Why not the Peachtree nova with a pair of good bookshelves.
I dont know if you can audition it here in Cochin, but I think ARN in Bangalore might have it.

 

[heliumflight]

A friend of mine is selling an almost new condition Peachtree nova. Let me know if your interseted and I could put you through him...

--
helium
Amp: Lyrita SET 2A3
Speakers: Vintage B&W DM4

 

[vea]

A friend of mine is selling an almost new condition Peachtree nova. Let me know if your interseted and I could put you through him...

Thanks heliumflight. But at the moment i'm fixed on the meridian. it costs 1.8 L plus taxes in india, so i'm taking the import route. guess what, the savings would be nearly 60k even with the import duty!

 

[iaudio]

Vea, where are you ordering the Meridian from? Would the dealer take care of customs?
And by the way, which color are you getting?

 

[gopi]

vea, I would strictly recommend against importing Meridian. Simple reason : my imported Zeppelin now gives a humm when I play using ipod. Not so if I play through Aux. Now i have no clue where to get it repaired here. Infact these boxes are so fancy without any screws and I am sure cannot be trusted with any random guy. A proper servicing will be a pain in India. To add to this being a single box a single failure means the whole thing is in trouble. So, make sure you call Indian Meridian dealer or talk to the international dealer on whats the exact warranty rules. You can probably be even ready to pay and get it serviced here through the dealer. But I doubt that still that would be possible.
Given that this is not an upgradable stuff and that you will be using this for years to come I would recommend that you invest it wisely here. By the way, the problem I am facing with Zeppelin occurred for few folks and it had nothing to do with the way the product was used. I really took care of it very well. So, it was not because of inappropriate use of the product.

 

[vea]

Vea, where are you ordering the Meridian from? Would the dealer take care of customs?
And by the way, which color are you getting?

I'm getting it from the UK through a friend. It will be carried personally and if confronted, the duty will be paid. Without the duty the price difference is 1 lakh! About the colour, a Ferrari that isn't red isn't going to sell. same with the pony badged articles.

A proper servicing will be a pain in India. To add to this being a single box a single failure means the whole thing is in trouble. So, make sure you call Indian Meridian dealer or talk to the international dealer on whats the exact warranty rules. You can probably be even ready to pay and get it serviced here through the dealer. But I doubt that still that would be possible.

Even I have some concerns about this. But this thing seems very well engineered and if some problem arises I can always send it back to the UK for repair through one of my friends. It doesn't weigh much and it could easily pass ports as your favorite clock radio! Or I can try the dealer here. The savings on import is not small to ignore.

 

[anm]

another option you can try is ADM powered speakers, with an onkyo digital dock, and your digital player can be an ipod touch.

 

[vea]

Is there a good set of wireless speakers i can use? preferably wall mountable.

 

[anm]

depends on what part you want to be wireless. Power has to go through wire. Only signals can be wireless.
So powered speakers like ADM, (I think they have a power outlet at their back) or even ae5 coupled with airport express should give you a fairly wireless solution. Moserw on this forum got them but he is not around on this forum to share his experiences.

 

[vea]

Well, I just want the speakers to be placed wireless. The power supply is not a problem. Active speakers should be fine. Some speakers have receiver on only one unit and the other is wired from the receiver unit. This kind of set up is not practical. I need to play CDs primarily so a cd player is a must.

 

[iaudio]

So I guess you need something to take the analog out from the cdp wirelessly to powered speakers?

 

[gopi]

I don't think there is any wireless solution out there which can send a left and right to 2 different units. You might have to get 2 wireless transmitters - one to transmit left and the other to right. There are many wireless audio transmitters out there. But then most of them will ruin the quality of the front end. So, no use to get a very good CD player and then be screwed by the wireless transmitters
This is one of the higher costing solutions:
Sonneteer template css+dhtml based
Here you connect it to a pair of passive speakers though.

 

[vea]

So I guess you need something to take the analog out from the cdp wirelessly to powered speakers?

Exactly. I am not sure if a pre-amplified signal is good enough to transfer wireless.