Updated Meridian System - Pictures

[JSCC]

Sharing some pictures taken using iPhone 4 on the new upgraded Meridian system.

New: Meridian 808i.3 (replaced 808i.2) & Dr. Feickert Twin DFA + Triplanar MkVII UII arm + Miyajima Shilabe + Lehmann BC II SE (on loan as higher model the Decade takes another 10 days to arrive) replace the Thorens TD2030 + Ortofon 2M Blue.

Sooloos C15 only (Twinstore 2Tb x 2 to arrive in 10 days time too).

To accomodate the extra power points needed, no choice but to invest in a Shunyata Hydra 4 and a few more "venom 3" cables.

[schaefer11]

Lovely. Nicely done.

[howiebrou]

Holy crap Jerry!

The turntable looks great! How does it all sound??!!

[Masterlu]

Oh, La-La; Very nice Jerry!

Great Job

[JSCC]

Initial Impressions: The Sooloos C15 made my jaw dropped! While in the past the iTunes Lossless played thru the Meridian DAC sounded superb, the difference is akin to night and day! Music from the Sooloos sounded so analogue and smooth, its unbelievable. Switching between the Apple iTunes lossless music - where in the past had me thinking that its "value for money" and that the Sooloos is simply a waste of time and money - is now sounding so harsh, I am thinking of wiping the entire library saved on the NAS - where now it will serve only one purpose - movies! No more music! The Sooloos was delivered in the afternoon and I am still listening to it - like discovering my music collection the first time! A phenomenon!

So, whats the negative then? Well, for one, its warm to hot. Definitely need aircon to "cool" the top. Or need some space for it to breathe! Its also a pain to see the Cover Arts looking "watery". Minimum one would need 500x500 standard! Anything lesser, looks distasteful and ugly! Ripping music is a breeze, just stick the CD in and it will ask if you want to continue, touch the screen and it will do the job. Once completed, the CD will eject by itself. There are "tricks" I have to master using the iPad, but I am so busy listening to the setup, this would be on another day.

For practice, I have kept some 400 CDs and now I think I must have made a big mistake cause using the Sooloos ripping machine would definitely be so much easier. Oh well, a silly decision I guess.

Hooking it up and getting it to work is so easy, its like "plug and play".

Now, to the 808i.3. Well, for sure, the first immediate difference is the BLACK color remote MSR+ as against the silver one. Plus it had one extra button "SLS" for Sooloos. This button takes precedence over all other input. For example, one is playing LP (vinyl) and pressing the button will bring the music on. This also will "wake the system" too when its dormant (shut down).

The 808i.3 is build like its predecessor - nice and beautiful, only this time its black to match. No chance to hear its CD performance. Maybe in a week or two AFTER I am through playing with the Sooloos. Immediate difference is that the "Meridian" is now a square while the past its spelt like a label across the front. I think its a little subtle instead of being "loud" as before.

TT? Well, was only delivered and setup like 3 hours ago. Was only shown how to operate and lock the tonearm (need to be lowered first). The entire setup looked heavy and solid and its in beech color.

Am I happy? Of course! This upgrade burnt a hole in my pocket as well as my pride! It made me realised and admit I was wrong about it all the time that its simply an over priced recording machine! The Sooloos is really a gem of a toy! With top class performance to match!

Ok, thats all I have to share for now. Now going back to do some clean up as there are some dust from the boxes when the gears were taken out from. Oh, one last thing, the DSP8000 sounded so good I could not believe I had this handed to me from my good friend. For that, I must say a big "Thank You"!

Cheers!

Cheers!

[jdandy]

Jerry.......Amazing!!! You have advanced to the premium level of systems. It is beautiful. Lots to play with and learn how to use. Best of all, the music is knocking your socks off. Fantastic.

[JSCC]

Well, since I am already "all wet" in Vinyl, does not hurt if I go buy these two items, both from Harmonix - A Record Clamp/Weight and a Platter Mat. Both items S$1400. Delivered together when the Lehmann BC Decade arrives.

By the way, I survived my wife's "interrogation"!

[cmalak]

Jerry...system is looking great A few questions:

1) I wasn't sure I understood on the tt...this is the final tt or a loaner while yours gets delivered in 10 days?

2) It would be interesting to see what you think playing a CD through the 808.3 vs. a ripped or downloaded version of same CD through Sooloos and see if there are any perceptible differences.

Finally, you never told us how it went with your wife when she came back to find all these upgrades...enquiring minds want to know Seriously, Hopefully that didn't go too bad.

Congrats again on a wonderful system and hopefully this will quiet down the upgrade itch for a while.

[cmalak]

Jerry...just saw your post about the wife's "interrogation." Clearly you are still alive and typing away...

[JSCC]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Jerry.......Amazing!!! You have advanced to the premium level of systems. It is beautiful. Lots to play with and learn how to use. Best of all, the music is knocking your socks off. Fantastic.

I must admit Dan, the Sooloos is really incredible. For sure, I am now censoring those CD's I do not want to keep to make space. Of course, I will buy HDD to do backup's even though I have one Twinstore doing just that.

Now I really get to enjoy a top class Meridian system. Thanks for all the days of going thru patiently with me what I should be aware of - that I can make this "sound" decision!