Still a Meridian!

How I wish this could be an easy job! Easy to just say ‘Highly Recommended!’ and everyone in town would just flock on to buy it. But no, many things come to play when you are trying to share something good in audio, worse still, to convince!

It is really funny in this hobby where more people share the same understanding in what bad sound is than what good sound is. Everyone seems to understand what rough and bright highs is; what flabby and sluggish bass is; and what coarse and hard mid is.

It’s easy to understand lucid and airy highs; tight and taut bass; grain-less and smooth mid. But that don’t make a component any good! We want great music making components, not splendid sound making machines!

Many components can reproduce sound perfectly in any technical sense, but that does not warrant great musical pleasure. Some excel in audio technicalities with superb extensions, huge dynamic range and neutrality to a T; while others musically engaging, non fatiguing and mellow. Technical superiority and musical supremacy seem never so mutually exclusive when everyone nowadays is chasing paper spec and ultimate industrial precision!

Just walk around any demo room during a show and you would realize most, if not all, of them would have certain ‘edge’ to the sound. Very impressive and highly attractive, a magnet to lure you into the room, they draw great crowds. But when you pass by the Meridian room, I assure you would not even take a peek, not even the slightest one!

The sound is mellow, smooth and not the slightest ‘edge’ to excite you. It’s like the hotel PA system, playing comforting background music, blending greatly with the environment, not even the slightest sign of intrusion! If it’s not for those of us who are greatly exposed to Meridian’s musical prowess, I guess the room would be the least visited. Well, not that many are charmed, as the room was, still, quite empty.

Months ago, I raved about the G08, months after, I sing praise to Meridian to enchant the financially less privileged with a lesser priced G06. Offering 80% of what G08 could provide and going at RM10K, it’s a godsend for those who could not afford the G08. Oh, the tech spec too, is 80% of G08’s, in a disguise without balanced out, triple buffering and upsampling.

Now, triple buffering and upsampling has been Meridian’s kungfu in all their top flight players like 508.24, 588.24, G08 and the behemoth 808! The DSP implementation on these has lended a hand in making music with great presence and liveliness! Would a lack of this make G06 any inferior to them?

Positioned lower than G08, of course the G06 must definitely sound a little inferior. But that does not rule it out when you are considering a CDP. In fact, in a sub 40K setup, you’ll hardly notice the difference. It’s only in those behemoth setups that you realize the 20% shortage in performance.

Still, the G06 gives you the Meridian sound that is so balanced, precisely proportioned, with not a single band protruding to haunt you from musical bliss. Some might attribute the lack of ‘edge’ dark and mellow, listen carefully and you would notice that music (not just sound) flows with emotion and grace. You’ll realize that you are listening to the soul of the singers, every single nuance of emotion is captured vividly and presented in such elegant manner!

508.24, though superior, does not provide a musical presentation as cohesive as the G08. Musical instruments were encapsulated in their own space, as if they were spotlighted from top individually, there is this darkness that stood in between them. With the G08, that sense of darkness seems gone! The stage just opens up and emerges up as a cohesive performance! The presence factor is second to none!

Take the above and cut by 20%, and you have what the G06 is capable of providing! In mid level setups, you would still be awed by G06’s effortlessness, grace and delicacy! Making music is still the forte of Meridian, even more so with their CD players!

Great blend of technical superiority and musical supremacy. Highly recommended!