[nicoch46]

Crazy cheaper stuff  sell at high price by marketing using is good name !!
 
This dac  use  the  Crystal/cirrus logic cs4353  cheaper  consumer chip dac , you can found on Samsung BD-C6900 blu ray and probabily in ps3 slim..
this chip  don' t have the connection for external digital filter ie no meridia proprietary sorftware for apodizing filter!! he use  apodizing in hardware by Crystal/cirrus logic
plus the head amp is an OPA  the only good ones is the usb ....
you can buy the cs4353 at digikey for 1,4 €=1$ .
At last with that price you can buy an unitiqute  that have power amp too

 

[koiloco]

  Crazy cheaper stuff  sell at high price by marketing using is good name !!
 
This dac  use  the  Crystal/cirrus logic cs4353  cheaper  consumer chip dac , you can found on Samsung BD-C6900 blu ray and probabily in ps3 slim..
this chip  don' t have the connection for external digital filter ie no meridia proprietary sorftware for apodizing filter!! he use  apodizing in hardware by Crystal/cirrus logic
plus the head amp is an OPA  the only good ones is the usb ....
you can buy the cs4353 at digikey for 1,4 €=1$ .
At last with that price you can buy an unitiqute  that have power amp too

+1.  It's amazing what kind of product info/design/build we can get our hands on from the internet these days.  That's why I believe "the day manufacturers can just stuff anything inside their products and market/sell for $$$$ solely based on their brandnames/reputation is coming to an end"  However, there are still people who are very willing to spend their $ blindly.

 

[telecaster]

Don't expect ANY chip to be considered the absolute best and that's before implementation is taken into account. And Meridian is not using the filter part, they actually do the filtering and no it's not free.
And while I prefer discrete, a good OPA is perfectly adequate while a ****ty discrete implementation is not.

 

[Hooster]

 
The headphone outputs on the front panel consist of two 1/4" stereo outputs and one 3.5mm (mini plug) jack. Each of the 1/4" stereo jacks is rated for maximum output of 3V RMS off load, THD below 0.002%, power output 250mW up to 42Ω, with output impedance <100mΩ (or less than 0.1Ω). The 3.5mm jack is rated for maximum output of 3V RMS off load, THD below 0.002%, with output impedance of 2.2Ω. The 3.5mm jack is intended for use with in-ears and other sensitive headphones.
 
The Meridian Prime Headphone Amplifier is priced at $2000.00, and comes stock with a wall power supply--this is the only configuration I've heard so far, and have absolutely no problem recommending it at the price. Meridian will also soon be releasing a substantial power supply upgrade option that will come in a matching chassis, and will be priced at $1250.00. This upgraded power supply is called the Meridian Prime Power Supply, and I haven't heard it yet (but will soon).

 
Is this supposed to be a joke? I have heard of inflation but did the value of money shrink to the extent that all $2000 buys you is a small ugly unit, with a wall wart power supply and a puny power output... it makes 250mW at 42Ohms. I wonder what it will cough out at 600Ohms...
Meridian then wants to sell you a $1250 power supply! If they can get away with that, then who am I to complain. I would not buy one in a million years and neither would I recommend it to anyone. Even if it sounds great, the price, looks and wall wart make it look absurd.

 

[purk]

  Don't expect ANY chip to be considered the absolute best and that's before implementation is taken into account. And Meridian is not using the filter part, they actually do the filtering and no it's not free.
And while I prefer discrete, a good OPA is perfectly adequate while a ****ty discrete implementation is not.

 
On the same token, the best of discrete designs will always sound better than the very best of op-amps ones.  

 

[Currawong]

  Crazy cheaper stuff  sell at high price by marketing using is good name !!
 
This dac  use  the  Crystal/cirrus logic cs4353  cheaper  consumer chip dac , you can found on Samsung BD-C6900 blu ray and probabily in ps3 slim..
this chip  don' t have the connection for external digital filter ie no meridia proprietary sorftware for apodizing filter!! he use  apodizing in hardware by Crystal/cirrus logic
plus the head amp is an OPA  the only good ones is the usb ....
you can buy the cs4353 at digikey for 1,4 €=1$ .
At last with that price you can buy an unitiqute  that have power amp too

 
That doesn't account for the research and development, set-up, manufacturing, support and other costs. Yes you'll be paying for dealer mark-up, but you're also paying for local support (ie: not having to send it overseas for return or repair) and a quality guarantee. It has always been this way -- DIY is cheapest, because you take full responsibility for the result, followed by the small guys who have somewhat of a lower overhead, then the larger manufacturers, then those with dealer networks. The cost of the physical materials has always been smallest. 

 

[JWahl]

   
That doesn't account for the research and development, set-up, manufacturing, support and other costs. Yes you'll be paying for dealer mark-up, but you're also paying for local support (ie: not having to send it overseas for return or repair) and a quality guarantee. It has always been this way -- DIY is cheapest, because you take full responsibility for the result, followed by the small guys who have somewhat of a lower overhead, then the larger manufacturers, then those with dealer networks. The cost of the physical materials has always been smallest. 

Certainly R&D is a factor.  Like I said in a previous post, I initially balked at the seemingly meager components of the Concero, having been raised in the Audio-GD style mindset of "more is better".  It was hard to believe that a DAC-on-chip with an FPGA added could really be worth $600 but they really put some excellent custom engineering into their upsampling filters and obviously know well how to optimize the Sabre platform.
 
Even if the sound is in the same league as say, an Eximus DP1 (which I highly doubt), No R&D and part's combo can justify that price IMO.  Especially when competitors are doing more with less.  And even those who generally produce far more expensive equipment.  It really amazes me that Light Harmonic is taking the affordable engineering route with their Geek series.
 
I think that the Meridian Prime would be fair to sell at maybe $750 plus $500 for power supply and have a chance at competing well with the competition.

 

[koiloco]

  Certainly R&D is a factor.  Like I said in a previous post, I initially balked at the seemingly meager components, having been raised in the Audio-GD style mindset of "more is better".  It was hard to believe that a DAC-on-chip with an FPGA added could really be worth $600 but they really put some excellent custom engineering into their upsampling filters and obviously know well how to optimize the Sabre platform.
 
Even if the sound is in the same league as say, an Eximus DP1 (which I highly doubt), No R&D and part's combo can justify that price IMO.  Especially when competitors are doing more with less.  And even those who generally produce far more expensive equipment.  It really amazes me that Light Harmonic is taking the affordable engineering route with their Geek series.
 
I think that the Meridian Prime would be fair to sell at maybe $750 plus $500 for power supply and have a chance at competing well with the competition.

+1.  You said it well.  Thank you.

 

[Currawong]

JWahl, with the likes of Audio-gd and others, we are truly spoilt.

 

[JWahl]

  JWahl, with the likes of Audio-gd and others, we are truly spoilt.

Very true, it's not that I am implying it will sound bad in any way, just that the competition is very competitive these days.

 

[koiloco]

  JWahl, with the likes of Audio-gd and others, we are truly spoilt.

I really like that perspective.  Lucky too, I might add.  

 

[nicoch46]

audiolab mdac - arcam irdac are very good dac at right price , prime is a toy not more the 300€ sorry !!!
 
 
We can buy an real  headamp for 119$  !!! no scuse for ***tty opamp
 

 
btw If you love the opamp you can always buy a good FiiO

 

[Chris J]

audiolab mdac - arcam irdac are very good dac at right price , prime is a toy not more the 300€ sorry !!!


We can buy an real  headamp for 119$  !!! no scuse for ***tty opamp




btw If you love the opamp you can always buy a good FiiO

Why all the Op Amp hate?

BTW,
FiiO only sounds good for the money.
But that's it.
Even a Matrix M Stage sounds better than any FiiO head amp that I have heard.

 

[x838nwy]

I agree that implementation is more important than the actual parts (in most cases) and that individual components will cost waaaay less than a manufactured product. I also agree that r&d costs money.

But come on! This is Meridian we're talking about here! Surely their engineers didn't need THAT much r&d to make something like this. They're already doing the Director and Explorer neither of which is a world away from this limpness, plus they have oodles of experience in dsp and hifi in general - so I expect them to whip up something like this in a matter of weeks.

As for implementation, I don't see much here TO implement. It looks to these untrained eyes like a re-configured explorer, to be honest.

Finally, what's with the mini-usb input? Seriously, what's up with that on a desktop dac/amp? Appears they anticipated a much larger demand for their explorer than has realised and now just looking to get rid of parts they ordered...

 

[nicoch46]

is just director plus 5€ reg psu + 5€ opamp + 15€ alps = $$$$$$$
 
ps I forget the magic asp...