[bhd812]

Its been 6 months and I am looking once again..hehe

I heard the g57 and I like it alot but I dont need all those watts. the g56 is easily in my price range also.

the 557 is alittle older but bigger which has a instant panache factor, but I been reading up and it seems they have shut off problems once in awhile.


anyone?

thanks

 

[Audio Addict]

I am not sure what is built in to my DSP 5200s, but you're welcome to give them a listen any weekend. No preamp, no cable interaction, it is not a bad way to go.

 

[CRESCENDOPOWER]

I have said it before, and I will say it again, everything that Meridian makes is spectacular. No, Meridian is not recognized for their amplification because it doesn’t blister your eardrums with treble, but if used in the right setup their amplification can equal anyone’s.

 

[depaulhifi]

I love all Meridian gear. I'm currently eyeing a pair of DSP5200's and a G91 myself. In terms of power, you really can never have too much power. You're just giving yourself more thermal headroom and insurance that you will never blow a driver (probably a woof) due to lack of power. I just finished playing with a Crest 4001 power amp. I was a total non-believer in commercial/professional amplification before. But wow... talk about the only way to go! My speakers (Mirage OM-5) are rated at 6 ohms nominal and caused the amp to push in the neighborhood of 650 some watts to them. The Crest made my Denon 3805 (no slouch by any means either...) sound puny by comparison. The Crest showed effortless control over the speakers, and not a hint of a "bright" or "harsh" sound stereotyped upon professional sound.

 

[Heidshade]

I have a 557 driving Sonus Faber Electa Amator IIs. The only real problems I've had are:
One channel failing on one phase - fixed f.o.c by Meridian (even though I bought the amp used.
The ease with which you can mistakenly flip the amp into bridged mode, as when fumbling around at the back for the on/off switch the bridge switch can get toggled too - this results in some strange sound...

I'm fairly happy with the overall sound quality. The build quality is BSH too (it's very heavy!) Sometimes when you play it loud it sounds a bit strained, but I can't really say if that's not the speakers, given the 200w rating of the amp. I've plans to try a Bryston 4B (latest) as an alternative, as they are notionally supposed to sound warm and capable of 'going loud' (not that I do this often).

But to summarise, the sound quality is right up there. I have a Meridian 506-20bit cd player too, also good.

 

[Daneel]

I did a review of the 557 here.