Meridian Audio G DSP loudspeakers Brochure

DSP Loudspeakers with the G Series

DSP Loudspeakers with the G Series

What the press says…

Meridian Audio’s DSP8000 speakers are a
testament to both engineering and aes­thetics…

Popular Mechanics

The effortless sweep of the DSP8000’s pre­sentation was aided by the extended and
well-dened low frequencies.

Not only was the sound… astonishingly
lifelike, but the image… just hung between
and behind the Meridians.

I was also taken with the… clarity and
transparency, especially in the midrange.
They provided a clear picture window
on the music, with no sense of haze. The
presentation was open, crystal clear, and
remarkably transparent.

Stereophile

The sound had a palpable transparency
that gave me the feeling I was hearing
back through the playback and recording
chain to the original musical event.

Fidelity

This system delivers a performance that’s
state-of-the-art, especially when it comes
to bass extension and control.…The Merid­ian rules supreme when it comes to scale,
authority and sheer low-end weight.

Clarity and balance will knock you off your
feet.

What Hi-Fi

Much more than just a speaker, the
DSP5000 is designated a ‘music system’.…

This modestly sized speaker is capable of a
surprisingly high acoustic volume or sound
level.…

Meridian’s ace in the hole here is a dy­namic, music-controlled correction for the
overall bass alignment which allows clean,
remarkably extended bass under normal
conditions.…

The DSP5000 has to be heard. For its size
it offers a remarkable combination of bass
power and extension, of maximum volume
level, of user control and adjustability, and
of stereo image performance.

Hi-Fi News & Record Review

Speakers don’t get much smarter than this!

Sound & Image

The DSP8000 – our agship loudspeaker
system.

The DSP5500 (above) is available in lacquer as

well as black ash, rosewood and other nishes.

Information contained in this data sheet is
correct as far as possible, but Meridian Audio
accepts no liability for errors or omissions.
Trademarks are the property of their respective
owners. Meridian Audio reserves the right to
amend product specications at any time. Fur­ther technical details, images, product reviews
and company history are available from Merid­ian Audio or from our web site,
www.meridian-audio.com.
©Text & images 2003 Meridian Audio Ltd.

Meridian Audio Limited

Stonehill, Stukeley Meadows
Huntingdon, Cambridge PE29 6EX
UK
Tel [phone]
Fax [phone]

Meridian America Inc

3800 Camp Creek Parkway
Building 2400 Suite 122
Atlanta GA 30331 USA
Tel [phone]
Fax [phone]

Email: [e-mail]
Web: www.meridian-audio.com

The DSP7000 (left) and DSP5500HC horizontal centre-channel unit (under the screen) form perfect
complements to a G Series system and are ideal for the living room.

Meridian Audio has taken an almost unique
course in the design of its audio systems,
and particularly in its loudspeaker design,
where the signal remains in the digital
domain until the very last moment, and the
loudspeakers include digital crossovers and
signal processing.

Meridian’s DSP Loudspeakers form an
ideal combination with the latest G Series
components to create superlative systems
for clear, dynamic and, above all, musical
reproduction of any source material.

As much effort goes into cabinet design as into
the electronics within, and the keynote here is
extremely high integrity. Cabinets are heavy and
rigid, to minimize colouration. Typically, they
incorporate multiple layers of wood and metal,
bonded together for maximum damping. Many
luxury nishes are available.

The DSP6000 and DSP8000, for example,
include side-ring woofers that are horizontally
opposed, so that the net movement is zero.
Advanced materials ensure that the cabinet is so
dead that movement stops at once when excita­tion ceases, with no ringing.

Our loudspeakers are essentially “human-sized”
– psychoacoustic research indicates that humans
are most highly developed to appreciate this size
of sound-producing system, and they will thus
sound the most natural.

This information sheet provides an overview of
Meridian DSP loudspeaker technology. For a
more detailed discussion, please download the
White Paper on DSP Loudspeakers from our
web site, www.meridian-audio.com.

The ideal loudspeakers to
accompany Meridian’s
G Series components

Elegant, stylish and with a
uniquely musical sound

Active loudspeakers with
built-in amplication deliver
superb driver control and
extended bass response
– without enormous, ugly
cables

Powerful DSP processing
permits truly linear cross­overs, for clear, dynamic
sound and pinpoint imaging
in stereo and surround

Meridian’s DSP Loudspeaker systems set entirely
new standards for clarity, dynamics, imaging
and realism. They are breathtaking in their ability
to place musicians in precise locations in your
listening room, with even subtle body move­ments clearly audible. These systems also have
the power to bring alive the most challenging
motion picture sound track or rock band.

Our DSP Loudspeakers include FIFO memory
buffering at each input for the lowest possible
jitter; a linear-phase crossover for precision drive
unit integration; adjustable tweeter delay for
perfect driver alignment and a 48-bit resolution
volume control. In addition, minimal equalisa­tion delivers a frequency response free from
drive unit or electronic colouration. Transparent
tone controls are provided, along with absolute
phase control and a phase-corrected balance
control, while a position control allows maxi­mum speaker location exibility.

The drive units are powered by multiple inde­pendent high-power, low-feedback ampliers
mounted on a high-efciency external heatsink.
The combination of optimised magnetic design,
careful star earthing, and very fast output
devices gives the ampliers extremely low noise,
high detail, and extremely responsive, full bass.

Meridian DSP loudspeakers accept digital input
signals including 96kHz/24bit, and Meridian
High Resolution (MHR) streams from Meridian
surround controllers, processors and DVD play­ers such as those comprising the G Series.

On-board DSP processing means that the DAC
can be placed just before the power amps. A
separate DAC is used for each band of the loud­speaker system, delivering a dynamic range in

G-DSPL DS v3.0 • 21.10.03 RE

DSP Loudspeakers with the G Series DSP Loudspeakers with the G Series

The G98DH DVD Transport is an ideal source for
a Meridian system, and coupled with the G68
surround controller, forms the heart of a stun­ning Meridian Digital Theatre.

The units are shown
here connected to
a pair of Meridian’s
agship DSP8000
speakers for front
left and right,
coupled with a pair
of DSP420 in-walls
for the surrounds
and a DSP5500HC
for the centre front channel.

Any kind of video display device can be
supported, whether composite, S-Video,
Component (progressive or interlaced) or
even the latest interfaces such as HDMI or
DVI. Different video inputs are converted to all
formats, so there is only need for one display
connection (drawing not to scale).

DSP8000 – the inside story. The rigid enclosure,
laminated from selected plywood and
metal, has six coats of hand-nished piano
lacquer. The six horizontally-opposed bass
drive units neutralise cabinet resonance. The
rear-mounted sealed DSP crossover and multiple
power ampliers are mounted on a precision
machined heat sink.

excess of 120 dB, giving better intermodulation
performance, and offering a level of background
noise below 10 dB SPL.

Digital signal processing allows “impossible”
crossovers, with linear phase, steep slopes and
time delay compensation. Highly accurate phas­ing between the drivers means that the “beam”
of the system can be steered for the best
experience at the listening position: there is even

an axis control that allows the mid-range

frequencies to be precisely tailored to

suit your height.

Meridian’s active bass extension

deepens the response of the

system without excessive woofer

excursion. At moderate volumes,

a psychoacoustially-correct lter

extends the bass response much
further than can be achieved
with an analogue speaker of
equal size, while at high volumes
dynamic DSP bass protection is
used to prevent overload.

Meridian DSP8000

Our Stereophile Class A rated
agship, the DSP8000, (see
cutaway drawing, left) is designed

to reproduce sounds at up to
full natural level while providing all the
resolution required by sources of up to
24bit and 192kHz. Such demanding

dynamic resolution called for a new ap-

proach to cabinet construction and selection

of advanced drive unit materials.

Each DSP8000 loudspeaker uses six high-ef­ciency long-throw custom bass drive units.
These are mounted symmetrically in pairs on the
sides of the bass cabinet, cancelling vibration
in order to minimise interference with the mid­range and treble units.

The mid-range unit incorporates a cone made
from a uniquely light and stiff combination of
polymers to give unparalleled transparency. The
whole electronic assembly is supplied from two

substantial toroidal transformers feeding high­quality audiophile-grade capacitors.

The DSP8000 is built into a precision manufac­tured cabinet, employing many innovative de­sign techniques for exceptionally low coloration
and exquisite mid-range transparency.

The treble and mid-range drivers are mounted in
a separate sealed head assembly. The treble unit
is a semi-horn-loaded composite dome design
with a silver voice coil.

The head assembly is a sealed enclosure fabri­cated from curved pressure-laminated panels,
each using multiple layers of selected woods
and metal to provide high stiffness and damp­ing. Its narrow, tapered shape offers optimum
dispersion across a wide listening area. It is
supported atop the bass enclosure by three
machined feet.

Like the head unit, the bass cabinet is construct­ed from laminated wood/metal panels with
extensive bracing. The front panel is nished
with 6mm glass and incorporates a window for
the matrix display and infrared remote control
sensor. The cabinet stands on triangulated
adjustable machined feet with provision for oor
spikes or skids.

DSP420 In-Wall DSP Loudspeaker

The DSP420 (see cutaway drawing, right) is a
truly active in-wall speaker with separate inter­nal amplication for high and low frequency
bands. The precision low feedback designs,
rated at 65 and 85 Watts respectively, are based
on those used in other Meridian DSP speakers.
Using carefully selected bipolar output devices,
they deliver exceptionally fast bass response and
high resolution, while the system as a whole of­fers extremely low levels of noise and distortion.

The power supply includes a substantial toroidal
transformer and audiophile-grade capacitors.

These ampliers are coupled directly to the drive
units for the most efcient delivery of power
and the best possible control of driver excursion.

The illustration shows the G91 at the heart of
a compact Meridian-based stereo DVD system.
The Meridian DSP loudspeakers take their feed
from the G91’s digital preamp outputs, with the
speaker volume controlled either by the G91’s
front-panel knob or via the remote.

With the G91, any kind of video display device
can be supported, whether composite, S-Video,
Component (progressive or interlaced) or even
the latest interfaces such as HDMI or DVI. Dif­ferent video inputs are converted to all formats,
so there is only need for one display connection.

With three stereo analogue inputs and four
digital ins (two optical and two coax), the unit
will support a wide selection of inputs. The G91
also includes surround outputs, allowing it to
act as the centrepiece of a multichannel system.

The DSP420 in-wall loud­speaker takes the Meridian
digital loudspeaker concept
and places it into a discreet
enclosure, for building into your
listening room or home theatre.

Enclosed in a fully shielded housing, Meridian’s
unique DSP processing is performed on a spe­cially-designed six-layer PCB using a powerful
100 MIPS Motorola DSP engine.

Thanks to this sophisticated “audio computer”,
the DSP420 provides high-technology features
identical to those found in the rest of the Merid­ian DSP Loudspeaker family.

The bass drive units are two

parallel 5in woofers with

cast alloy chassis, carbon

bre cones and very large

shielded magnets that

provide excellent drive and

control.

The high frequency dome

tweeter has a Neodymium

magnet and a protective grille,

while an acoustically transparent

grille protects the front bafe and

drive units from harm when installed.

Its powder nish means the grille can

be easily painted, helping the DSP420 to

blend in with its surroundings.

Meridian DSP7000

The Meridian DSP7000 (pictured on the front
page) is a smaller derivative of the DSP8000.
Each DSP7000 uses two multiple high-efciency
long-throw custom bass drive units.

The treble and mid-range drivers are mounted
in a separate acoustic enclosure. The treble unit
is a semi-horn-loaded composite dome design
with a silver voice coil, while the mid-range unit
uses a custom 160mm polypropylene driver.
The speakers are driven by four independent
high-power, low-feedback power ampliers,
powered by a substantial toroidal transformer
feeding audiophile-grade capacitors.

Like the DSP8000, each DSP7000 loudspeaker
is built into a precision manufactured cabinet,
which uses innovative design techniques to give
exceptionally low coloration and exquisite mid­range transparency.

The ported enclosure is fabricated in a similar
way to the DSP8000. The front incorporates a
window for the matrix display and an infrared
remote control sensor. The cabinet stands on
three adjustable machined feet with provision
for oor spikes or skids.

Hear something to your advantage

Combining the multiple, audible benets of
Meridian’s unique DSP loudspeakers with the
extraordinary sound quality and reproduction of
the G Series brings you the best of all possible
worlds. The G Series sources, such as the G07,
G08, G91 and G98 include digital outputs that
will drive Meridian DSP Loudspeakers directly in
stereo and, in some cases, surround, while the
G68 surround processor with Meridian Room
Correction is an ideal complement to a G Series
digital source and Meridian DSP Loudspeakers
for the ultimate digital surround experience.

There’s too much to say about the extensive
range of Meridian DSP Loudspeakers than
we have room for here, and there are several
other models available, such as the DSP5000,
DSP5500 (pictured overleaf) and DSP6000
Series. The DSP5000 and DSP5500 also include
horizontal centre-channel variants.

For full details, see the DSP Loudspeaker and
G Series data sheets, visit www.meridian­audio.com or contact your Meridian authorized
dealer.