PRESS RELEASE - Meridian Audio

PRESS RELEASE
Media Contacts:
Sue Toscano
Marc Koval, V.P. Operation
Nicoll Public Relations, Inc. Meridian America, Inc
781-762-9300 404-344-7111
sue@nicollpr.com
marc.koval@meridian-america.com
Meridian America, Inc.
8055 Troon Circle, Suite C
Austell, GA 30168-7849
www.meridian-audio.com
Meridian showcases 800 Reference Series
Version 4 800 DVD-Audio/Video Player and 861 Surround Controller on display
CEDIA Expo 2005, Indianapolis, IN, September 9, 2005— Meridian Audio, the leading digital home
theater manufacturer will showcase its flagship Reference Series products – the Version 4 editions
of its award-winning 800 and 861 – during CEDIA Expo 2005, September 9-11, 2005, in
Indianapolis, Indiana.
The 800 Reference Series Optical Disk Player has received equally high praise for the unparalleled
quality of its video as it has for its world-beating audio performance. In addition, its modular, cardbased
architecture allows it to be expanded and developed as technology and industry standards
advance. The latest 800 Version 4 exemplifies this approach, taking this acclaimed player still
further, with support for HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) output and video input cards,
along with video switching cards originally designed for the 861 and extensive video scaling
capability. In addition, the 800 Version 4 can be set up with Meridian’s new MConfig Windows
application, which includes step-by-step configuration and graphic system design.
Version 4 combines new software with a modified ‘core’ card complement offering a significant
increase in the quality and flexibility of the system. Two versions are available: the 800D with digital
outputs, and the 800DAX, which adds 2 + 4 channels of analog balanced and unbalanced outputs,
fed by high-spec 24-bit/192kHz-capable D/A converters.
Both versions include extensive new video features, based around the VI00 Video Input card, along
with the recently released VE12 HDMI/Progressive Component output card. These enable the 800
to be interfaced with a display via a single interconnect, the 800 providing video switching and
scaling of internal and external video signals.
The VI00 provides two composite, two S-Video and one interlaced component video input, and
studio-quality on-board video A/D conversion allows analog video sources to be converted to the
common broadcast resolution standard digital video format that is used internally in the 800. The
VE12 provides HDMI output for compatible displays, and automatically handshakes with the display
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to determine the highest quality signal that can be provided by the player. The card also provides
analogue progressive component video out. Version 4 additionally supports analog video
input/switching cards designed originally for the 861 Digital Surround Controller.
The 861 Version 4 Reference Series Digital Surround Controller includes a completely new feature:
Meridian Room Correction. Conventional room equalization systems attempt to simply invert the
room/speaker response – something which cannot be done accurately and produces undesirable
effects such as listener position dependence, ringing, pre-echo and loss of headroom. Meridian’s
Room Correction system, in contrast, relies on controlling room modes at low frequencies, where
room problems are the most noticeable and extremely effective results can be obtained for a broad
range of listening positions. It should, of course, be remembered that room correction supports,
rather than replaces, good room acoustics.
Meridian Room Correction uses the immense power of Meridian’s on-board DSP (Digital Signal
Processing) system to first measure the room and then automatically build a series of digital filters
that reduce the reverberation time of significant room modes. As the filters generated are entirely
digital in nature they can be created without any artifacts and easily incorporated into the all-digital
Meridian signal path. The result is a very noticeable improvement in the sound of a room, calming
down resonances and smoothing out the overall acoustic behavior. Filter information can be
displayed, edited and even created numerically or graphically by an installer or advanced user.
The 800 and 861 Version 4 are now supported by the latest computer-based configuration system
from Meridian, known as MConfig. This Windows application also supports the new 808 Signature
Reference CD Player and Meridian Room Correction. MConfig includes a graphic system definition
tool, which enables a comprehensive system architecture to be built up on-screen and then
uploaded to the unit(s) concerned.
Both the 800 and 861 Version 4 are available in traditional Meridian black piano lacquer or a sleek
silver finish, with the latest MSR+ infrared learning/programmable remote.
Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Prices:
800V4: $19,950 – 22,540 depending on configuration
861V4: $17,000+
Meridian Audio Limited is based in Huntingdon, near Cambridge, UK, and was founded in 1977 by Allen Boothroyd and
Robert Stuart. With a 25-year history of innovation and development of the highest quality consumer audio systems, the
award-winning company is widely recognized as a world leader in digital and analog audio reproduction. Meridian
developed the world’s first audiophile CD player, the world’s first consumer digital surround controller, developed the MLP
lossless packing systems mandated for use in DVD-Audio and now in emerging high-definition disk formats, and is the
only UK audio hardware manufacturer to be a member of the DVD Forum. The company’s optical disk players, DSPbased
loudspeakers and Digital Theater systems are unique in the industry, maintaining a super-quality digital audio
signal throughout the path from the source to the amplifier, and using digital signal processing to generate advanced
crossover characteristics that would be impossible with conventional passive analogue systems. Meridian has recently
become the exclusive manufacturer and distributor of Faroudja High-Definition video processors and projectors.
For high-resolution images and data sheets, please visit the Meridian Media Center server: http://media.meridianaudio.com/
or contact Nicoll Public Relations, 781-762-9300 or sue@nicollpr.com
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