100 Series re-review - Sept 2005 - meridian

Since1977Meridian
hasbeenoneof Britain's
leading
audio
manufacturers.
Howard
Popeck
recallsitsBSMeridian
Series1 system,
a collection
of components
whose
lookshavestoodthetestoftime
melgingphoenix-like,
or shouldthat be families,
andit really
worked,
lt madeNaimpre- the sevenblack-cased
101swithchrome
front
Cinderella-like,
flomthetumoilof lecson amps
ofthesame
erasound
anaemic
oneverythingplates
anddeepbluelettering.
These
areutterly
via the short-lived
priceless
Orpheus
designs,Bob otherthantheLinnAsakcartridge.
beautiful,
andprobably
now.
Stuart
andAllenBoothroyd
announced
thearrival Even
today,
my101Bdriving
myMeridian
M1s
Frommemory
the 102wasa stand-alone
m-c
of BS Meridian
in the pagesot Hi-FiNews28 givesa bassslam,tightness
andattackthat is step-upthat reachedprototype
stagebut was
- aneffortless
years
ago.TheSeries
1 system
initially
comprisedastonishing
25H2.Admittedly,
the neverreleased.
The 103 is a modestlooking
the 101 pre-amp,
power
the 103 power
ampandthe M1'smidrange
isa bitold{ashioned
nowandthe two-box
ampwithMeridian's
characteristic
astonishing
M1active
speakers
withsixon-boardtreblelackstrue sparkle.Nevertheless,
this transparency,
basscontrol
andsuperb
dynamics
power
ampsanda radical
electronic
crossover. combination
today represents
the referenceandnatural
detailwithout
harshness.
Youlookat
This was shortlyfollowedby a brilliant standard
in bassperformance
beatenin my thetinyboxes
andwonder
howtheyachieved
the
r e f i n e m eonf t h e 1 0 3 i n t ot h e 1 0 3 Dt.h eo n l v
f y$ . ,
a d e q u a t1e0 4 F Mt u n e r ,a n d t h e j u * i t i a O $
powerampririers.
resendary
r05
mono
Duringthe
Ihe ViSUalS af g Staf k and thg COSmetiC
1970salloftheseitems
werefavourably
reviewed
(occasionally
ecstatically
so)around
theworld.
Thevisuals
arestark.Thecosmetic
desisnis
design
is timeless.
Theylookasmodern
timeress
Thecomponent,'#;,ffi*,i;.;
today as thgy did back in thg latg 1970q
ss
a st h e yd i db a c ki n t h el a t e1 9 7 0 sF. i n i s h ei nd
brownor black,the 101/i03combination
was
short on facilities,virtuallyidiot-proof
giventhe comparatively
primitive
and experience
only by the WilsonPuppies,
the dynamics,
sonically
a revelation.
Excellently
engineered
from LumenWhite
Flames
andthe Burmester
B100. components
thatwerethenavailable.
architectural
extrusions
with an unshakeable
lvleridian
wasn't
thefirstto usetheactive
speaker BobStuartoaidcloseattention
theeffects
of
- t h e P h i l i p sl V o t i o n aFl e e d b a c kpower
focuson sheermusicality
and listenability,
the p r i n c i p l e
supplies
on power
amplifier
sound.
lt was
(although
preceded
1 0 1 ,a n dl a t t e r ltyh e 1 O 1 Bp r e - a m p l i fgi earv, e speakers
it. Nevertheless
it promotedrumoured
never
substantiated)
thatthis
dramatically
moreexpensive
unitsa realrunfor theconcept
andrefined
it to a highdegree.
mighthavebeeninitiatedby considering
how
themoney.
MylVlark
Levinson
ML6apre-amp
was
Naim achievedits characteristic
sound
moremusical,
lesstransistory,
andmorenatural, USEDBARGAINS
exemplified
by the NAP250. Perhaps
it was
butthenit wasalmost27 timesthe price.The Today
the 101 seriespre-amps
aretremendouscareful
tweaking
of theNaimpower
The
supply?
justifiably
differences
werenoticeable
butnotjaw-dropping.
value
ontheusedmarket
fetching
ridiculously
low NAP250 wasgaining
highaccolades
prices
giventhe clarityandtransparency
That's
a remarkable
achievement.
of the forthethen-new
aspects
of rhythm,
timingandso
The101pre-amps
hada carefully
engineeredreproduction.
Theyuse DIN plugsthroughout,on. The Meridian
response
wasthe three-box
system
designed
to optimise
LP inputpreciselyotherthanthe laterversions,
whichhad RCfu i03D withtwinpower
supplies.
The103could
for all the majorm-ccartridges
viacustomisedphono
female
connectors
ona shorttrailing
lead easily
beupgraded
to thei03D.
reolaceable
matchbox-sized
modules.These forLPinput.Thebrown
versions
were
cosmetically ln puremusical
enjoyment
termsI personally
included
theSupex,
Denon
andFidelity
Researchmoredurable
thantheblack,
butthe'realprize'is feel the 103D has neverbeenbetteredbv
productwasfirstreviewed
Meridian
by Hi-FilVews
in the0ctober
1978issuewhenMartinColloms
looked
at theMeridian
101 MC
withthe105power
in a six-way
amplifier
testof pre-andpower
'Thisclean-looking
product
amps.Heconcluded:
completely
satisfied
generous
themajority
of labandlistening
requirements,
andoffered
power
delivery
aswellasgreattolerance
of difficultspeaker
loading',
ln theJune1981edition
ot Hi-FiNewsthe
Meridian
105i101
amp
system
wasrevisited
by MartinColloms
whonoted:'TheMeridian
system
hasshown
continued
improvement,
notably
in termsof noise
quality'.
levels,
RIM accuracy,
distortion
andsouncl
62
SEPTEMBER
2005 Hlfil.leu,s
www.hifinews.co.uk
TheJune1981issueol Hi-Fiflewscafiaeda
revies,0f liet Oyl01, plusan adyeilfor an
add-onm-cmodule
forthe 101Control
Unit
uk
www.hifinews.co.
oI Control
Above:
Meridian's
Series1 pre-amplifier,
ampchassis
andtwooutboard
Unit,topsa stereo
PSUs,
oneperchannel.
Good
cleansecondhand
examples
canmakethesespectacular
buys
)
Hi-FiNewsSEPTEMBER
2005
53
lt stands
Meridian.
comparison
to anypower
amp
prices
yetcanbepicked
upto f,2.5kattoday's
up
BobStuart(picturedleft)andAllenBoothroyd
founded
on eBayfor as littleas f,200.Puttingultimate
in 1977aftertheydiscovered
Meridian
theyhadshared
p o w et ro o n es i d et,h e 1 0 1 B / 1 0 3cD
ombination
interests
regarding
audioequipment
andphilosophies
shows
conclusively
thatamplificatron
of musical
product
line-up
design.
lts
is
designed
andmadeat its
performance
not
far
has evolved
very duringthe
factory
in Huntingdon,
England.
Since1977the
past29 years.
I believe
it is impossible,
within
Meridian
Audiodesigns
havereceived
muchcritical
thecontext
of therelease
dateandtheprice,to
- it'sa workofgenius
including
acclaim
winning
theDesign
Council
Award
for
over-praise
thiscombination
Outstanding
British
Product
three
times
as
well
as
(and
in everyrespect
very reliabletoo). No
winning
theEISAEuropean
Product
of theYeartwice.
software,
no RS232ports,no multi-channel
and
lmpressive
stuffin anylanguage.
no gimmicks.Just watertightengineering
p r i n c i p l ei nst e l l i g e nat lpyp l i etdo a c h i e v i nt hge
goalof musically
realistic
listening.
waythatUSAcompanies
American Worthy
if onlyforthecleverness
suchasGreat
of mention,
of
Despiteall this, the 103/Dwas modestlySoundand Threshold
for the userinterface,
had beenachieving
the lVeridian
104 FMtuner
powere
ad
ta r o u n4d5 R M Sp e rc h a n n edlo, u b l i n gyears.
TheNAP250 of thatera,notwithstanding
wasa sensible,
if farfromexceptional
sounding,
into 4 ohms.Meanwhile,
two speakers
were its timing and rhythm,soundedfeeblein tuner.The 1970swerethe pinnacle
of tuner
gaining
prominence
giantssuchas Trio,
andnotoriety
andthe then comparison
unless
used
withbass-heavy
speakers.designfromthe Japanese
power
Meridian
ampsjustdidn'thavesufficient Even
today,
the107isa toughactto follow.
Sansui
andYamaha.
Personally
speaking,
tuner
muscle
to partner
them.
Thegauntlet
having
beenthrowndown,soto designhasn'tbeenthe pinnacle
of lVeridian's
First,theGale401Aspeakers.
pleasant
Chrome
ended, speak,
Meridian
tookonthechallenge
oftryingto expertise.
The104sounds
enough
today
heavy,
andcapable
of uncommon
dynamics
if you coaxa half-way
decentsoundout of the Linn andlooksgoodwiththe 101andpartner
amps,
couldovercome
the3.4ohmsat 5kHzload.
These lsobarics
for owners
whowouldn't
choose
the butnothing
more.
speakers
weresubstantially
free of colorationN a i ms o l u t i o A
n .t t h a tt i m em a n yN a i md e a l e r s
although
witha slightly
risingtreblewhichwas literallyrefused
to sell Naimamplification
to T H EM E R I D I ASNO U N D
otherwise
sweetanddetailed.
Meridian
roseto c u s t o m ewrhsod i d n 'ot w na L i n n1 P 1 2M
. e r i d i a n ,So howwouldone characterise
the Meridian
t h e c h a l l e n gwei t ht h e t w i n m o n o b l o c1 k0 5 s . nodoubt
withoneeyeonthedawnofdigital,
built sound
fromthe 1970s?
Well,crisper
andclearer
Manyof theseweresoldwiththeGales
withthe five setsof its lsobaric
amolification
solution. thanalmost
anything
elsefromthatperiod.
lt is
105sconnected
to thespeakers
onshortspeaker
leada
s n do n l o n gs i g n al le a d fsr o mt h e 1 0 1 8 ,
Theresulting
soundwasalmostethereal,
very
light,openand airy. However
Meridianhad
another
aceup itssleeve:
thelVeridian
107.
xxThe103Dstands
comparison
to power
pricesyet
ampsupt0 82.5kat today's
canbehadoneBayfor as littleasf200s
RE-BADGED
ORPHEUS?
In reality
the 107wasa re-badged
version
of an
ampfromtheprevious
Boothroyd-Stuart
company,
Orpheus.
Aneffortiess
150RMSinto8 ohmsand threepairsof 105sandnocrossover.
Eachpairof lively,
eventoday.Undercertain
circumstances
n e a r ldyo u b l i ni gn t o4 o h m st,h i so n e - b ouxn i t 105power
ampswascustomised
fortreble,
mid withinappropriate
loudspeaker
matching,
it might
- butnothing
clad in copper-coloured
minor glass was andbass
respectively,
lt wasneat,
tidyandprecise betermed
assounding
mildlybright
- to a degree.
magnificent.
Frommemory,
onlyninewereever - andit worked
Oncein place,
the morethanthat.Butit'sthebassthancontinues
built.Whether
thiswasprudent
recycling
of old sonicshortcomings
of the lsobarics
became to impress.
Transients
aredelivered
witha speed,
product
stockortherelease
of a statement
is far apparent
and Meridian,
sensibly,
turnedits precision,
liveliness,
impactand controlthat
- forall therightreasons.
fromclear.Mybetisthatit wasa bitof both.
attention
to otherandmoreworthwhile
ier/ cannot
failto impress
amplif
projects
Thiswaswithout
anydoubtthef irstUKpower speaker
andnewactive
speaker
designs It'sa coldbassif youlike.I prefer
to thinkof it
amplifierto produceproper,appropriate
and ofitsown.These
included
theclever
butultimatelyh a sh a v i nngoa r t ifc i a l liyn d u c ebdl o o m .
authoritative
bassweight,
slamandcontrol
in the disappointing
M3sandthepeerless
M2s.
TheM1 active
speakers
deserve
a pageall on
theirown.Theyarecertainly
worthbuying
for up
t o [ 9 0 0 a n dI w o u l d ns' e
t l lm i n eB. u tr e m e m b e r
that thereare no replacements
for anyof the
original
driversand the electronics
trayshave
components
thataredifficultto replace,
youwant
The104 isn'tworthchasing
unless
thecomplete
set.The103isgreat,
butthe103D
is amazing.
Youaren'tgoingto find a 107,so
we'llleave
it atthat.Thei0iB isoneofthefinest
reproducers
of vinylavailable
at anycost- but
yougetwithit, orat leastcan
checkwhatcables
o b t a ianf u l lc o m p l i m eonf D
t I Nl e a dfsi r s t .
So,wheredoesthat bringus?Well,whenI
v i s i t etdh e M u n i c h i g h - e nsdh o wi n A p r i tl h i s
yearI putmyheadintothelVleridian
stand.
There
wasa bigscreen
showing
a 'boom-bash'
movie.
Thenoise
was,wellmerely
hiJi.lt wasn'tmusic.
Thepre-amp(topleft)with its S-pinDINsocketryfor line-levelsourcesandpoweramp(topright)with
I didn'tstay.I suddenly
feltveryold,somewhat
two setsol speakerterminals;belowtheseare PSUs,eachwith powerleadsbut no speakerconnections nostalgic
andjusta bitgloomy.
I
64
SEPTEMBER
2005 }}FIIe'ils
www.hifinews.co.
uk