Meridian 500 CD transport & 563 DAC
This review appeared in Audiophile magazine in January 1994.
There are negative aspects to any design methodology. Adopting a complete systems approach can result in components that don’t perform well outside their natural habitat; concentrating instead on individual components can lead to problems with integrating them successfully into a broad range of systems. Neither tack is perfect but I suspect that the most sensible route involves taking a holistic approach to hi-fi systems, regarding each component as part of a larger whole as well as considering it in its own right. One of the best examples of this strategy is seen in Meridian Audio’s products. The company’s early adoption of modular designs and incorporation of a communications bus into components demonstrates a particular regard for system cohesion. A recentdiscussion with Allen Boothroyd, one half of the design team, suggests that we’ll see Meridian taking integration much further still when it sets upon the home entertainment market.
Meridian 500 CD Transport
At the time of writing I didn’t have access to other 500 Series components so I had to explore the 500/563′s potential as a regular CD front end for my own predominantly one-manufacturer system. This uses Naim electronics and loudspeakers, the latter being actively driven. Coincidentally, both Naim and Meridian are proponents of active loudspeakers although their applications of the technique differ. All the electronics and speakers were supported by Mana Acoustics stands, interconnects were provided by Cable Talk and The Chord Company – except the digital interconnect which was the supplied Meridian lead. As well as the standard Meridian mains leads I also tried Kimber 8TCM Powerkord cables supplying the player and DAC.
The 500 transport is an elegant looking device – not that you would expect anything ugly or indiscreet from a company with Meridian’s aesthetic awareness. It combines the operational benefits of a top loading mechanism with the convenience of a drawer-loading. The transport’s drawer isn’t a simple disc-posting mechanism; it slides the whole transport assembly out of the facia to facilitate disc loading. When the drawer closes, the loaded transport enters a damped and screened enclosure with the fully closed drawer front providing a sealed compartment to reduce its susceptibility to external influences. The disc is clamped by a non-magnetic clamp mechanism and the single-beam laser is driven by proprietary servo circuit. Reclocking and amplification of the digital ouput is used to reduce jitter.
The 563 DAC also attacks jitter with dual phase locked loop circuits and reclocking of the data stream. It uses Meridian’s high definition, dual differential Delta Sigma converter, whose sixty-four times oversampled, two-bits per channel conversion is said to give nineteen-bit precision.
The ease and assurance with which both units operate inspires confidence. However, the 500 transport surprised me; it didn’t take kindly to being disturbed whilst it was playing. Footfall didn’t make it flinch – even violent stomping close to the table supporting it didn’t provoke misbehaviour – but tapping a finger on the top of its case sent it into the digital equivalent of having its needle stuck in the same groove.
The sound of the combination also displayed an ease and assurance that many listeners will, I’m sure, find strongly appealing. I’ve often thought that Meridian’s past CD components have had a rather overwhelming sonic niceness. The richness and warmth that made them appear powerful and engaging with orchestral music has neutered their facility for attack, rawness and rhythmic drive with rock music. The 500/563 still has a touch of added sweetness and romance but in smaller measure. Switching components suggests that the 563 carries the can for most of the added sugar.
The 500/563′s sound could never be called unpleasant or fatiguing. At times, and in many respects, it was highly engaging. Playing Aimee Mann’s predominantly acoustic, slow-moving 4th of July, the combination gave her guitar a sense of harmonic and timbral depth, and her voice a – human – warmth that I found particularly encouraging. In terms of its presentation the player was very convincing – unwaveringingly solid and full blooded. Nonetheless, I felt that it missed the last degree of temporal urgency and passion; the musical and emotional flow bordered on being too relaxed. With more up-beat tracks, I Should’ve Known, for example, the reduction in timing attack and dynamic contrast evident subdued the music’s impact and vitality. Her performance, although cosmetically appealing, seemed less spirited and compelling.
This slowing effect wasn’t always profound or immediately apparent. Songs with varying degrees of liveliness on the Pogues’ CD Waiting For Herb seemed to maintain their momentum better but as the tracks progressed I noticed that I was responding more enthusiastically to the brisker songs. Ultimately, however, even the wonderfully animated Sitting on Top Of The World didn’t have the convincing blend of punk and folk vivacity I normally expect to hear. Although the Pogues have replaced vocalist Shane McGowan with the noticeably more articulate Spider Stacey, the band’s music hasn’t lost its sense of inebriated abandon. The 500/563 made it sound a tad too sober and civilised. What was beguiling about the player here again, though, was its facility for imbuing instruments and voices with splendid colour and timbre. You could never accuse this machine of sounding anaemic or making performers seem like cardboard cut-outs. Using the Kimber Powerkords enhanced this feature subtly but to good effect.
I expect that my next observation will seem rather predictable but I have to say, regardless, that I found the Meridian more persuasive with classical music. Listened to in isolation, its portrayal of the Naim Concerts Under The Dome CD quite entrancing. Its recreation of the cello and piano in the adagio and allegro from Boccherini’s Sonata in A major blended power and delicacy in just the right proportions. Both instruments exhibited convincing depth and divergence of tone, with dynamic scaling that afforded the music a sense of variety and progression. The player also realised the wealth of detail in the recording without losing sight of the musical flow or the venue’s ambience. Its sense of perspective on the event was excellent. However, I felt it didn’t fully capture the spirit of the playing as well as it might have done. I thought it diminished the vigour of Janos Starker’s playing in the Allegro; he didn’t seem to be bowing with his usual fortitude, sounding as if he were holding back and moderating his attack on the strings.
While the 500/563 was gratifying in being easy to live with – I’ve used more expensive players that have sprung unpleasant musical surprises upon me – ultimately I found its approach to music too tame to satisfy me. I never felt that it fully realised music’s expression and drama. Although it had more get-up-and-go than previous Meridian players I’ve used, it still had a tendency to make nearly every piece of music I played sound easy on the ear; unfortunately, much of it was never meant to be that way.
HEAD TO HEAD WITH MICROMEGA DUO CD3 & DUO BS2
Comparing the 500/563 with Micromega’s Duo CD3 transport and Duo BS2 DAC also provided an opportunity to assess the Meridian components working not as a team but as individual items. I began by listening to a track that would be difficult for any player to sanitise or apply the brakes to, Carter USM’s Sing Fat Lady Sing. The song certainly kick-started the reserved 500/563 into life but even at high playback levels it didn’t quite convey the full impact of Friutbat and Jim Bob’s uncivilised wall of pop-punk sound. The Micromega pairing’s presentation hadn’t the likeable full, warm bass or vocal substance of the Meridian but it captured the music’s frantic, thrash and burn attitude more succinctly.
Somewhere amongst these four pieces of equipment there had to be a combination that could offer both body and bluster. Partnering the Meridian 500 with the Duo BS2 showed that the transport could deliver a better turn of rhythmic speed allied to a solid cosmetic presentation – the song’s meaty bass line was back but now it was charging. Pairing the Micromega transport with the Meridian 563 DAC lightened the music’s tonality somewhat – the bass line and voices hadn’t quite as much weight and body as before – but while the tempo seemed livelier it didn’t offer convincing rhythmic coherence. Neither mix and match combination was ideal but were I forced to choose I’d take the Meridian transport and Micromega DAC.
10,000 Maniac’s Unplugged version of Hey Jack Kerouac confirmed this was still the best choice. Natalie Merchant’s voice was more inviting, expressive and the song’s timing flowed more persuasively on the Meridian transport and Micromega DAC. The song didn’t hang together well, nor did it sound particularly appealing on the Micromega transport/Meridian DAC combination.
Listening to the same song on the wholly Meridian and Micromega combinations I appreciated the Meridian’s presentation of Merchant’s idiosyncratic voice but found the band’s playing sounded less cogent and strongly tied to her vocal line. The Micromega locked the band’s playing to the singer more tightly. It also surprised me by portraying Merchant’s voice not only in a more expressive fashion but also with greater refinement. I had expected the smooth, composed Meridian system to be markedly more flattering to a voice that often sounds irritatingly nasal but the Micromega triumphed here too. It also gave a better insight into her vocal technique, demonstrating how she regularly distanced herself from the microphone on peaks – either that or how quickly the engineeer could pull back the fader on her mic. Several tracks further into the disc I realised that I wasn’t missing the Meridian’s tonal warmth. Alongside the Meridian the Micromega could appear slightly bleached but in isolation the French player had more than enough body to portray voices and instruments convincingly.
However, the deciding issue wasn’t one of cosmetics or presentation. While the Meridian system was enjoyable and free from any irritating vices, the Micromega system was more sympathetic towards music. It was more dramatic, involving, exciting, spirited – it had the qualities that made me want to dig out more discs. I found that I couldn’t concentrate on working when the Micromega was playing but I could work and listen to music with the Meridian. That makes the Micromega bad news from a productivity standpoint, but that’s the price you pay for a CD player that provides more stimulation than ambient music. Listening sessions where my mind was firmly focused on the music readily showed that the Micromega had a significant advantage here: discs that were rejected as insufficiently interesting after a couple of tracks on the 500/563 were often played in full and appreciated much more on the Micromega.
