Bad Meridian Sound

(29-11-2011 12:10am)PhilSkill Wrote:  Yep standard system is stonkingly good, I cant imagine how much better the upgraded system can be. I'm hearing things in the music i've never heard before! Love it!

You hit the point. When I changed my Denon CD player into an Audiolab a couple of years ago (Camtech in Germany) I experienced the same thing.

Let me put it this way - and this might sound contradictional - poorly produced or highly compressed music sounds poor, because the system is so extremely fine and not because it is bad.

That's very interesting to hear, thanks!

So, in short, is the upgrade worth paying for on a Pure at the best part of an extra 1k?

I accept that we're all listening sat in a poorly shaped tin box but I do enjoy the quality of my current Jaguar's B&W system and only ever listen to original or loss-less copy cds.

Our current Jag dealership has a sister LR dealership and my salesman tells me that the Meridian is superior to my B&W as it's now been adopted by Jag also - but you know how much we all trust sales men!

Well I wonder how much better than the 825w system that will also be in the new FFRR, the 1400w, 29 speaker, £4000 extra cost option is over the 825w! And IIRC you don't even get RSE in that price......

I have the 380Watt system. Very poor radio reception. Dealer changed the antenna. Slight improvement, but not good enough. Sound quality of Meridian system is really below expectations!

Sounds like a cheap car system. Dealer changed the radio and the sound is still insufficient. Conclusion: I bought a EUR +70K car with a very poor sound system. My Freelander2 HSE had a superb Alpine sound system and am really disappointed with the Meridian rubbish.

Dealer cannot help anymore to improve it as he has no other options. What other options / advice van you give????

The rest of the car is lovely

(05-11-2012 11:18pm)XFullFatTim Wrote:  Well I wonder how much better than the 825w system that will also be in the new FFRR, the 1400w, 29 speaker, £4000 extra cost option is over the 825w! And IIRC you don't even get RSE in that price......

I guess if you can justify £100,000 on a Range Rover then another £4k for an audio system that is probably worth £1K is small change.
Why would you want 29 speakers in a car with only 5 seats anyway? I only have 5.1 in my home cinema room & that would blow the Range Rover's glass out.

(05-11-2012 11:25pm)Alfetti Wrote:  I have the 380Watt system. Very poor radio reception. Dealer changed the antenna. Slight improvement, but not good enough. Sound quality of Meridian system is really below expectations!

Sounds like a cheap car system. Dealer changed the radio and the sound is still insufficient. Conclusion: I bought a EUR +70K car with a very poor sound system. My Freelander2 HSE had a superb Alpine sound system and am really disappointed with the Meridian rubbish.

Dealer cannot help anymore to improve it as he has no other options. What other options / advice van you give????

The rest of the car is lovely

Nothing wrong with the Meridian system for sound quality, Try using decent quality uncompressed music as the source... like an original cd in the slot rather than off your phone or over bluetooth etc? It makes a big difference if you are really fussy.

I questioned the Meridian system when I first got the car & also said I didn't think it was any better than my Freelander 2HSE Alpine system, then I put a CD in a 380W system in a showroom car & noticed a big difference. Since then I have realised the 825W system is very good but remember as soon as you drive yo do lose a lot of clarity with road noise etc.
Listen to a pre recorded CD when the car is parked - that is best & what changed my mind was when I put the TV on & watched DR Who with the soundtrack!!

For the sake of balance i thought i should contribute a view on the sound of the (standard) Meridian audio in the Evoque.
As a long standing audiophile using some Meridian equipment at home i would say i am impressed by the system. Meridian's involvement will be in design and specifying rather than actual production as another member posted earlier.
The system is notably superior to the Bose system in my old TT (2011) and laughably better than the standard system in a 3 series coupe before that. I did try an Audi A8 (2010) with Bose and i would say it was a little better than the Evoque, although perhaps it should be given the cost of the donor car and the upgrade!
The original problem came from a member in the sound recording industry, an area i have some (limited) experience of, most PA type equipment is strong on bass and control and weaker on tonal accuracy and naturalness in my experience. To say the Evoque sound is outright poor is just nonsense though, particularly when compared to its peers.
Its worth noting the Meridian are a world class specialist audio company when it comes to digital, having developed the MLP (Meridian Lossless Packing) standard adopted for DVD audio. Its not for nothing the built in CD/HDD system only permits full CD quality as the compromise involved in converting to low bit rate MP3 is audible, despite the marketing nonsense about MP3 being CD quality. It isnt. Meridian were also amongst the first to develop audiophile CD players, their MCD pro model in particular setting very high standards back in the mid 1980's!

I've been wondering about the 380watt system.
Thats what I have.
I have found my iPod plays at a fairly low volume. The screen indicates 20 -22 before I start to hear clarity and definition in frequencies. 26 on some tracks.

How does that compare? is it typical?

The radio is slightly louder than the iPod at the same setting and the DAB is louder still.
Back to backing it with my previous 3 series (of 2 weeks ago) I would say only the DAB reception is an improvement over it.
The radio seems to be similar but the iPod link up is significantly quieter.

On the 3 series, I had no DAB but the radio and iPod performed pretty much equally in terms of volume.
Haven't tried the CD yet.
Granted there was no 'visual' audio volume display so how do I really know the iPod is quieter on the Evoque than the BMW?
I don't...I'm just going on how long it used to take to reduce to silence and turn back up again.

Any thoughts on my system being right or not?