(24-07-2016 06:12pm)nick1340 Wrote: Wow! I wish it sounded as good as it reads.
Maybe i'm missing something but to me it's a reasonable listening experience. Not concert hall stuff though.
Mine does. Just listen to David Chesky - Venetian Concertos. If you want concert hall stuff that sounds simply breathtaking in the car.
But I hear this again and again - regardless of the car. Top end cars and audio systems are getting better and better, but unfortunately for some reason, the general population are paying $$$ for lesser and lesser quality copies of recordings (mp3 etc). A bit like buying 4k TV and watching crappy streaming services!
TBH, I'm amazed at the sound of the Meridian system, particularly if you are using high def recordings and not crappy mp3's. But even those, if they are ripped at highest level, can sound good as long as the original is.
With the Meridian system in the Evoque, the use of the rear speakers to lift the sound and surround you is truly amazing, and I'm yet to hear an equivalent. Every other system I've heard has the rear speakers barking at you from behind, but with the Meridian the whole system works to produce a quite amazing and immersive sound. With my sub mod that brings out the lows, it matches the rest of the system really well. So while this might be a stretch, I think it's a little like some audiophile home systems. On average recordings they can sound awful, the more money you spend, the worse average recordings can sound. But play a great recording that has decent production qualities and they absolutely sing and you'll hear stuff like you'll never hear from a regular system. So the average sh't recordings will sound much worse than they do on a cheaper system.
Here's some artists/albums to listen to just to get the idea of what this system is capable of - as long as you are using a CD or at least a high mp3 encoded file:
1. Metallica: any really, they have very high production values, but Best Ballads is a great mix of fine recordings if you don't like it too heavy.
2. Any David Chesky recordings - as above, and all simply breathtaking - and all done with monoaurial production (single mic).
3. Ray LaMontagne - most are good, some are great.
4. Melody Gardot - The Absence - listen to "So We Meet Again" up loud and if you can't hear and feel her breath down the back of your neck, then there really is something wrong with your system.
5. Noah Wall
6. Mark Knopfler - Privateering
I could go on and on. There are some great recordings out there, some of the old ones are the best too, but new ones can be truly outstanding, and often when you least expect it (Decemberists for eg). Just don't expect downloaded cheap mp3's or copies from your mate to sound any good on a high end system unless you know where they came from and how they've been ripped. And be aware of buying HD copies that turn out to be low ripped mp3's and then converted back to wav's or Flac's. That's getting more common as people start realizing the limitations of mp3 format and wanting better sounding recordings.
At the end of the day, what I'm saying is an average recording is going to sound worse on high end equipment than it will on a cheaper system. The better the system, the more it won't compromise on a poor source. It will show up all the limitations. To address this, some systems just pump up the bottom end to overcome the shortcomings of the rest of the system. And that's fine for most I guess, but I'd rather the clean, well staged and subtlety of the Meridian system.
Front speakers
