Lack of sonic signature, clean and efficient design, 3 balanced and 4 RCA ins/outs, ease of use with remote, stealth product

stealth products fail to receive deserved fanfare, the remote's battery life seems very short

After more than a year's use, I must report how pleased I am with this stellar performing analogue preamplifier. Recognizing Meridian's strength in the digital formats, I was unsure whether I would be pleased with this gear's performance beyond my extended testing period of 3 months. Today, I still find this unit very pleasing to the ear and will likely only replace it with Meridian's 561 when my theater is completed.

I am currently running this unit with Merdian's fine 508-24 compact disc player, coupled with a bi-amped set-up of Krell's KSA250 running the mids/highs and a Meridan 557 pushing the lows. I am using balanced interconnects throughout the system.

What I like best about this preamp is it's lack of signature. My two previous preamps/processor (noted above) each applied their own flavor to stereo music. The 502 is smooth without being warm. It is very detailed and natural without a hint of tonal coloration. It is dynamic but doesn't seem to get in the way of the amps' power and drive, particularly on extended high frequencies. Ultimately, it's invisibility allows my untrained but particular ear to find music of various formats enjoyable for extended listening periods.

The 502 seems very well built. The case is pleasantly designed. It is certainly on the smaller end of the "size matters" scale. And the remote is easy to use, despite having to replace batteries all too frequently. (A very minor nit, I know!)

In my view, this unit is definitely worth a listen if you are seeking a reasonably priced analogue preamp.

Similar Products Used:

Proceed AVP, Audio Research LS1

I upgraded from two systems, one a dedicated stereo system with a SF Line 1 preamp, and a home theater system using a Rotel RSP-980 pre/pro. Any concerns about sacrificing audio quality for HT are totally unfounded with the 561. This is a pre/pro that offers excellent stereo, or choice of 'useable' music modes, and provides stunning surround sound on movie soundtracks.
Initial setup is a little complicated at first, which might put some interested buyers off, but it really isn't all that bad once you have spent some time to get to know how all the options work. Then you can really appreciate the 561's flexibility and control. The configuration software is a nice touch. It's quite easy to quickly see all the settings, adjust and save them to different files. Its possible to set up an infinite number of user types or profiles and download them into the 561 quickly to make major changes in the setup.

Once set up ease of use could not be easier. Punch a source button and the 561 turns on and automatically defaults to the presets setup based on the input signal e.g. PCM or Dolby Digital. Settings can be tweaked on the fly and the results saved if you want. Any new settings saved on the 561 can be uploaded into a PC file that can be modified and downloaded later. The OSD is totally optional.

Again, sound quality is very good. I compared the 561 primarily with the Proceed AVP. To me the Proceed had a slightly lean, crisp sound, and did not sound as detailed or smooth as the 561. The 561, I thought, also did a better job of creating a more spacious and seamless surround on movie sound tracks. The AVP is also less flexible in terms of setup. Both offer software upgrade paths. The AVP is larger and heavier, and gives the impression that you are gettng more for your 5k.

I don't know how the 561 stacks up against EAD's Theater Master, or units from Lexicon. However, I do know that the 561 has excellent sound, for both music and movies, is flexible, and can be software upgraded as changes in formats evolve.

It's a TAD under 5 Stars (I'll leave the 5 Star Catagory for the 861)
Reference System:

Krell KAV-250 Amp (L,R)

Kenwood 6x100 THX Amp (C,LS,RS)

B&W 803's, HTM, SCM-8

Pioneer DVL-700 DVD/LD player

Rotel Tuner

Yamaha HiFi VCR.

39 year old ears.

Mostly various monster cable with Radio Shack connectors.

All in home.

AC-3 (THX) *****

DTS (THX) ****

DPL (THX) *****

DPL (Stereo rear) ***** (not tested on heavy dialog films yet)

7.1 Processing Not tested (requires 2 digital speakers)

RF-Demodulator Not tested (expensive, see below Yamaha ADP-1 is ***)

Music (Bypass) ****

Music (Surround) ****

Usability **** (Almost *****)

Build **** (Probably a tad under ****)

Bass *****

Documentation ****

Recording Analog *** (it can't do digital to analog)

Recording Digital Not tested

The information here is based on 7 days of ownership.

The cabinet is about on par with the DC-1 but the jacks are a step up. Not up to the level of like a krell which bolts the
jack to the back plate. The 561 jacks have a thick wall vs the thin stamped sheet metal used on cheaper jacks. They also
have a flange the gets some strength from the rear plate. Some jacks are mounted differently than others and one is
slightly out of square.

The unit looks richer than it actually is. The from panel switches work perfectly fine but they certainly don't give a warm
feeling of richness.

For music it sounds spectacular, it's effects are as effective as the DC-1 (but different) and they don't loose any bass in
the process. They are less aggressive than the DC-1 and tend to make less mistakes.

For DTS it did not strike the nerve that the AVP did but that may of been a spur of the moment thing. It sounded similar to
the DC-1. Again not calibrated to Video Essentials for careful comparison.

For AC-3 the first full movie I tested was a movie I rented "City Of Angels" LD. One of the best sounding sound tracks I
have ever heard. Was it the 561? Was it a coincidence that one of the best movies I've ever heard was the first one on the
561, was this the start of a new trend?. I don't know yet.

Make sure you get the version 1.3 or later firmware released around 10/18/98. It fixes some AC-3 dropout problems I ran
into.

The unit is designed for experimentation (unlike the DC-1 and less applicable on the AVP). You can make all the effect
changes you like without loosing your original settings. Just select the device again and they are reset. If you like your
new settings jot them down and create a brand new effect and add it to the system (there may be a way to copy those
"current" settings to the new effect directly).

When setting up the system, you have to tell it a huge amount of information compared to any other system I've seen. Room
aspect ratio, the relative strength of each speaker (includes a calculator on the PC to help you determine that number).
Does it really use all this information?

At first I thought setting up via the PC was a gimmick. It's not, it's intuitive, it's fun and very functional.

When I first hooked the system up I could not get any on screen menus to work. Turns out you have to have a video source
signal to lock onto before you can use the on screen display. Meridian says most other companies use "overlays", we don't
because it degrades the picture. Our scheme however requires a source Video signal to lock onto.

Another interesting thing on Video is something about direct video passthrough. S-Video-1 is specially linked to S-Video
Out and Composite Video-1 is specially linked to Composite Video out. I'm not sure what this means, but if the unit is off
(standby) it passes the S-Video straight through.

The Remote is nice and a shame it's not learning since it can run an entire system. You actually had to remove 4 screws to
put in the battery. I actually think that's a plus because you won't loose those silly snap on cover. The Battery mounted
kind of crooked which gave a little difficulty replacing the cover.

I do hear small snaps and crackles when starting, stopping and pausing and turning things on and off. The DC-1 did a better
job in this regard. None of the 561 snaps and crackles are loud, sharp or make you uneasy about damaging equipment.

Regarding DTS "Pssssst" startups on unpausing and track skipping. The 561 gives you every choice available. You can choose
that you have a smart player that sends the correct information about the format, you can choose 30ms delay or choose to
lock that device onto DTS. However, it is not wise to use the 30ms delay for devices that do Video since it will throw off
the lip sync by 30ms.

There is an optional cooling fan that is supposed to be available. And you can see a chrome wire grill on the bottom the
unit where it goes. You can program the fan to be thermal, off, or on when the unit is on.

The display is a bit small but pretty easy to read. You can choose THX Ref or dB Level like the AVP. But the 561 seems to
like to revert back now and then to dB level based on other things you do (might be because of frequent configuration
downloads from the PC).

The volume is remembered for each device even when you turn the unit off. I wish it had a setting to reset the volume to a
specific level on each device in case you forget and leave it very loud. I don't know if there is some options regarding
this since it does have a "Level" to set each device to (no, it’s not input gain). Perhaps it times out and resets, I'm not
sure yet.

The unit is capable of 7.1 but you have to have 2 meridian digital speakers for this (main or rear?) and external DAC is
not sufficient.

It's digital outputs are 24/96 and Meridian claims they will support DVD Audio on this unit and will likely be MLP which it
already has. Currently it can decode 3 channels of MLP and the next major software release will be 5 channels. How you
actually feed the thing I don't know.

Meridian has a track record of keeping their boxes current for reasonable prices. The 565/562 for example was announced in
93 and is still current and will likely be upgraded to above the 561 features. The 561 is supposedly somewhat modular
inside (i.e. DACs I’m told are on separate card) and will maybe upgraded some day if meridian wants to.

It also has extensive tests to make sure your timing and crossovers are optimal. Sine wave generator, phase tests etc.

Triggers, the triggers may be standard for the UK but they are not for the US. The most common in the US is 12v mini phone
jacks. But the meridian uses 9v DC jacks (like those use on transformers you plug into the wall). Using the DC Jacks makes
sense since it's harder to short the end of cable. The book says a "3.5mm". But you need two measurements to define this
style jack (inner and outer diameter). When I went to radio shack 3.5mm did not seem right for either dimension. I think I
used a 5.0mm O.D. and 2.1mm I.D. (that might not be correct email me if you want to know exactly). It fit a little loose
but seems to work. I took my chances and tried to trigger my 12v input on the krell amp and the krell seems quite happy
with the 9v's. I measured the output of the 561 which was 10.5v (with no load).

You have a choice of when to use the sub or not for different modes of operation. Music (Yes, No, LFE), Movies (Yes, No,
LFE) and Logic (Yes, No, LFE). I'm not sure what Logic means yet but I assume it means DSP modes.

One thing I never expected in the Meridian given its compact size was real relays doing some of the switching. You usually
only see relays in larger units with true analog paths.

The remote is having a tough time blasting through some smoked glass.

The 519 rf-demodulator is way over priced but has a feature that saves you one digital input on the 561 and allows more
seamless usage. B&K also makes one with similar functionality for less money but is now discontinued. The Yamaha $99.95
unit works perfectly well but you use an extra input and you have to map it to another device input.

Compared to the DC-1 most of all the music surround modes are much less aggressive.

Ambsonic mode is actually a decoding scheme and there is quite a bit of information on it on the web. But it appears to be
a dying format and most recordings encoded with it are on LP’s. However it does turn a few tricks on some non ambsonic
recordings such as Enya.

The input gain for analog devices seems like a rather course range compared to the AVP or the DC-1. It only has 4 levels.

It can also be a bit confusing at times that the preamp will call something one thing but the PC software will call it
something else. For example the gain levels are 0, 6, 9, 12 on the preamp. But they are 0.7, 1.0, 1.7 and 2.0 Volts (or
something like that) on the PC.

It would be a nice bonus if QSound, Circle Surround and HDCD was added to the list of choices.

I have not tested digital output recording yet.

I have tested analog recording and analog to analog is fine but digital to analog is non-existent (this may apply to second
zone as well), it's simply an analog to analog switcher. What this means is that you can't even record DTS CD or send a DTS
CD to another room. You have to rely on your analog outputs of your DVD/CD/LD player for any analog recording. This will
work generally well for AC-3 LD or DVD and DTS LD or DVD but it won't work for DTS CD's. The DC-1 could mix any digital
source (PCM, AC-3 or DTS) down to 2 channels and send it out the analog outputs. You could not listen in 5.1 and record in
2.0 when you did this.

There is an optional card that adds a second tape out. I'm not completely sure what it does. It cost something like
$200.00.

Although the documentation is fairly good and there is a lot of it, it does not go into detail how things work to best tune
your system. Your "installer" is supposed to be trained by Meridian.

If I select the CD player before turning the CD Player on the CD will not lock. You have to select the device after it's
powered up. This may be intentionally this way; to mute the channel if it sees nothing it there or something (perhaps to
prevent a pop on power up).

For some reason my analog tuner has acted strange and I was not around when it occurred (my daughter said it just went away
and she tried multiple stations and suddenly it returned).

Warranty is only 2 years.

List $5000.00

List $5800.00 (With 519 RF-Demodulator)

Street 10-20% off depending on dealer