251 Powered Zone Controller
While the 218 doesn’t have internal amplification, the 251 Powered Zone Controller does. Despite its dinkiness this is a full stereo amplifier with conventional inputs, both analogue and digital, with a high-quality switching preamplifier including full high-res DAC capabilities and two channels of Class-D amplification — 2 x 65W into eight ohms, 2 x 100W into four ohms.
So all you need add to the 251 is any pair of speakers, whether conventional box speakers or perhaps in-wall ‘hidden’ speakers, or even ceiling speakers, though we’d recommend high-quality models to take full advantage of the quality available from these units.
It doesn’t take much imagination to see how a custom installer could rack up a set of these small units to provide music to multiple zones around the home, using powered 251 Zone Controllers with speakers in most areas, and 208 Zone Controllers or 210 streamers plugged into any existing audio or AV systems. Still more options are possible with Meridian’s 258 Power Amplifier — this offers a versatile eight channels of power for mono or stereo music zones.