Meridian 200 Series
Meridian’s multiroom offering is entirely different, which is pretty much par for Meridian! The 200 Series is neat, flexible, and utterly hi-fi.
Meridian, a company which operates at the highest levels of hi-fi, also does multiroom audio — but as Spock might say, not as we know or understand it, Jim. There are no standalone one-box wireless speakers here, though you can incorporate Meridian’s ‘digital’ speakers up to their highest level. While a high-end Meridian system might include the large and impressive UltraDAC, a 17kg Reference CD player, or perhaps its solid 23kg power amplifier, the company is now addressing an entirely different type of solution. The world of streaming together with the compact possibilities of new amplification technologies have changed the shape of modern hi-fi. And as a company that led the world in some areas of digital and streaming technology, so Meridian has delivered something different in the 200 Series — a set of compact yet capable multiroom-equipped units that can deliver a whole house of audio, and can even do so without you seeing them at all.
In some ways these new releases take on other multiroom systems — the 218 Zone Controller (without amps) might be considered the equivalent of the Sonos Port, and the 251 Powered Zone Controller a hi-fi version of the Amp. But that comparison only goes so far. There’s a full-width Digital Theatre Processor ready to connect with a whole theatre full of Meridian active speakers, or to the eight-channel amplifier also available. All these can rack-mount out of the way (as shown above), perhaps more of a custom solution, while the smaller units could be used by anyone. Whenever we’ve reviewed one, we’ve loved the approach.
Just add speakers
With the Meridian 251 Powered Zone Controller, you can connect any passive speakers you like to create a zone of multiroom audio. But since Meridian itself specialises in what it calls digital active speakers, which receive a digital signal at their input, you don’t need the power in the 251 and can instead connect directly from the 210 Streamer or the 218 using Meridian’s SpeakerLink system.
And because of the quality embedded within those components, there’s no limit as to how high up Meridian’s speaker range you could go. We’ve spent time with the Special Editions of both the DSP8000 and DSP5200 (the latter pictured above, in one of Meridian’s rainbow of available automotive colours), either of which will plug straight into the tiny multiroom components to create a wildly minimalist yet utterly high-end audio system.
But perhaps the neatest of all would be the pairing of the 210 streamer with its addition of aptX Bluetooth convenience, paired with the cool svelte design of the Meridian M6 speakers, pictured right. With the 210 hidden away, power and SpeakerLink are the only connections required for this hi-fi solution.