Reference Optical Disc Player
The 800 optical disc player from
Meridian has received equally high
praise for the unparalleled quality of
its video as it has for its world-beating
audio performance.
For over 20 years, Meridian has created
superior optical disc players that have
delivered better and better sound quality
with each successive generation, keeping
step with continually improving digital
recording and disc mastering techniques.
World-beating performance
with all PCM-based optical disc
media
Superb image and sound quality
that places the 800 in a class of
its own
The new 800 Version 4 takes this
critically-acclaimed player still further,
with support for HDMI and video inputs.
Important milestones were the identification
and near-eradication of player design
problems including jitter, mechanical
feedback, servo instability, playability,
converter linearity and interface design,
along with support for DVD-Audio.
In addition, the 800 Version 4 can be
configured with the new MConfig
application which includes step-by-
step configuration and graphic system
design.
Includes HDMI output card for
the latest digital displays
Bob Stuart, Meridian’s chief designer, was
heavily involved in the evolution of audio
formats for DVD – resulting in MLP (Meridian
Lossless Packing) being selected as the
definitive coding system for the DVD-Audio
format. It should therefore be no surprise
that Meridian’s design team has brought the
full benefit of their experience to the 800
Series Version 4.
Multiple analogue video inputs
for selection and scaling within
the 800
Two standard variants are available:
the 800D with digital outputs and the
800DAX, which adds balanced and
unbalanced analogue outputs.
Video converted to common
format for single display output
The 800 Version 4 is available new in
traditional Meridian black lacquer or a
sleek new silver finish, with the latest
MSR+ infra-red learning/programmable
remote, and existing Version 3 players
can be upgraded to Version 4.
Supports MConfig Windows
graphical configuration tool
Meridian also brought important
psychoacoustic and psychovisual insights to
the design of the 800. As a result the 800
Version 4 Reference Optical Disc Player is
able to offer sound and picture quality that is
second to none.
Latham Road, Huntingdon PE29 6YE, United Kingdom • T +44 (0)1480 445678 F +44 (0)1480 445686 • www.meridian-audio.com
Meridian America Inc 8055 Troon Circle Suite C, Austell, Atlanta GA 30168-7849, USA • T +1 404 344 7111 F +1 404 346 7111
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Reference Optical Disc Player
The press on Meridian’s 800
“…The Meridian 800 is a true reference-
quality product, offering not only first-rate
CD sound, but also state-of-the-art DVD-
Audio playback. …lesser players simply
don’t have the resolution, timbral accuracy,
or dynamics. Further adding to the 800’s
attraction is the ability to configure the
machine for your system. It’s an outstand-
ing DVD player, too. What we call a good
conclusion.”
Rear panel of the 800v4DAX version
The Absolute Sound, January 2004
Crystal-clear Image Quality
The pictures on DVD Video are stored using
a high-quality compression system called
MPEG2. MPEG2 has a flexible data rate,
allowing more data to be used for some
scenes than others. Complex motions and
textures can be conveyed accurately without
using an unnecessarily high data rate on
simpler material. Consequently, the encoders
(that make MPEG2 streams from the original
film) have improved in quality continually
over the years – a situation somewhat
analogous to CD, where recording
that digital chain to the creation of the image
itself. Other cards deliver broadcast-standard
video encoding, providing NTSC and PAL,
while video conversion and amplification
of the highest studio quality provide RGB,
Component, S and Composite formats.
“…DVD has never sounded this good
before. The soundfield is enormous, the
power and control awesome…the 800’s
combination of world-leading technology,
flexibility and killer performance makes it
the best DVD-A player we’ve heard by a
long way.”
DVD-Audio
DVD-Audio is the latest feature of the
DVD specification, and it is one with which
Meridian was deeply involved. It is a fact
that DVD-Audio offers the highest audio
quality available on disc today. At its heart is
Advanced Resolution 24-bit PCM technology
– a super-quality version of the same digital
techniques employed in the immensely
successful Compact Disc, but offering a
dynamic range of 144dB all the way across
the frequency range. And with sample rates
of 96kHz in 6-channel surround and 192kHz
in stereo, that range is immense – extending
up to 100kHz and without the filtering
required by other, incompatible disc formats.
Digital Home, September 2003
“…the Meridian 800 is as good as it gets
for DVD-Video playback…the internal
parts, quality and video DAC design… sep-
arate the 800 from the rest of the high-end
AV market. For movies, CD and DVD-Audio
you cannot do better than the Meridian
800. When you are designing your dream
system… be sure to add the Meridian 800
as your main source component. …the 800
is good enough for its own category.”
AudioRevolution.com
equipment has steadily improved.
Because the picture is stored as digital
video, it has some remarkable qualities
– including high bandwidth, low noise, very
low frame and line jitter and the potential
for deeply saturated colours. To recover this
quality requires a superb MPEG decoder
and immaculate care in de-jittering and
processing the resulting video.
“Overall, the 800 is perhaps the finest CD
player I’ve ever laid ears on.… In the past
I’ve been lucky enough to be in close prox-
imity to top class orchestras banging out
the best music, and at times this [800/861]
combination with DVD-Audio discs honestly
brought me closest to the experience than
any other hi-fi system I’ve encountered. And
that is no mean feat. Takes audio to another
level…. Without doubt the finest optical
disc playing system we’ve encountered.
Smooth and cohesive, it plays anything you
chuck at it with ultimate finesse.
The 800 offers a number of video output
options. The standard VE12 output card
delivers HDMI digital signals and progressive
component analogue video. Meridian
These characteristics give DVD-Audio the
most extensive coding space of any current
disc format. In addition, DVD-Audio discs
can include images, videos, text and even
downloadable AAC-encoded music files for
your personal stereo.
successfully pioneered audio systems in
which the signal remains in the digital
domain from the source, through a Digital
Surround Processor, to DSP Loudspeakers.
The Meridian 800 Reference Optical Disc
Player follows this example by maintaining
the video information in the digital domain
until the last minute – and now that displays
are available with digital inputs, the VE12
video output card supports them, extending
Needless to say, the 800 handles DVD-Audio
superbly, bringing out every subtle nuance
in DVD-A recordings. As the originators of
MLP, the core technology of the DVD-Audio
format, it’s true to say that nobody does it
better.
HiFi World, December 2002
“Staggeringly sophisticated, totally flexible,
and astonishingly accomplished, both in
terms of sound and vision. The very best
there is…”
What Hi-Fi, February 2001
“…I found that the Meridian… was
clearly superior… not just to my reference
components, but to any other CD front ends
that I’ve auditioned or reviewed.… The
performance of Meridian’s 800/861 with
CDs is superior to the performance you get
with the great majority of SACDs and DVD-
As through any player.”
Absolute Sound, December 2003
Meridian’s MConfig graphic utility allows the 800 Version 4 to be set up from a computer screen.
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Reference Optical Disc Player
The architecture of the 800 ensures that
all functional parts of the machine can
be upgraded, improved, added to or
interchanged, within reason. In this way
we set up not only the best opportunity to
stay ahead of changing technology, but we
retain the maximum flexibility to improve
performance through future changes to
software or hardware. This architecture
allows our customers to enjoy and invest in
the best audio/video systems now.
a display via a single interconnect, the 800
providing video switching and scaling of
internal and external video signals.
800 Version 4 also includes the VE00 card
providing interlaced and NTSC/PAL-encoded
outputs, and supports analogue video input/
switching cards designed originally for the
861. Controls provide adjustment of aspect
ratio, picture position (progressive only),
brightness & contrast, and NTSC hue.
The VI00 provides two composite, two S-
Video and one interlaced component video
input, and allows analogue video sources
to be converted to the common broadcast
resolution standard digital video format that
is used internally in the 800.
Full details of the cards installed in the
two standard versions of the 800 can be
found on Page 2 of this document. Note
that these versions are not upgradeable
on an individual card basis. If this is what
you need, special configurations can be
created to order, and Version 3 units can be
upgraded in many cases: contact your dealer
or installer, or Meridian Audio to discuss your
requirements.
The VE12 provides HDMI output for
Set-up and adjustments can be made via
the OSD or by using MConfig, the latest
computer-based configuration system from
Meridian. This Windows application also
supports the 861 with Meridian Room
Correction. MConfig includes a graphic
system definition tool (see illustration
on previous page) which enables a
compatible displays, and automatically
handshakes with the display to determine the
highest quality signal that can be provided by
the player. The card also provides analogue
progressive component video out.
comprehensive system architecture to be
built up on-screen and then uploaded to
the unit(s) concerned. All the decoding
algorithms are in video and audio DSP, so the
800 can be re-programmed in the future to
improve or extend its capabilities. Software
updates are available on Meridian’s website.
800 Version 4
Version 4 is the latest incarnation of the
800 Optical Disc Player, which combines
new software with a modified ‘core’ card
complement offering a significant increase in
the quality and flexibility of the system.
The new VI00 Video Input card is included
along with the recently-released VE12
HDMI/Progressive Component output card.
These enable the 800 to be interfaced with
Outline Specification
:
800 uses Meridian’s proprietary DSP software to provide
on-board decoding for DTS, Dolby Digital and MPEG
Audio, error correction, resolution enhancement, up and
down-sampling and high-resolution digital gain control.
:
DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, CD Audio (Red Book)
CD Video (White Book), MP3
:
Supplied with 1 x ATAPI 2 DVD ROM drive. A second
drive bay is included for future expansion.
:
Selectable inputs for 2 composite and 2 S-video in NTSC
or PAL format signals, plus component in. Outputs scaled
and available simultaneously as composite, S-video,
component, HDMI or RGB.
Audio outputs:
Independent copy and 2room+ capabilities where second
6-channel main and 2-channel auxiliary 24-bit, 96 kHz
S/PDIF digital outputs with MHR
:
Software-based video decoding for MPEG1 and MPEG2
video. Digital video backplane allows options for future
video processing enhancements.
Option for simultaneous digital outputs at different
sample rates from DVD and CD
Controls, etc:
Front-panel fascia controls for Play, Stop, Pause, Previous,
Next and Off. Hinged control panel provides additional
switches for Drive switching, Source, Copy, DVD menus,
Display, Mute, Volume
Option for simultaneous output of Dolby Digital com-
pressed stream for a decoder (like 861) and a decoded
Display:
20-character dot matrix display with adjustable bright-
ness and contrast. Lights for CD, DVD, MLP, Drive A/B
and Repeat.
Optional 2 + 4 channel analogue outputs on both phono
and XLR (balanced) with 24-bit, 192 kHz converters
(800DAX version).
Information contained in this data sheet is correct as far as possible, but Meridian Audio accepts no liability for errors or omissions. Meridian Audio reserves the right to amend
product specifications at any time. Third-party trademarks are recognized as the property of their respective owners. Further technical details, images, product reviews and
company history are available from Meridian Audio or from our web site, www.meridian-audio.com. ©Text & images 2004 Meridian Audio Ltd.
800V4 v2.6 • 04022005 RE
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