Originally Posted by Waykool plantz

We can discuss who CAN make the best sound system....but I think we are losing sight of the O/P's question.
The H/K system is definitely worth the money....I was surprised how our local inventory of ML were priced similarly...for the same price as a P2 equipped ML...I saw many P1's with KeylessGo & running boards. If one must choose between the two...H/K


If Oneness wants to PM me to discuss Upmixing algorithms....please do

Originally Posted by GregW / Oregon

That price point would make no sense for the ML, except maybe for the 63. They would not be able to market enough to recoup development costs. Now for the S and higher end models it's different, but over 10% base price for an audio system is a tough sell.

Originally Posted by Bluerum

Had the car 3 weeks. Everytime I drive it after I was in my Bimmer 750 I cry because the HK is so much better in the ML. Get P2, worth the money!
Yes we have lost sight of the OP question, me included.

Btw, Rotel is on the low end of mid-fi but worth the money. and bose is an underperforming ripoff almost as bad as monster cable hype.
Agree that Meridian is incredible and innovative company. Never owned that brand. Was a classe guy until my kids became a money pit and now just Marantz

Originally Posted by GregW / Oregon

That price point would make no sense for the ML, except maybe for the 63. They would not be able to market enough to recoup development costs. Now for the S and higher end models it's different, but over 10% base price for an audio system is a tough sell.

Originally Posted by GregW / Oregon

Oneness, appreciate your perspective, but I think you've worn this one out and it's gotten OT.

Originally Posted by rush1169

I appreciate high end systems, but frankly, the acoustical and electrical environment in a car makes it a borderline insane proposition to try recreate "perfect sound" to the degree that can be done in a dedicated listening room. In a listening room a good setup can easily start at $5K and as you know can blow past $100K very quickly. In a car, with a sub in the trunk, a tweeter up there, mid-range down there, and some other speaker here and there in enclosures that also happen to be doors and dashes all tied in to a plethora of wiring, essentially powered by an alternator, $6K can hardly come remotely close to a $6K home rig. I'd argue that one could spend $60K on a car system that still wouldn't out perform a $5K home system simply because the "listening room" is of probably the worst environment known to man to recreate "perfect sound". Ergo, it makes sense to most people to upgrade the sound within financial reason and go with it rather than drop another $5K to battle the environment, knowing one would ultimately lose.

Would a $6K system generally sound better than the $1K H/K system in the ML? Probably, but would be a ridiculously small improvement and no where near what could be done at home. There is simply very little room in the market for it.

Originally Posted by GregW / Oregon

Oneness, appreciate your perspective, but I think you've worn this one out and it's gotten OT.

Originally Posted by Oneness

Well, when you make a decision on something, don't you think one needs to obtain a better understanding?

Originally Posted by Tony007

Anyone have any experience with the Burmester system such as in the new Panamera and now the new 911?

Originally Posted by Bluerum

What is the purpose of surround sound in a car? Sounds insane as the source is 2channel pcm so why mangle it?

Originally Posted by ML12NYC

I have to agree with Greg and YYZ. As much as I love learning about AV systems and tech this went on deaf ear...especially since Meridian is not an option or within the price range. I can care less about the Evoque.

Originally Posted by Tony007

Anyone have any experience with the Burmester system such as in the new Panamera and now the new 911?

Originally Posted by rush1169

I appreciate high end systems, but frankly, the acoustical and electrical environment in a car makes it a borderline insane proposition to try recreate "perfect sound" to the degree that can be done in a dedicated listening room. In a listening room a good setup can easily start at $5K and as you know can blow past $100K very quickly. In a car, with a sub in the trunk, a tweeter up there, mid-range down there, and some other speaker here and there in enclosures that also happen to be doors and dashes all tied in to a plethora of wiring, essentially powered by an alternator, $6K can hardly come remotely close to a $6K home rig. I'd argue that one could spend $60K on a car system that still wouldn't out perform a $5K home system simply because the "listening room" is of probably the worst environment known to man to recreate "perfect sound". Ergo, it makes sense to most people to upgrade the sound within financial reason and go with it rather than drop another $5K to battle the environment, knowing one would ultimately lose.

Would a $6K system generally sound better than the $1K H/K system in the ML? Probably, but would be a ridiculously small improvement and no where near what could be done at home. There is simply very little room in the market for it.

Originally Posted by Oneness

Because Mercedes is going to B&O, they are doing the same thing as Audi, BMW, which is not doing as much to diffentiate themselves.

Originally Posted by GregW / Oregon

My BMW with Enhanced Premium Sound has a DIRAC Live system (not sure who makes the components), which is quite good, but I'm sure not up to Meridian standards.

http://www.dirac.se/en/technologies/dirac-live.aspx

Originally Posted by Oneness

Well, being a person that is into audiophile systems, H/K is considered a decent consumer home theater mfg, but they aren't considered to be at the top end. I know it's a step up from BOSE (Better Off with Something Else), Mark Levinson (owned by H/K) is considered audiophile grade, but the company that makes top end audiophile systems that people in the home theater market look up to for innovation and direction is Meridian. Meridian understands digital signals and they design their products to remove coloration with digital crossovers, digital pre amps, high quality power amps, innovative Trifield and how to remove digital distortion. Meridian has been working with Mcclaren and Land Rover (Evoque) on systems and I think it would great if Mercedes offered Meridian systems. The only two problems with Meridian is that their products are expensive and in the case of a car, their systems are so realistic, it might get the driver to more involved with listening to the audio rather than driving their car, and if your home system isn't as good, you might spend more time in your car watching movies than in your house. Either way, I would be 100% supportive if Mercedes chose Meridian as their audio system supplier.

B&O is more of a "looks" audio company rather than sound. if you read magazines such as Stereophile or The Absolute Sound, B&O is more into looks than they are audio reproduction. they have cool designs, but audio quality, they don't even come close to Meridian. In the audiophile world, Meridian is King. meridian has recently released systems for McClaren and Land Rover (evoque). BOSE? Cheap junk that is marketed towards those that are easily manipulated. in the audiophile world, BOSE stands for Better Off with Something Else. the drivers are about the cheapest hunks of crap, the electronics is low grade and are colored sounding systems. Bose is good at marketing, but their products are overpriced for what you get. H/K is better than Bose, and B&O is probably a little better than H/K, but I would prefer Meridian, or at least Mark Levinson. Mark Levinson is owned by H/K, and they compete with Meridian. But Meridian is just better designed for digital content. Mark Levinson just announced digital Pre amps because Meridian is taking over the market and Mark Levinson is trying to catch up. but where Meridian excels is in every aspect of a home theater system with the exception of the LCD/LED display. Meridian in actively involved with the design of surround controllers, digital preamps, digital crossovers, power amps, matching top quality drivers, cabinet design (utilizing composites designed by Ferrrari) as well as unique algorithms for taking two channel stereo and creating a 5.1 version. they go after removing anything that colors the audio as well as developing video processing to create better looking video as well. basically, Meridian does just about everything and they ensure that everything is designed to play at full volume all day long without distortion or blowing something up.

H/K is decent, but it is still made in Japan mentality. I would prefer Meridian, or secondly Mark Levinson. Mark Levinson makes the system for Lexus and they typically make higher end stuff than H/K. But recently, Mark Levinson is trying to catch up to Meridian by offering digital preamps which won't shipping for quite some time. In terms of taking a stereo signal and creating a 5.1 or a 7.1 version Meridian has the absolute best algorithms. they wrote the book on psychoacoustics and EVERYONE in the audio industry looks to Meridian. plus, Meridian created MLP which is used in DVD-A as well as True HD by Dolby. meridian has been working with McClaren and Land Rover with their car systems.

Here is the problem that most people get roped into. the more watts, the better. Unfortunately, power is measured differently in the audio world and may not mean it goes louder. What one must consider is distortion levels. Coloration, accuracy in reproduction. Meridian deploys and was the first with digital preamps (which have pretty much no distortion at all levels), they also have digital crossovers which don't have phase distortion because the power is separated to the various drivers in a more exact methodology, then there is cabinet distortion, etc. Trifield , a 5.1 or 7.1 soundfield from a two channel source relies on algorithms, this is where Meridian is the absolute leader. Then you have room correction, then there is amp distortion, Meridian has superior Class A and Class D amp designs than H/K or B&O.

H/K is a step up from BOSE, but that's like saying a Lexus ES is better than a Camry. Meridian, in this comparison would be throwing an AMG into the mix. yeah, they are all 4 door cars, but that's it.

One never knows. Mercedes used to use BOSE, but they switched. Before that they use Becker, Clarion, etc.

The car audio industry changes all of the time. If Meridian made a system for Mercedes, it would probably cost between $6,500 and $8,000 is my guess, depending on how many speakers and amps used.

The other option is having something custom installed.

In the world of Meridian, what usually happens is once you get to listen to Meridian, the listener gets spoiled and then when you listen to something else, you eventually learn to hear the problems with another brand of system. In the ultra high end, there are only about 4, maybe 5 players in the surround sound market that are compared ago each other and B&O and H/K aren't even mentioned. From the auto maker, they look at what they can market to their customer base and since Mercedes is a major automaker, they look at what is marketable for the wide range of customers. To the average consumer, H/K and B&O are more known, even though they are a less quality system. From my standpoint, Meridian would be the only choice, plus it is a better system than what Lexus uses, and Lexus is a big competitor to Mercedes.

The other factor is that Meridian is just getting into the automotive market. I heard though the grapevine that MB and Meridian did have discussions. Why MB didn't go with Meridian is anyone's guess, it might have been reasons we aren't thinking about.

But when it comes to the auto industry, things change all of the time.

I Know that MB is going to use B&O, but B&O doesn't know squat about surround sound. They have cool looking products, but that's about all.

I think Jaguar is working with B&W, but B&W knows analog speakers, but that's really all they know. B&W doesn't do amps, surround controllers, video processing.

The cost issue is a factor and a Meridian system for a S class might cost $8 to $10K.

but here is my point of view knowing a little about Meridian. The car mfg will work with whomever they work with and once Meridian sinks their teeth into the auto industry, they have the capabilities of designing the best sounding system t there, It is just a matter of figuring out how to do it and make it affordable for the market they are going after.

The speakers Meridian uses are expensive, but it is because they aren't mass marketed, but they are getting their costs down since they typically use the same drivers on their top end systems as they do on their low end systems. They typically use higher quality PC boards and components, but it ultimately boils down to what they really need and how much it costs and how they can leverage their component costs.

What would be cool is if Meridian could figure out how to integrate their systems in cars in an aftermarket product that was installed by trained professionals. since Meridian has only worked with McLaren and Land Rover, they are in learning mode. It will be interesting to see what Meridian gets involved in. With their M80/F80 project, they did some ground breaking things they will get used in other future projects.

Actually, I don't that is a true statement. if you look at the Evoque by Land Rover, there are two systems. the first is a 11 speaker system that is stock and the 17 speaker system is part of an upgrade. I believe Meridian is doing both systems and the base evoque is about $44K. I haven't heard either one yet, but I plan on it, just as a reference point.

what sucks is that MB didn't go to Meridian instead of B&O. B&O has NO CLUE how to do these types of systems. Knowing that B&O doesn't much in terms of surround sound controllers, amps, Pre amps, they'll probably just buy some generic controller/amp by XYZ Japanese supplier, stick their name on it and take their speakers which look cool and charge a lot of money for it. This happens all of the time. meridian doesn't do that. they are innovators and they don't private label their products or OEM other mfg products. they design their own amps, Pre amps, surround controllers, the only thing they have OEM suppliers are the drivers, but they use very good drivers. I think the tweeters they use in their more expensive speaker systems cost Meridian a couple of hundred dollars, which is a lot of money.

meridian is one of only a couple guys implementing Apodising filters, they use a proprietary room correction, the first to do digital crossovers, Pre amps, etc. All of their competitors have wanted to license their surround sound algorithms, but Meridian said NO. they are definitely the innovators in psychoacoustics, which is what is going on in a car to get proper imaging from each istening position. these guys get **** retentive and they usually don't put out garbage products, ever.

They are both Meridian, but the 825 watt system has more power and more speakers and is part of an upgrade that adds a ton of other options.

Here is a link to a PDF that describes the Meridian system for the Evoque. they could easily put this in any Mercedes Benz model as either standard or optional and kick the living crap out of H/K, Bose, Mark Levinson, B&O or anything else in terms of accurate sounding system without coloration, phase distortion, etc.

http://www.meridian-audio.info/publi...%5b3791%5d.pdf

They are both Meridian, so you don't pay $6 to 8k unless you want a bigger system with the other options.

read the Meridian PDF on it. http://www.meridian-audio.info/publi...%5b3791%5d.pdf

Well, unfortunately it is colored audio. some people are used to listening to audio that has lots of coloration or various types of distortion. Some just haven't trained their ears to understand the difference. It's a decent system and an improvement over the Bose, but bottom line, it is a far cry from audiophile grade, Sorry. When you listen, try to pick a decent recording that is of instruments and vocals that don't have lots of effects, processing, etc. also listen at various volume levels. See if you hear the low level detail, which is difficult to reproduce. also, listen to the systems with flat eq. settings.

Rotel? come on. Rotel is at the bottom of the scale for audiophile equipment. Abbey Road doesn't use rotel, they use Classe amps. well, the B&W is used in recording studios because they are among the best for that application, and their engineers are used to analog speakers. meridian doesn't really market their product towards the recording industry because they would have to make the entire system. Actually, Meridian made some of the first mastering processors for the early audiophile recordings, but they went into home theater systems because that's the market they really go after. B&W has been used for many years and the engineers are used to their sound. I like the high end B&W, but they aren't going to put those systems in a car. They aren't very effiecient and that's what you need in a car, otherwise, they'll have to add batteries to be able to handle the power those speakers need to drive them. I used to own an older pair of B&W 802's which was one of their best speakers when they were new, but the second I got the meridian system, it was night and day difference. In order to get a B&W 5.1 system to approach Meridian, one has to have incredibly expensive power amps, Pre amps, surround sound controller, expensive speaker cables, interconnect cables, etc. the problem ALL analog systems have are there are too many opening for distortion, coloration, etc. aone must have a system that is matched. B&W will never get away from crossover inefficiencies unless they change to digital crossovers. the surround controllers must also have high quality DAC, algorithms, etc., etc. Rotel is probably a step above H/K, but that is a small oart of the system. Who are they going to use for DAC's? Preamps? Rotel? they just use analog preamps, run in the mill DACs, and it is still analog pre amps. Meridian designs the entire system to work together rather than piece meal from different suppliers. Plus, Meridian has amongst the best room correction which is mandatory for a listening room the size of a car. Rotel is rated Class B I believe. Maybe their top of the line power amp might get to Class A rating, but i doubt they'll put Rotel's best amp design in a car. They consume too much power, take up a lot of room, etc. ALL of Meridian products get either Class A to AAA ratings from Stereophile in terms of quality of sound. meridan surround controllers are best breed. there are things Meridian can do with a total meridian system that no one can do, even Goldmund is tryng to keep up with Meridian, unless you want to spend $1,000,000 on a home theater system. The thing that meridian figured out is how to make their products extremely effiecient, no coloration, able to have detail at all volumes, deal with all of the problems analog based systems have inherently.

back in the early '90's there was a stereo store in my local area that sold B&W and they took the components from 800 series B&W speaker system and put it in a Honda Accord to be the best sounding car audio system to win a trophy. they ended up putting in some class A car audio amps, they also put in a ton of Hgh end AudioQuest cabling, Dyna matted the entire car, but it didn't do surround. At that time, it played two channel stereo really well, but in labor and materials, it probably cost well over $15,000 and it took them about a month to install. it sounded great for what it was at the time. they used a Honda Accord because sonically it was a decent cabin. they actually won the award back then, but this is about 20 years ago. I don't know what else I can say, but Meridian is just better designed to do surround systems with high output, no coloration, relatively low power consumption, excellent low level detail, able to clean up digital recordings, etc. In terms of surround controllers, there are basically a handful of brands that come very close, but they all charge $20K+ to compete. krell, Mark Levinson, Lexicon, ADA, Goldmund, maybe a couple of esoteric brands out there, but the problem Meridian figured out a LONG time ago is digital Pre amps, digital crossovers, perfectly matched system, proprietary algorithms, room correction, apodising filter, and designing the entire system to work together rather than having to mix and match. Meridian pretty much handles the entire system.

Abbey Road uses Neve consoles, which are analog, they currently upgraded their AD/DA converters with DAD,and they run various analog speaker systems, including NS-10's which SUCK. They need all analog speaker for that environment in order to cater to record producers that need to mix with different speaker setups and it is difficult to mix analog systems with Meridian digital systems. yes, B&W has been the de facto standard for that environment, but there are other high end studios like Skywalker Ranch that use Wilson Audio or some other really high speaker system running high end, high power amps off of Neve or SSL, or API consoles. it is just their environment has a difficult time blending digital speaker setups and analog speaker setups from the console since that is how they are designed. I mean if Meridian wanted to design the console, AD/DA converters and the payback system, they would probably do something pretty trick, but that isn't their market. they did make an active version of their bookshelf speakers to be used for mixing and mastering, but they really didn't market them that well since their market is home theater systems, home stereo systems and now car audio.

Rotel surround controllers? they are NOT in the same class as Meridian. They might be a step above the garbage at Best Buy. They have a Foroudja scalers but Meridian owns Faroudja. their Pre amps are still analog and their DA converters are just average. They just don't have enough background to compete against Meridian. They might come up with something better than H/K or B&O, but not as good as Meridian. sorry, but it will still be a mx and match setup.

They spent time custom designing the speakers around the Meridian electronics. The speakers are made from a reputable supplier, so I don't think changing the speakers to B&W will make them sound any better. they are using very good quality magnets, frames, properly dampened cones. I honesty don't think they will make much, if any improvement. meridian uses high quality drivers already. Plus, they have some really nice coax speakers for center which B&W don't make. One could make the same argument for using Wilson Audio drivers, as well as a bunch of other speaker mfg drivers.

What are the choices? If Meridian sold their two speaker systems as a option that car audio dealers could install, I would go with Meridian, but standard system MB uses is just a plain sounding system. I am planning on purchasing a new car and the only choices is either the standard system, going with the H/K system or doing something else. The other option is installing better amps, if possible and maybe some dynaudio speakers, which are exceptional speakers. I will probably get the H/K myself, knowing the Meridian system is better. out of all of the mfg of audio surround systems, Meridian is probably the one to do the best job. no one out there has solved all of the problems with small (incredibly small) room acoustics with low power consumption and audiophile level sound quality that can adapt to the other noises and accept a wide variety of sound sources and give each seat in the car excellent imaging.

I think the Meridian system that they put together for the Evoque is priced around $6K, which is cheap for this level system. Abut unfortunatley, it is hard to tell since they bundle the 380 watt system with the base price of the car and the upgrade is bundled with a bunch of other options. when people go into the high end audiophile grade systems, they will spend a lot of money for a small degree of improvement until it gets to the point of ridicuous. Meridian tries to keep the costs down as much as they can, but on their top end systems, the strive for ultimate sound and then they leverage what they did down the scale for more limited budget. Their top end speakers are $65,000 a pair, but in terms of what they compare to, they are cheap. it's all relative. Their speakers compare to other brands where the speaker, amp, cables, and Pre amp cost 2 to three times the price. For just two channel stereo, check out MBL, unbelievable products, but at a cost that is pushing the ridiculous meter and they take up a lot of room.

I know a lot of people think that expensive cables are a rip off. Well, check out MIT, they actually redid SkyWalker Ranch's cabling for their studio and they noticed a huge difference. A lot of things come into place when dealing with long cable lengths, and an accurate system, people with trained ears can tell the difference. It is subtle, but if it can be measured, then it can certainly make a difference. some brands know what they are doing and some don't. If the system isn't good enough, the room isn't good enough and the person's ears are shot or not trained, then yeah, cables don't make much difference.

Let's analyze what Land Rover and Meridian are doing. The base model is $44K with a sound system that is better than the H/K or B&O or Mark Levinson. for $7,500 you get the upgraded system with more subs and more power, but otherwise the rest is the same, but for that $7,500 one gets a bunch of other performance enhancements. If they took the guts of the 380 watt system and stuck in a base model Mercedes (any model 4 door car or SUV), my guess is that they would charge about $5 or 6K and that is a no brainer. Easy sell for what your getting. Audiophile grade systems is always expensive, some can justify it and some can't. there are guys out there plunking down $10,000 to $50,000 grand on systems with HUGE power amps, tons of expensive drivers, etc. in these custom installs and they stick this stuff in these hopped up muscle cars or imports, but the sound quality is over accentuated bass that blow your ears off and they actually sound horrible because they are going for who can go the loudest with enough bass to vibrate the car to the point where the chassis starts rattling and they have to put more batteries to handle the power consumption. I think where Meridian saves costs is having one box with one nice power supply with lots of well designed small amps since they are using digital crossovers, they don't need tons of watts per driver. the Pre amps is also done with the same DSPs that control the crossover and the surround sound processing. that's the Meridian advantage. Plus, Meridian's algorithms have pretty much already been written with all of the R&D they've done on other systems. It's too bad Meridian's two systems aren't available as a install option, but once people get to listen to the Evoque, there might be some auto mfg. contacting Meridian to off their system. it is a very simple designed system that can easily adapt to any car on the market, the room correction software just has to go through a several hour process to calculate the changes from car to car, other than that is it a turnkey system for most 4door cars and SUVs.

Well, when you make a decision on something, don't you think one needs to obtain a better understanding? Audiophiles take audio just as seriously as automotive enthusiasts. Some see a car as a mode of transportation some really get into their car and they want to tweak their cars for better this or better that. same thing applies to audio systems. some people justify spending $80K on a C63 when the base model is less than $40K, same type of mentality. I would rather spend twice as much on the audio system to get the same level of improvement, and if it were offered by the car mfg, I would do it in a heart beat. some people think there isn't enough bang for the buck on the difference between a C350 and the C63 and then there are those that will spend ever more to get the renntech C74.

I just know from experience, that there are people that are just as into their aud system as they are the car they drive, some focus on one or the other as well.

most consumers don't know much about stereo systems and they have bought into the Best Buy mentality, which is unfortunate.

you want to hear a horror story about Circuit City. A man brings in his brand new S class into the local Circuit City to get an upgraded stereo and the installer (some kid) drives the brand new S Class and side swipes the car right in front of the customer against the entrance of the building where they do the installs. what was even more infuriating was the manager of Circuit City has the audacity to tell the customer that the customer's insurance should pay for the damage. never let a chain do any work on a high end car.

I know what you are saying, BUT. this is why Meridian IS the only one to do it. They have the room correction software which compensates for noises. They put the subs underneath the seats. I have read about people going on test drives and they said that the standard Meridian system in the Evoque was a great sounding system and the upgraded model was insane. If anyone is going to make a better system it's Meridian.

The only thing we, as consumers, do is to listen to the Evoque under normal driving conditions, If we hear a noticeable difference and it makes sense to plunk down the money, go for it. I am the type of person that would with spend a reasonable amount of money to get better audio if it makes sense. $5K on a full surround sound system is not that much money by today's standards. $10,000 is pushing it, and spending anything more than that is ridiculous to me, even though I am the type of person that would spend $3,000 on the Meridian M80 put it a bedroom without too much thought. I play music on the side, so for me, it is part of my lifelong semi-professional hobby. When I listen to music, I like to hear things properly. If Meridian can do it in the car, go for it. WHen I spent money on a home theater system, I was first skeptible on Meridian. After I set up the system, I was hooked. It is the only brand I will ever consider if I am given the option. EVERY product they put on the market gets rave reviews by the industry and consumers. They have what the average person would scoff at, which is a $3,000 boom box, but dealers have said that when they sell them, the give the customer 30 return policy and they don't see them come back. In fact, some customers don't play their stereos louder than this little tiny box goes and it actually blows away ANYTHING costing twice as much money. It insanely designed products. If you don't experience Meridian, then you simply have no idea what your missing. Go to the Land Rover dealer and bring your favorite CD, and take the car for a drive and listen to the system, let me know what you think. Unfortuntley, their system comes with a Evoque, which to me isn't the car I want, so in my case, the car comes first.

burmester is a respected name in 2 channel audio, but they don't really have anything to compare against Meridian. remember, Meridian takes 2channel and creates a better sounding soundfield with their Trifield Algorithms. most Meridian owners use Trifield instead of 2channel stereo. it creates a more realistic experience and on their home systems you can make adjustments to bring the vocals further or closer. It is cool. Plus, you can get better stereo imaging even if you are not perfectly seated in relationship to the speakers. It all psycho acoustic stuff that Meridian is the absolute leader, Other mfg like Yamaha have worked with Meridian on projects' but Meridian refuses to incense their algorithms, you can adjust the high frequencies direction to compensate for the listening position up or down in terms of the relationship of the listener's ears to the high freq driver, the yaw, all kinds of stuff on their home theater systems, It's tweaks stuff,

Meridian figured out a way not to mangle it that's why. you have to hear the difference. you get a better experience with Trifield. they took what they learned with ambisonic recording and applied it with Trifield. It creates a bigger soundstage and the ability to adjust vocals further or closer and it doesn't mangle it. It's trippy.

Then don't read anymore posts on the subject. If your not interested, then move on to the another interesting topic. If people want something better, how is Mercedes going to know unless you request it. squeaky wheel gets the oil. I complained about them using Bose and would NEVER be caught owning a car with their overpriced junk, and Mercedes dropped Bose, so maybe they'll eventually get Meridian. Mercedes does have to compete on various levels. I am not interested in the evoque either, but I have no problem taking one on a test drive to listen to their speaker system, It is part of the learning process.

burmester is what Bugatti uses in their Veyron. it's rippin expensive, but I would take Meridian in a second. these automakers have been getting more involved with better sund systems and they are trying to differentiate themselves and work with various companies, but Meridian is probably the best company to address all of the concerns that auto have.
1. they have to have a system with fairly low power consumption, otherwise you'll drain the batteries.
2. they must have high quality sound and the ability to play a variety of sound sources ranging from CDs, MP3, DVDs, etc.
3. they have to reduce the amount of space used for electronics and be able to put the speakers in places that make sense to the design of the car.
4. They need to deal with small room acoustics as well as car noises.
5. Give the user a better experience than the competition.
6. Ability to integrate within the existing command center and making it easy to use.
7. Pricing it where they can sell enough to make it worth their while.
8. using a company that people recognize and respect.

people are getting more sophisticated in what they buy in some ways. a lot of people have been spending lots of money on aftermarket systems and they spend lots of money that doesn't go to the dealer. Putting in higher end systems brings more revenue to the dealer and auto maker.

If their biggest competitors get another brand of system, then they might have to change brands to compete. Meridian just recently went after that auto market and they worked with Land Rover because it was probably a very easy project for them and now they have a couple of different systems that they can offer to other car makers. They have two larger systems that would go into a 4 door or SUV or the McLaren system that would go in a 2 seater, so Meridian would be the best choice for a high end auto maker.

meridian typically goes for people that spend between $50,000 and $500,000 on a high end home theater, but they have been putting out more products to go after the lower price point because there is more people willing to spend less than $10,000. so they have been spending time bringing their high end stuff to lower price points which attracts a wider consumer base.

it will be interesting to see how much impact the Meridian systems attact since Land Rover is getting attention with their evoque, even though you might not buy one.

The base model for the stock stereo probably includes about $800 for it, then add another $1,000 for upgrading to the H/K. yes, replacing the H/K with a 380 watt 11 speaker Meridian would probably add another couple of thousand (speculation) and then another couple of thousand for the 15 speaker 825 watt system. Would there be people that would spend the money? Would say there would be and it would make a difference in the user experience. There are a lot of Meridian owners that have plenty of disposable income, the average H/K home theater owner don't have as much. H/K to me seems like a brand that they would put in a Chevy or maybe a Cadillac, but Mercedes should have a higher end system because they attract a more sophisticated buyer. personally, if Mercedes could offer different brands of products that could easily be installed at the dealer level that way they would provide high end for those that will pay for it and the lessor quality for those that don't want to spend the money. for an average surround system H/K is decent, but I wouldn't be flipping cartwheels over it. It's better than the stock system and better than Bose, but it isn't a high end product. I spend a lot of time driving long distances and I like to iisten to a decent system and don't want to have to do a third party system and have to pay for the H/K in order to get the other options that are bundled with it. but unfortunatley, we have to pay more for something we may not want. I could easily spend more money and replace just the drivers in the H/K system to either Dynaudio or Focal and get it to sound better, but it still isn't the Meridian experience which is what I have at home and have gotten used to. Most Meridian owners have Mercedes, Porsche, BMW, Lexus, Ferrari, etc. and they would flip out and drop money on a Meridian system in a nice car regardless for the model which is a growing market and an easy sell for Mercedes. Because Mercedes is going to B&O, they are doing the same thing as Audi, BMW, which is not doing as much to diffentiate themselves.

Originally Posted by GregW / Oregon

My BMW with Enhanced Premium Sound has a DIRAC Live system (not sure who makes the components), which is quite good, but I'm sure not up to Meridian standards.

http://www.dirac.se/en/technologies/dirac-live.aspx

Originally Posted by katiesdad7

All those that own Meridian stock please raise you hand. :-)

IOW, the horse is so dead. :-)

Originally Posted by Oneness

I know what you are saying, BUT. this is why Meridian IS the only one to do it. They have the room correction software which compensates for noises. They put the subs underneath the seats.