CEDIA 2016

Likely no audio company exhibiting at CEDIA is as well known for digital audio as Meridian. The company pioneered and was built-on the idea of maintaining an digital signal path; keeping the signal in the digital domain from source to speaker and at every step in between. And while this is terrific in an all Meridian system, it doesn’t work so well when trying to integrate with other products.

Now Meridian is releasing the new 258 eight-channel power amplifier that will allow people to enjoy Meridian’s terrific sound quality with any speaker of their choice. The new high-performance, cool-running Class D amplifier comes in a svelte 1U rack mountable chassis and is rated to deliver 100-watts per channel into 4 ohms or 70-watts per channel into 8 ohms.

The highly efficient (greater than 95%) Class D amplifier is cool running and doesn’t require a fan for silent operation. Not surprisingly, Meridian took an audiophile approach to the 258’s component selection, resulting in performance that is often found on products costing far more.

The 258 features eight unbalanced RCA audio inputs and Phoenix-type speaker terminals and a rear panel 12-volt trigger input. While it has been designed with multi-zone audio in mind, it could certainly also serve as a home theater amplifier.

The 258 will carry a 5-year warranty and have a $2,000 MSRP at launch later this year.