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Premiere Design
MBL 1621A CD Transport & 1611F DAC
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 27, 2011
MBL has its fingers in just about every audiophile pie there is, from CD players and DACs to preamps and integrated amps to power amps and speakers to cables, racks, and speaker stands. In terms of source devices, the company's ne plus ultra is the 1621A CD transport and 1611F digital-to-analog converter (DAC).
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Premiere Design
MBL Noble System at T.H.E. Show
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jul 07, 2011
In addition to the Reference system I wrote about a few weeks ago, MBL also showed its mid-range Noble line in an adjoining room at T.H.E. Show in Newport Beach, CA, last month. I must say, this more moderate setup fit the funky hotel room better than the bigger system next door.
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Premiere Design
MBL Reference System at T.H.E. Show
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 14, 2011
Even though hotel rooms are not the best environment to show off high-end audio products, some companies managed to achieve a mighty impressive sound at T.H.E. Show in Newport Beach, CA. Among them was MBL, which set up two systems in adjoining rooms. My first stop was the room with the flagship Reference system, including two 101E MkII speakers ($70,500/pair, profiled here) and two 9011 monoblock power amps, which generate 750 watts per channel and cost a staggering $53,000 each.
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Premiere Design
McIntosh MVP881 Universal Blu-ray Player
Scott Wilkinson  |  Feb 25, 2010

Considering all the recent brouhaha about the $3500 Lexicon BD-30 actually being a rebranded Oppo BDP-83 (list price $500), I was suspicious when I saw a CES press release introducing the MVP881 universal disc player from <A href="http://www.mcintoshlabs.com">McIntosh Laboratory</A>. But then I read that the MVP881 uses the HQV Realta video processor, whereas the Oppo/Lexicon uses VRS from Anchor Bay, so it can't be another more-expensive knock-off.

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The Big Picture
Men In Black 3
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 06, 2012
I saw Men In Black 3 last night, and as with most 3D movies, I chose to see this one at an Imax theater, which uses two projectors—one for each eye—to increase the overall brightness of the image. Even though MIB3 was shot in 2D and converted to 3D in post-production, I thought the 3D effect was quite good overall. In fact, it seemed to me that the movie had been shot with 3D in mind, with lots of depth in many images—I especially enjoyed Agent J's fall from the skyscraper as he jumps back to 1969.
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Premiere Design
Meridian 810 4K Projector at T.H.E. Show
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jun 09, 2011
Video demos were mighty scarce at T.H.E. Show last week. One notable exception was located in a ballroom hosted by Digital Ear, a high-end dealer in Tustin, CA. The centerpiece of the demo system was the 810 4K D-ILA projector from Meridian (profiled here) in its first public showing.
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CEDIA 2010
Meridian Audio Core 200
Scott Wilkinson  |  Sep 23, 2010
Another new product on static display at the Meridian party was the Audio Core 200 2-channel analog/digital preamp with a chassis designed by Alan Boothroyd. It provides a SpeakerLink digital input to accommodate a Sooloos media server and SpeakerLink outputs for any of the company's DSP speakers. The price? $2500.
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CEDIA 2010
Meridian DSP3200
Scott Wilkinson  |  Sep 23, 2010
On hand at the Meridian party was the latest and smallest member of the company's well-regarded DSP speaker line, the DSP3200. This self-powered, bi-amped gem accepts a digital signal and sports a 6.5-inch woofer and 3-inch full-range driver that's the same as the one used in the McLaren supercar audio system. By Meridian standards, it's a bargain at $6500/pair.
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CES 2012
Meridian HD621 3D Upgrade
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 13, 2012
Among various high-end audio products, Meridian also announced an upgrade to its HD621 HDMI switch/audio upsampler (sitting atop a G68 pre/pro in this photo) that adds 3D passthrough. This upgrade is free to existing owners from Meridian dealers.
Meridian Media Core 200
Scott Wilkinson  |  Jan 08, 2011  |  Published: Jan 09, 2011
The Sooloos audio-server system from Meridian is an audiophile favorite, but the Control 15 with touchscreen interface is pretty expensive at $7500. New at CES is the Media Core 200 server, which uses the iPad or iPhone as the control interface and sells for $4000. That's still a lot, but it includes 500GB of hard-disk space—enough for 1000 uncompressed CDs—and access to Rhapsody and Internet radio. Outputs include S/PDIF, SpeakerLink for Meridian digital powered speakers, and fixed and variable analog.
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