Meridian Audio

History

Based in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, Meridian Audio was founded by Bob Stuart and Allen Boothroyd in 1977. They continue to lead the company with Stuart heading all technological developments and Boothroyd leading the design team. Since the company’s inception, all Meridian products have been conceived, engineered and built in the UK.

The company was the first to introduce active loudspeakers (loudspeakers with power amplifiers inside the cabinet) designed for the domestic market, and was the first British company to manufacture a CD player in 1983. The Meridian MCD, launched in 1985, was the first audiophile CD player. In his review of the MCD, audio engineer and Stereophile founder J. Gordon Holt wrote, "For the first time, the sound of the best CDs (Telarcs, RealTimes and Sheffields) is truly liquid and transparent, with an effortlessness that I have not previously heard except from the better analog sources... To date, then, this is the best-sounding CD player I've encountered." Meridian also created the first digital surround-sound processor and the first DSP-based digital active loudspeakers.

The flagship DSP8000 active loudspeakers were released in the late 1990s as part of the company's new 800 series. Subsequent loudspeaker models (DSP7000, DSP5200) employed the styling that contributed to the success of the DSP8000.

In 2007 a significant minority shareholding in the company was sold to the Muse Group, a consortium of the Swiss-based luxury goods group Richemont and U.S. film company New Regency. Muse is now a majority shareholder and is 100 percent owned by Reinet Investments, a sister company of Richemont.

Today, the company's two largest markets are the United States and China.

Loudspeakers

Meridian’s flagship DSP8000 speakers and new M6 loudspeaker have received favourable reviews.

Home theatre

Meridian Audio has been in the home theatre market since 1994 with the launch of the Meridian Digital Theatre. In 2005, The New York Times profiled Meridian’s $20,000 Model 800 DVD player. According to The Times, "The Model 800 represents what some believe to be the pinnacle in audio and video processing technologies."

The Meridian 810 Reference Video System is the first 10-megapixel projector for home use.

Technologies

Meridian has developed a number of unique technologies over the course of the company’s history. These include Digital Signal Processing (DSP) Loudspeakers and Meridian Lossless Packing (MLP). MLP is used in DVD-Audio and Blu-ray Disc as part of Dolby TrueHD.

In late 2014, Meridian launched the Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) audio encoding system with the intention of enhancing the quality of digital music experienced via downloaded files or online streaming. MQA utilises a novel digital sampling technology that is capable of capturing extremely fine timing information accurately, down to the microsecond level, which Meridian claims is not possible with conventional techniques, even at high sample rates. Meridian maintains that current neuroscience indicates such timing accuracy is necessary for truly lifelike recording and reproduction. When an original master recording is MQA-encoded, this information is "encapsulated" into the bulk of the audio signal by "folding" it in two stages into a standard (typically 24-bit; 44.1 or 48 kHz sampling depending on the sample rate of the original signal) digital coding space but beneath the noise floor. The resulting data is transferred using any lossless audio format such as WAV, FLAC, Apple Lossless etc. As a result, the bandwidth required to stream an MQA file (or the size of a file for download) is significantly less than using conventional techniques, while retaining the full detail of the original master. On replay via an MQA decoder, the encapsulated detail is recovered, providing an exact representation of the original master recording, and this is confirmed ("authenticated") by the decoding system, generally illuminating an indicator light. If the information is replayed without an MQA decoder, the encapsulated data is ignored and audio quality somewhat better than Compact Disc (16-bit, 44.1 kHz sampling) is experienced. Initial listener reports appear to be positive. In 2015, Meridian Audio Ltd spun off MQA into its own company, MQA Limited, set up for the purpose in July 2014 and based at the Meridian address in Huntingdon, UK.

Partnerships and acquisitions

Since 2005, Meridian Audio has been the manufacturer and distributor of Faroudja video processor systems, now marketed solely under the Meridian name. In December 2008, Meridian acquired media server manufacturer Sooloos to create Meridian's range of streaming systems.

Meridian has also engaged in partnerships with several luxury companies:

Boutiques

Meridian runs several boutiques in major cities across the world. Boutiques are located in London, Oxford, Kuwait City, Bangkok, Mexico City, Santiago, Moscow, Bangalore and Singapore. Retailers also sell Meridian products worldwide.

Awards and recognition

Meridian products have received several awards, including:

Meridian products have also been featured in many Hollywood films and television shows, including The Avengers, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1, The Hangover Part II and many others.