Meridian - has anyone replaced theirs yet?
#11
02-23-2022, 11:15 AM
#13
02-23-2022, 07:17 PM
Until last week, I had an original Polk Audio reference XM tuner (RIP) that gave very-near CD quality sound from their satellite feed. I had the terrestrial repeater feed turned off.
The 2017 Jag and the 2015 Toyota work truck still sound great with XM. The new Defender and the new Bronco are definitely different. Idk what changed but it drastic and it is not the downlink. Oh well, it's mostly a curiosity for me because XM is hot garbage anyway.
#14
02-23-2022, 07:45 PM
I managed a custom car audio and alarm shop out of college. Moved on to AV sales manager and then store, district, and regional manager. High end stores doing around $60m/year each. I left to start a custom theater installation company and sold it. I've heard audio systems that would make you cry uncontrollably. I died inside when SACD was dropped.
Until last week, I had an original Polk Audio reference XM tuner (RIP) that gave very-near CD quality sound from their satellite feed. I had the terrestrial repeater feed turned off.
The 2017 Jag and the 2015 Toyota work truck still sound great with XM. The new Defender and the new Bronco are definitely different. Idk what changed but it drastic and it is not the downlink. Oh well, it's mostly a curiosity for me because XM is hot garbage anyway.
Until last week, I had an original Polk Audio reference XM tuner (RIP) that gave very-near CD quality sound from their satellite feed. I had the terrestrial repeater feed turned off.
The 2017 Jag and the 2015 Toyota work truck still sound great with XM. The new Defender and the new Bronco are definitely different. Idk what changed but it drastic and it is not the downlink. Oh well, it's mostly a curiosity for me because XM is hot garbage anyway.
#15
02-23-2022, 09:16 PM
something that hasn’t been mentioned with the comparison of different cars is the sound stage, speaker placement and how many speakers as well as power output of the system. The defender is a noisy vehicle and that could contribute to some opinions
for the 700 upgrade it’s definitely worth the money. My Bmw m8 cost me 6k to go to Bowers. Still with the money as this was important to me.
Meridian has good lows and highs are decent. Would i go through the hassle of removing door panels and all the issues with that. Not at this age. 10 years ago not even a question
for the 700 upgrade it’s definitely worth the money. My Bmw m8 cost me 6k to go to Bowers. Still with the money as this was important to me.
Meridian has good lows and highs are decent. Would i go through the hassle of removing door panels and all the issues with that. Not at this age. 10 years ago not even a question
The following users liked this post:
The_hog (03-01-2022)
#16
02-23-2022, 09:17 PM
Speaker impedance should always be the same or higher than the amp's rating and there will be no damage pushing 4, 6, or 8 ohm speakers with a 2 ohm amp.
An 8 ohm speaker (generally home speakers) would be louder on the same amp than a 4 ohm. A lower number on the speaker means it's harder to drive.
I have also noticed that XM sounds terrible compared to almost any other source. It's dull, lacks range, and has no presence. Spotify, YouTube Music, and the rest are much better in mine (700w Meridian).
We experienced the same in the new Bronco. I have XM in 2 other cars and it's fine. Idk what's up with these but it's definitely worse.
An 8 ohm speaker (generally home speakers) would be louder on the same amp than a 4 ohm. A lower number on the speaker means it's harder to drive.
I have also noticed that XM sounds terrible compared to almost any other source. It's dull, lacks range, and has no presence. Spotify, YouTube Music, and the rest are much better in mine (700w Meridian).
We experienced the same in the new Bronco. I have XM in 2 other cars and it's fine. Idk what's up with these but it's definitely worse.
#17
02-23-2022, 09:37 PM
For the 2 new vehicles, there is apparently a difference with the receivers. They created a new platform, 360L, in 2018 to add interactive features and kill off the very old Sirius (worst quality) platform and eventually the XM (better quality) platform. Satellite streaming gets moved to cellular in a few years.
This new XM is so bad I thought the system in my Defender needed to go to service.
#18
02-23-2022, 10:05 PM
On a mediocre car system (Tundra, F-Pace) they're close. Limited by the hardware.
For the 2 new vehicles, there is apparently a difference with the receivers. They created a new platform, 360L, in 2018 to add interactive features and kill off the very old Sirius (worst quality) platform and eventually the XM (better quality) platform. Satellite streaming gets moved to cellular in a few years.
This new XM is so bad I thought the system in my Defender needed to go to service.
For the 2 new vehicles, there is apparently a difference with the receivers. They created a new platform, 360L, in 2018 to add interactive features and kill off the very old Sirius (worst quality) platform and eventually the XM (better quality) platform. Satellite streaming gets moved to cellular in a few years.
This new XM is so bad I thought the system in my Defender needed to go to service.
#19
02-23-2022, 10:06 PM
I've never heard a stock system I liked. The one in my X seems especially bad considering the price I paid. I'm looking to replace the Meridian system with something decent but I'm worried the exposed metal in the doors will make any system sound average. Do you think it would be worth the investment in upgrading the system?
