High fidelity audio (let’s call it HiFi) has always been an area where technology has moved rather slowly. Part of that has to do with tradition at the higher ends of the product spectrum, and part of that has to do with the fact that analog hi-fi componentry – like the design of amplifiers and speakers – has not changed drastically in the past 40 years. You could say that analog Hi-Fi is like the internal combustion engine, which is likely at the peak of its development – but electric power is where technology is moving ahead at a faster pace.

We are not proclaiming, by any means, the end of classic amplifiers and speakers. But if you look at where the market has evolved, digital music sources like streaming and downloads have heavily influenced music consumption. With that has come tremendous innovation in powered and wireless speakers. Digital Signal Processing (DSP) is the digital manipulation of music signals that has allowed audio designers to break free from traditional design constraints. For example, we love Sonos systems for their ease of use and excellent sound for their size. They are an excellent example of using clever DSP algorithms and built-in amplifiers to generate great sound from relatively small speakers. Sonos is an excellent product, but it is not generally considered Hi-Fi by audiophiles. And that brings us to Meridian Audio.

Meridian Audio is a British company founded in 1977 and is one of the earliest pioneers in digital audio. They produced the first audiophile CD player in 1985 at the dawn of the CD era, and they also introduced active (self-powered) loudspeakers in the 1980s where traditional, highly regarded British brands like Bowers and Wilkins and KEF were only producing standard passive speaker designs. The company developed Meridian Lossless Packing, a digital codec (encoding technology) that is part of the standard for both DVD-Audio and Dolby TrueHD lossless audio on Blu-ray discs. The company also developed MQA (Master Quality Authenticated), an emerging standard for packaging high-resolution music for downloads and streaming. All this is to say that Meridian is one of the world’s most expert companies at DSP and digital audio technology.

Lelch Audio Video is proud to be a Meridian Audio dealer in the Minnetonka area, offering speakers and audio products that look and sound like no other. Let’s explore why Meridian is different and how you can go fully digital for your next hi-fi system.