gooner26:think i may audition the meredian f80. from what i can gather the meridian is superior in performance to the marantz set-up and also is easier to live with. could someone explain what kind of sound the meridian is? ie warm sounding, dynamic ect. cheers
The Meredian is in most people's opinions on this forum, NOT as good as even the Marantz system listed above. There are inherent problems with all-in-one solutions, some of which I shall list below:
1) You cannot upgrade from it. With a seperates system, you can upgrade each component independantly which not only saves money, but gives you great satisfaction and enjoyment. If new technology arrises, such as a new format for music, it cannot be upgraded; it is not future-proof.
2) These systems tend to be unreliable due to lots of technology being packed into such a small box - if one part of it breaks it cannot be independantly fixed.
3) The sound-quality is certainly not on par with hi-fi seperates. The soundstage, due to the speakers being very close, is vitually non-existant; it's best to forget the bass ever existed because anything below 60hz is virtually non-existant; the sound is far from natural-sounding because the speakers tend to re-verbirate in the box.
4) And then there is the issue that they do not hold their value as well as components.
Really, you are paying for style over substance. It's a similar issue with Bose product B&O products. Make your decision, for all stated above is in my very humble opinion...but I do think such a product is quite a rip-off if you are looking to get the best sound for your pound!