At CEDIA Expo 2006, Meridian founder Bob Stuart demonstrated one of the top two or three in-wall loudspeakers I’ve ever heard: the active A350i. Stuart said, and a brief demonstration confirmed, that the A350i’s are articulate and well balanced, and offer good imaging and lively dynamics. In short, the A350i sounds more like a very high-end freestanding speaker than it does a typical in-wall design. The speakers are also quite heavily built, weighing—I would guesstimate—about 80 pounds each, meaning installers will need to be prepared for some serious heavy lifting.

At first glance, the A350 appears to be a five-driver loudspeaker, but closer inspection reveals that it is a two-way design with three active drivers and two passive radiators. In the center of the speaker is a wide-dispersion ribbon tweeter, which is flanked by a pair of 6.5� metal-coned mid-bass drivers. At the outboard ends of the enclosure are two 8� auxiliary bass radiators.

To make the most of the limited enclosure space between wall studs, the A350i’s G41 powered crossover/amplifier is mounted outside the speaker enclosure—typically back in the equipment rack. The G41 provides crossover functions for the speaker, plus eight channels capable of delivering 100 Wpc. Each A350i requires two of the G41’s eight channels, one channel for the tweeter and another for the amplifier. Meridian explains that just one G41 can power a typical 5-channel system, where three A350i speakers would be used for front the left, center, and right channels, with two passive Meridian speakers used as surround speakers.

A stereo pair of A350i speakers plus a G41 powered crossover/amplifier would sell for $14,500.

Back to the CEDIA 06 Coverage