TAS 194: Meridian Audio DSP7200 Digital Active Loudspeaker

A Compelling Argument for Integrated Components

(Photography: Joel Salcido)

The precision, speed, and balance of Meridian’s DSP7200 active loudspeakers are the most compelling argument I’ve heard to dispel the notion that separates are invariably superior to integrated components. While this prejudice is not unfounded and can, in fact, be true in many cases, when you invest in a “one-box system” from the world leader in digital technology, preconceived notions can easily sprout wings and fly out the window.

Sharing many of the same features as Meridian’s state-of-the-art flagship DSP8000 active loudspeaker, the DSP7200 is more compact in design and intended for real-world living environments where space constraints can interfere with optimum setup and performance. My listening room turned out to be a nice fit for these British beauties, making installation a relatively simple task. At 121 pounds each, they may still require an extra hand or two for the grunt work, but after that, as long as you have a pair of inexpensive digital cables (CAT-5 or phono coaxial) along with a source CD player, you’re good to go.

I was fortunate enough to have the ultimate in source components on hand, the newly updated Meridian 808.2i CD player/preamp. Both the 808.2i and DSP7200 offer a new SpeakerLink interfacing feature, providing balanced digital, Meridian Comms, and power via RJ45 connectors. You may experience a bit of cable withdrawal without the typical snake pit of wires plunked conspicuously in the middle of your listening room, but your significant other, therapist, and wallet will thank you as cable angst becomes a thing of the past—without any sacrifice in sound or performance. Hook-up was painless: Remove a small access panel on the rear of each speaker, run a CAT-5 cable from the output of the 808.2i to the input of the speaker marked “Master” and then a second cable from the output of the master speaker to the input of the speaker marked “Left,” and that’s it. My friend (who had assisted with the unpacking) and I both agreed: We could easily live without the busted nails and scraped knuckles you get trying to alligator-wrestle twenty-pound cables into a two-pound space.

In the event your room is environmentally challenged, Meridian offers boundary adjustments via the included remote control. There are corrections for corners, speaker placement (too close or too far away from the wall), or subwoofers. And for the tweaker in all of us, there are further fine-tuning controls for bass, treble tilt, listening axis, balance, and absolute phase. For first-time users, the instructions are straightforward and easy to follow. Also, the adjustments are more subtle in nature, not the typical “tone controls” of times past. While you might need an afternoon or two of experimentation to dial in the DSP7200 to your personal tastes, I wouldn’t worry. Most of you will be awe-struck by the DSP7200 straight out of the box, and the fine-tuning will simply be icing on the cake. (My biggest problem was just getting used to the feel of the remote. I’m a bit of a klutz when it comes to the two-handed variety.)

Room correction (boundary controls) make for an extremely versatile loudspeaker should you be relegated to a basement or spare bedroom—or forced to relocate. When I was in the market for a new home some years ago, one of my top priorities was to finally have a decent sized listening room to accommodate a larger variety of systems and loudspeakers. Had I the luxury of DSP loudspeakers at the time, my priorities might have been quite different. As it turned out, I found the perfect room complete with fireplace and arched doorways, but now have to squeeze my car into a garage the size of a tool shed. Fellow car enthusiasts know what a difficult trade-off that one can be.

Placing the speakers several feet from the back wall (as recommended) and 7–8' apart yielded a seamless integration seldom (if ever) heard with separate components. While the DSP7200 needed a few days of warm up to fully gel, I was impressed straight away, especially with the extraordinary depth and dimensionality, and the uncanny ability of this speaker to precisely place images in the soundstage. As gorgeous as the DSP7200 may appear on the outside (I’ve not seen better), the elegantly curved cabinets and high-gloss lacquer finish do not begin to tell the story of the technology within.