Inserting the Meridian gear into the system during the review of the NHT Classic loudspeakers (running the Classic Four L/R speakers full-range and not crossed over to NHT's bass amplifiers) was a real ear-opener. While the NHT system's basic character remained consistent, the overall presentation was radically transformed.

The bottom end was noticeably more controlled, less "woolly" and more nimble (though because of the room, bi-amping and using NHT's crossover and bass amps was still the preferred solution). While the speaker's upper midrange coolness remained, the overall mid-high frequency presentation was less coarse, more-restrained and far better organized, pushing the sound field back spatially and creating smaller, tightly knit images on a wider, deeper soundstage than that produced by the RV-8 receiver.

I did check out some key scenes in TRON that I know well, in addition to sampling scenes from Glory, notable for music recording engineer Shawn Murphy's exquisite work. Both sounded about as good as I've heard from compressed audio, with the Meridian's smooth, controlled sonic demeanor contributing low level microdynamic musical details that shore up the sensation of "real." The dialog tracks also benefited from the improved presentation. With a layer of grit removed, and better low level resolution, the resulting rounder, more compact and supple voices on well-recorded dialog tracks sounded more real, and somewhat less processed. Of course, the improved resolution also meant that overly processed, grainy sounding dialog tracks actually sounded worse as the added "electronica" was revealed in a separate space from the actual voice. Long time two-channel audiophiles will immediately understand this phenomenon.

Overall, the most impressive part of the Meridian duo's cinematic performance was their ability to simply get out of the way and allow the incoming signal to produce a three-dimensional picture free of the glare, grain and grunge commonly heard from lesser A/V electronics.

In The Concert Hall
Meridian's G61 was really designed for an audio/videophile interested in both cinema and surround sound music. While I didn't have a DVD-A player handy, let alone a Meridian player that outputs a multichannel digital bitstream, I did have Sony's XA777ES SACD player as well as numerous concert DVDs. I also used the "Music" and "Trifield" modes to produce "multichannel" sound from two-channel sources. I even cut a CD-R of Cowboy Junkies' The Trinity Sessions (Latent Latex 5) from the original Canadian vinyl to hear if the surround matrix produced by the Calrec Ambisonic microphone used in the recording could be decoded into four channels (it could).

But here's the big problem with a surround sound music rig: your room might support an optimized setup. And I found the music surround experience to be more sensitive to my real world setup than movies. Meridian's instruction manual diagram shows the idealized situation with the listener/viewer seated only slightly back from equidistant between the front and rear speakers. This perfect symmetry of the "side" speakers (in reality the surrounds) on either side of the listening position with the "rears" (EX-ES) in the back corners and the front L/R spread apart an equal distance in the front can rarely be achieved in real world rooms.

I began listening to SACD surround music with the G61 configured for cinema, sitting on my couch, which is located against the back wall. I got acceptable but not ideal results from music sources this way from my Sony XA777ES SACD player, which offers "front/rear" and L/R/C level trimming on its analog outputs.

However, when I opted for a more symmetrical arrangement, with the listening position nearly equidistant between the front and rear speakers and the levels readjusted for the new setup, the three dimensional enhancement afforded by surround sound increased dramatically. So configured, the full spatial experience as intended by the mixers became apparent, especially on true surround recordings as opposed to multitrack ones pan-potted around the room (though Beck's Sea Change gelled nicely).

As for the matrixed "Music" and "Trifield" settings, even though these were relatively benign, my position is they are like 'stretching' a 4:3 picture to fit a 16:9 screen. It's not what the engineer intended and I don't see the need to hear every driver in a multichannel system with every recording. However, if playing with surround sound is among your hobbies, the G61 offers some of the most effective and "non-processy" sounding matrixes I've yet heard.

How good are the G61's digital and analog electronics? Even though the G61 re-digitizes the SACD player's analog outputs (to PCM), and I've had arguably better (and more expensive) speakers in the system than the NHT Classics, the resulting surround sound was about as musically enjoyable as I've heard in my room. Rounder's Alison Krauss+Union Station Live was particularly credible both spatially and timbrally. And Harmonia Mundi's recording of Chopin's Piano Concerto No.1 with Olga Kern and the Warsaw Philharmonic conducted by Antoni Wit produced a remarkably solid and credible piano sound floating in a three-dimensional space.

Conclusion
Meridian's G61, at $5,495 offers an audio/videophile a great deal of sonic performance and set-up flexibility in a compact, remarkably easy to use and handsome package that does it all (and more than many competing products) without looking like a 747's dashboard. Build quality is up there with the best I've encountered.

The G61's sonic purity sets it apart from typical, metallic-sounding A/V swill. Add the processing potential, especially if you also invest in a Meridian DVD-A player that can output high-resolution multichannel bitstreams directly to the G61, and you're ready for an exceptional surround sound musical experience.

At $5,385 the G55 proved to be an agile, dynamic and sweet sounding five-channel amplifier. However, I'm hard pressed to see the value of pairing a single-ended controller with a true dual-differential balanced amplifier used in single-ended mode. 100-watts per channel, even 100 genuine watts, is still not a great deal of power for either two-channel or surround sound. It's just enough. Bridging channels and adding a second G55 brings the cost up to over $10,000 just for the power amplification.

Still, the G55 is a handsome, compact and superb sounding amplifier. You could hardly go wrong with it, but I'd be looking for a single ended amp to go with the G61—hopefully one that sounds as good but offers more power for a comparable price.

The G61/G55 combination is easy to recommend for a surround sound music enthusiast. Because it doesn't include video switching, a potential buyer will have to consider external video switching or configure his or her system to use the display device's switching facilities.

When used with the highest quality associated gear and in a room that be set up to maximize both surround sound music and surround sound cinema, there's not an A/V enthusiast reading this who wouldn't be thrilled to own these two pieces.

Highs (G61)
Exceptional build quality
Superb sonic performance
DVD-A digital direct in (with Meridian DVD-A player)

Lows (G61)
No video switching (and therefore no multichannel audio over HDMI)
No pure analog "pass-through" for multichannel analog sources
Pricey

Highs (G55)
Sweet sound
Bridgeable/bi-wire and bi-ampable
Compact and attractive

Lows (G61)
Balanced power wasted on G61's S/E output
100W x5 bare minimum for high performance home theater sound
Pricey