EBA. Can you hear it?

I think it’s one thing to claim that it was a ‘damp squib’ for you, and you couldn’t hear a difference, and quite another to claim it on behalf of everyone else.

OK for you to do that though? I read and participated in the chat. I love how defensive Meridian users get…

[quote=“Barrowboy, post:96, topic:41053, full:true”]
It was a damp squib. Everyone loves it of course but I doubt many can hear it.[/quote]

Is your point that no one cared about it, hence it was a damp squib, or that they love it, so sort of the opposite to a damp squib, but they all have flawed hearing?

Point was that unfortunately it didn’t really work. Off topic again! Meridian users defending mothership… Compare an Allo DigiOne to an 818v3, the results are surprising (but off topic, the DigiOne being £100).

And my point was that if it didn’t work for you, that’s fine, but you’re stating it as fact and claiming the same response on behalf of every Meridian owner, which I don’t believe to accurately represent the overall response to EBA. I did a quick search on the forum. I’m counting roughly 80-90% of those who expressed an opinion noticing a positive difference, and generally not a subtle one-

“It isn’t subtle.”
“bass [is] distinctly better defined, tighter and with a greater sense of tunefulness.”
“I’ve never heard more precise imaging and clear presentation. I think it’s a very BIG deal.”
“to be direct. here is a very loud shout for EBA. To use a well worn phrase, it’s a game changer. It snaps the sound into focus and and makes it thrillingly realistic and musical.”
“There is an unmistaken proper and crucial bass/mid-timing going on with EBA… for me there is no question about it. EBA stays enabled! It is a game changer for Meridian speakers."
“Plenty of people shouted when they got it. I certainly did and will say again that I have never had such a good SQ”

Anyway, yes, off topic…

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Fascinating nonetheless.

.sjb

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Of course we’re both entitled to our own opinions about EBA. But the general consensus isn’t about either of our opinions, it’s quantifiable.

I was bored this morning waiting for an MOT and had time to waste for once. So to arrive at the above estimate, I searched the forum for EBA in the subject. I found 5 threads specifically about EBA over a 4 year period. There were 22 direct opinions about the effect of EBA (I didn’t count double opinions in the same thread twice). Of those -

2 expressed they heard no difference (although one of these was in the context of a suspected system/setup fault).

2 people were unsure: 1 thought there might be a difference, but questioned their own expectation bias, 1 thought there was a difference in some setups/music and not in others.

18 people were unequivocally positive.

Discarding those who were undecided either way, that leaves 2 negatives and 18 positives.

11 % negative
89 % positive

If you are generous and include the undecideds as negative, that still gives 4 negatives and 18 positives.

22% negative
78% positive

As noted in the above quotes, most who expressed a positive opinion were very enthusiastic, not mildly so.

My conclusion from the above is that, regardless of what you or I personally think, the general consensus is that EBA was not a damp squib.

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As I said, you’re entitled to your interpretation, I was there at the time. It walked like a squib…

I think you need to have a close to perfect set up, not many have that and turkeys don’t vote for Christmas.

It would certainly seem that the figures you quote demonstrate that, regardless of anyone’s individual opinion.

In your opinion. Hitchhikers board discourages(ed) criticism of Meridian and may have even banned members for doing so. Sometimes you have to read between the lines… Damp squib it was. How scientific were these observations or were they just casual observation from a supporters club. Hand on heart, can you really hear it?

Yes, I can. As someone who listens to live music upwards of 6 hours almost every day as my profession, I feel reasonably confident in my assessments of what I hear.

If you can’t hear the effect of EBA, that’s your problem, not mine (nor anyone else’s).

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You are probably set up very well. If I can’t hear it, having spent a lot of effort trying, chances are others can’t either.

You are entitled to your own reading of the situation at the time. I’ll not argue the toss, it was, unfortunately, a damp squib. Early adopter, I was there, As a long term Meridian user a also have perspective and context. You have an opinion, so do I.

Check out Allo DigiOne…I’ve got one sitting on the 818, interesting comparison (but off topic)…

No, if you can’t hear it, all that means is you can’t hear it. It means nothing at all about others’ chances of hearing it.

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Some of us can enjoy EBA from our SE speakers AND appreciate the DigiOne. I own two of them, and even prefer the Allo ahead of my M218 as an endpoint. Can’t wait for Meridian to fix the interim DSP issue (between unfold and render) so that I can enjoy MQA to the SEs the way that I do with my iFi rendering DAC and headphones.

I did a lot of early testing of EBA and given that it is easy to toggle on/off it was also very easy to hear the difference. I suspect the effect varies across the range given the x-over, cabinet designs and number of bass drivers involved. It may also vary by user depending on whether a user has any idea what they are listening for or not.

The thread title seems like an open question. Shame the rest of the post isn’t especially if the views shared don’t match with the OP.

Statistically it’s very likely my hearing is similar to many others. So it obviously means something. Where is your logic there or are you another defensive Meridiofile?

I heard it once, I knew what I was listening for, I couldn’t reproduce it. I think the speakers need to be set up perfectly. In fact I think Meridian used EBA to set toe-in on a pair of 8ks once, toed in until EBA could be heard.

Thanks for your input James. Thought provoking.

If you heard it, why have you spent so long claiming it’s inaudible? It’s either audible, or not.

Some kind of setup problem in your system/room which meant you personally couldn’t reproduce it has nothing to do with whether EBA is audible or not in general, nor to other people in their systems/rooms.

They did, which means the dealer, and the client could both hear it, or this wouldn’t have worked.

No ideas what EBA is so searched Google for Meridian and EBA and it returned this:

https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/meridian-smooth-peanut-butter/825550-464686-464687?gclid=Cj0KCQjw6J7YBRC4ARIsAJMXXses4vp773gHxRqE4VLSqO5KXPx5R0JSj_YgjqoixNqv8fqOB-JfFMgaAm-aEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CL-FhqjtoNsCFS0C0wodJn4FRQ

100% nuts apparently!

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Random related hi-fi factoid; did you know that the original Kimber PBJ’s name is derived from Peanut Butter and Jelly?