Really haven’t listened to them yet. Been way too busy with other stuff going on this weekend.
Darn, I’d love to see it! Bought this Meridian 551 used and know nothing of its prior history, but it works like a champ. Also its small size makes it perfectly suited to this small workspace. My only other Meridian gear was their CD player, the 508.24. At the time, it was by far the most I’d paid for any gear but I absolutely loved its sq. Still kills me that all it needs is a no longer available transport to still be perfectly functional.
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I loved my Meridian 551 - used with little KEF RDM One monitors (something of a precursor to the LS50) and Philips CD850 CD player. . The headphone output on the back of the 551 is excellent.
This was the late 90s.
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With just a little bit of listening this evening, first impressions are very good. Extremely open, spacious and ultra clean come to mind. More to come (hopefully) throughout the week.
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I have a really hard time parting with things I love. The result is those 4 stereo systems in my small house! Why did you part with the 551 that you loved?
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Have you enquired on …
https://www.meridianunplugged.com
Mr Tech Guy hosts it and does Meridian UK Service?
It was when I was turning my system into a home cinema, and I needed the money to get to my dream of the time - the Denon AVC-A1D THX Ultra integrated. It is sad to let things go, but a few years ago I found a Meridian 502 pre-amp which runs with little Tannoy actives in my office.
Mutec MC-3+ USB arrived and installed. Dare I say this is the final component for this system?! Am happy with what I hear.
UPDATE: A few people have contacted me regarding this setup. Thought I’d provide some additional info. Perhaps it’ll be of interest:
I first was introduced to the Phantom line several years ago at a dealer. At the time, wireless speakers really weren’t a thing (I personally hard wire them), and the Phantoms were being marketed by the dealer as the loudest wireless speaker, ever. It was silly marketing, and completely did a dis-service to them. I was at the dealer’s researching another piece, but gave them a listen out of curiosity. I quickly dismissed them because I thought they were ugly as sin, and the listening space was too noisy to really appreciate them anyway.
A few years later Devialet released the Phantom Reactor, and it caught my attention. Devialet had since moved on to better marketing, and the Phantoms were now being marketed as a high end, DSP active speaker which happened to also be wireless. Of course they can be hard wired, but the wireless option is there for those that want it.
Pictures of the Reactor are deceiving because it’s tough to capture just how small they are, which is totally out of line for the sound they produce. They weigh less than 10 lbs each. The low end hits 18Hz. That is astonishing. You have to hear and feel it to believe it. The Reactor 900, which for some reason has now been rebranded as the Phantom II, is rated at 400 watts RMS. Obviously the sound is much more than just the low end, but suffice to say I no longer need separate sub-woofers. They’re a full range set-up. As with all speakers, to help obtain the best sound from them placement in your listening space is important. My system is 100% digital so in addition to physical room correction I incorporate digital room correction (via Dirac Live / minidsp SHD-Studio), and paid attention to jitter (hence the addition of the Mutec USB+). I can’t overstate how important this is to bringing the sound to the next level. The soundstage and dynamics are fantastic.
Prior to the Phantoms, I had racks of gear and reams of cabling which I enjoyed for years. For 17 years I ran passive JBL SVA tower loudspeakers with Paradigm subwoofers. The SVA’s were a forgiving speaker line, and pretty much everything sounded great through them. I ran a variety of preamps, amps and cabling over the years. My motivation for switching up was two-fold. I wanted to design a minimalist 2-channel system. I also wanted to go active as the benefits are proven.
I’ve come to appreciate the Phantom’s cosmetics. I find people either love or hate their look. I acquired them for their performance, features and size. I didn’t audition them beforehand because I put this system together during the pandemic, and I still had my memories of when I auditioned the earlier Phantoms. I did my research, spoke with manufacturers directly, and ordered everything from them in France, Asia and the USA. The only component I ordered via a distributor was the MUTEC piece, but not before communicating with Mutec (Germany) beforehand.
Hope you find this little write-up interesting. Cheers.
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After a few weeks fling with a Vitus pre/power, i have returned to the stable of hi-end integrated amps.
System:
Aavik U-300
Speakers: (DIY) VOLT BM228.8 / ScanSpeak D2905/990000
Speaker stands: solidsteel SS-5
Speaker cables: SAEC Triple-C SPC-850
USB cable: SAEC Triple-C SUS-380
Roon & Network:
ROCK: Intel NUC i7 10th Gen FNK2: 16GB RAM 256GB MVMe SSD
Storage: QNAP TS-251+: 8GB RAM 2x 2TB SSDs
Switch: NETGEAR ProSafe GS105
Mains:
LPSU: HD Plex 300W
Cables: Neotech NEP-4003 / MS-HD
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Horny
Living Voice Tone Scout speakers
Border Patrol SE300B amp
Audio Note Japan M7 silver sound preamp
Aesthetix Romulus CDP & DAC
Intel NUC (ROON ROCK)
Thorens TD124 with tenuto platter
FR64s tonearm with Arche Headshell
Audio Note Io Gold cart
Audio Note AN-S8 step up
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very nice system + room… and, i love the td-124 …absolutely beautiful !!
if i may ask: who did the plinth + armboard – AF ?
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There’s a guy based in Moldova that sells via eBay, it was around £300 for the rosewood plinth and armboard both with piano lacquer. Criminal price for how good it looks.
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thanks! yes, astounding for the price.
And I thought I’m the only person alive with a Living Voice (Air) Scout 
What is the difference between Air Scout and Tone Scout?
20200728_182229|666x500
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The Tone Scouts came first and the Air Scout was a revised version. They both use the same Vitavox drivers for the Mid and Woofer but the Tones use a Beyma tweeter and the Airs the JBL 2405.
I’ve also got the huge subwoofers but they are in the garage as they are too big for the room.
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Also notice you have the tweeters on the inside, was that choice based on sound preference or just where they went?
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I guess you need a lot of amp power in the garage to hear them in the music room 
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Greetings from Victoria
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Added a bunch of POE+ switches in various rooms.
When she’s not handling speaker DSP crossover + room EQ (convolution) + D-to-A conversion, she helps out with headphone duties.
She gets both her data and power over a single ethernet cable (Belden Cat6 10GX for all you nerds ! 
)
She handles headphones listening nicely when it’s late (like right now), where I don’t wanna disturb the sleeping.
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if I had the tweeters outside in this narrow room, I would have nasty early reflections from the windows.
Also IME they image better with the tweeters inside.
Or it is just confirmed habit as an old Apogee lover where the midrange and tweeter ribbons are also usually on the inside.
Why do you have the tweeters outside?
Is that the preferred way with Living Voices?
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