The Savoy re-opens on 10th October 2010 following a £220 million restoration, and guests in 55 newly-refurbished suites will be entertained by beautiful room-filling sound courtesy of the elegant M80 – in a special high gloss black finish manufactured exclusively for the world-famous property.

Hand-assembled in Meridian’s Cambridgeshire-based production facility, the stylish M80 delivers an unrivalled listening experience, and further develops the elegant design and state-of-the-art engineering which made its predecessor, the highly-acclaimed F80, one of the company’s best-selling models.

The M80’s unique curved cabinet houses a powerful 80-watt 2.1 Digital Signal Processing (DSP) stereo system with a rear-mounted subwoofer, slot-loading CD/DVD drive, and AM/FM/DAB Digital Radio, as well as multiple analogue and digital inputs – delivering both a versatile and powerful audio package.

Guests can also use the system to listen to any track stored on their iPod®, thanks to the complementary Meridian i80 dock, offering The Savoy’s customers the opportunity to realise the full potential of their digital music library in the hotel’s breathtaking surroundings while away from home. The system also comes complete with a slimline handheld magnetic-backed remote control.

Meridian’s Chief Marketing Officer Graeme Taylor said, “We are delighted to be partnering with Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, and one of London’s most iconic landmarks. The agreement reaffirms the passion and commitment of both businesses to deliver unrivalled quality, coupled with the ultimate customer experience.” He concluded, “In addition, the M80 provides the ideal acoustic platform for which to entertain guests and complement the panoramic views of the Thames enjoyed from the hotel’s suites.”

Read more about the M80.

*iPod is a trademark of Apple, Inc., registered in the United States and other countries.

*DAB subject to local availability

Concert Dates
Sept. 9 and 16, 2010
Nov. 11 and18, 2010
Feb 3 and 10, 2011
April 7 and 14, 2011

Audio High will also record and produce a CD set of all 32 sonatas with Mr. Silverman, donating all proceeds for the “Room of Magic” at Stanford Children’s Hospital.

“Audio High is not only a valued Meridian partner, but an inspiration with their dedicated efforts for charity,“ said Peter Wellikoff, CEO of Meridian America. “We are thrilled to support this astounding event to benefit the project at Stanford’s Children Hospital.”

“This concert series has been two years in the making; Robert Silverman and I have worked tirelessly to put this extraordinary event together,” said Michael Silver, Founder of Audio High. “We are pleased Meridian and other manufacturers have supported us so that we can all realize the dream of providing the children of Stanford Children’s Hospital with a room of their own.”

About Audio High and AudioHigh.org
Audio High sells and installs music and home theater systems for home and commercial use; experts in home theater, audio systems, lighting and shades, home automation, security systems, and computer networking and security, Audio High is based in the Bay Area. Audio High is also a certified Green business and donates its profits to charity through its non-profit arm: AudioHigh.org. Initially established in 1997 to help raise money for cystic fibrosis research, the organization has expanded to assist a number of local non-profit groups as well as national and worldwide causes. Complete information can be found at www.audiohigh.com and www.audiohigh.org.


About Robert Silverman
Silverman is one of the world’s premier pianists, having reached a level of musical and technical authority that can only be accomplished after years of deep commitment to the instrument and its vast literature. In a career spanning more than five decades, he has climbed every peak of serious pianism.

He is one of the few pianists to tackle both the entire Beethoven piano sonata cycle and the complete Mozart piano sonatas. He has performed in prestigious halls across the globe, has performed with many of the world’s greatest conductors, and has produced many award-winning recordings. His complete discography includes 25 CDs and a dozen LPs.

About The Elf Foundation
The Elf Foundation was founded in July of 2001, with the express mission of creating private entertainment theaters – ‘Rooms of Magic’ - for children’s hospitals, shelters for abused children, autism centers, and children’s rehabilitation centers throughout North America.  Operating as a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization, the foundation acts as a catalyst within the consumer electronics industry and in local communities to advance their mission of bringing the magic of music and film to special kids in a time of need.  To date, the Elf Foundation has opened 70 ‘Room of Magic’ theaters. For more information please visit www.elfsystems.org.

Control 15 (right) takes all three of the elements that make up a Meridian Sooloos system – storage, playback and control – and brings them together in a single, elegant table-top unit that simply connects to a pair of Meridian DSP speakers to create a complete system.

The Control 15 features a 17in touch-screen control surface powered by the unique, ultra-intuitive Sooloos interface, giving you unparalleled access to your music library – and to external sources like Internet Radio and the Rhapsody* subscription music service. Listen to your choice of music with a few taps on the screen, view high-quality album artwork and performance details, and even let the system help you discover music you'd forgotten you loved.

Built into the Control 15 is enough storage for about 1,000 albums in true CD-quality lossless format (and MP3s for export to your personal stereo), thanks to the Control 15's 500GB hard drive – and it will automatically seek out and use other Sooloos storage on your network. A CD drive lets you load new content on to the system.

The audio features include all the latest digital audio developments from Meridian including upsampling and Meridian's unique 'apodising' filter that can make ordinary CD-quality files sound like high definition recordings. Meridian SpeakerLink outputs connect direct to Meridian DSP speakers, while S/PDIF outputs allow connection to a non-Meridian environment for maximum flexibility.

The Media Source 600 (above) is the first Meridian Sooloos component designed and manufactured from top to bottom by Meridian. It allows you to play music from your Sooloos system anywhere there's a hi-fi system, thanks to its multiple analogue and digital outputs. Enjoy your Sooloos collection, internet radio or Rhapsody* selections and access the music of your choice with any Sooloos controller – a Control 10 or Control 15, a Crestron panel or wirelessly with the free Sooloos app for iPad® or iPhone®.

The MS600 is packaged in a beautiful new enclosure designed by Allen Boothroyd in glass and bead-blasted aluminium to complement any audio system – but it can easily be rack-mounted if you need to hide it away.

Once again, inside the Media Source 600 is the latest digital audio technology from Meridian, delivering pristine sound quality thanks to upsampling with the Meridian 'apodising' filter, an ultra-low-jitter clocking system and carefully designed analogue circuitry.

The Meridian MS600 delivers the highest possible quality from your Sooloos music collection to any room in your home.

*The Rhapsody service is currently unavailable outside the United States

Where:

Hilton Garden Inn San Francisco
Oakland Bay Bridge
1800 Powell Street,
Emeryville, CA 94608
Tel (510) 658-9300
Fax (510) 595-1914

When:

Friday, July 30, 2010 – 9am to 6pm
Saturday, July 31, 2010 – 9am to 6pm
Sunday August 1, 2010 – 9am to 4pm

Ticket: $10 per person (all 3 days)

Space is limited for this free event, please RSVP to musicmatters@gramophone.com

Meridian Sales Manager Ryan Donaher will be on hand for the United States premier of two exciting new products from Meridian. July 29 · 6:00pm - 8:00pm Gramophone - Timonium 4 West Aylesbury Road Lutherville, MD

Click here to download the event flyer (PDF).

The cover article by Anthony H Cordesman, beginning on p96 of the magazine, reviews a Meridian Sooloos system complemented by the Meridian 808.3 Signature Reference Player, which includes CD and Sooloos replay capability, under the headline, "A State-of-the-Art Music Server with State-of-the-Art Sound".

Cordesman, having established that lossless compression such as that used by Meridian Sooloos really is lossless, and that the Sooloos system "is a true high-end source", notes that Sooloos offers a "far better way of managing your music" and will "change the way in which you listen".

He then goes on to refer to the 808.3 as "one of the finest pieces of high-end equipment" that he has encountered and "a truly excellent CD player".

He concludes, "…the Sooloos and 808.3 combination is a top contender for the best digital sound around, and one that gives a CD collection a whole new lease on musical life."

The SoHo-based HQ was originally the home of Sooloos before its acquisition by Meridian. It's now to become the centre for Meridian sales and marketing in the US.

At a party held to celebrate the theatre opening, Meridian America's CEO Peter Wellikoff addressed attendees. "New York City is where many of the decorators and designers are, and the facility will be used to provide sales and marketing support for New York dealers and beyond," he said. "It's a place where they can bring high-profile clients to see Meridian and Sooloos products."

He went on, "Although Meridian holds great appeal for hard-core audiophiles, there's a growing percentage of affluent individuals who are looking for the 'best of the best'; and they refuse to walk into a traditional retailer for a demonstration. This facility gives those people the ability to come in at their convenience, away from the crowd, and spend as much time as they want with a system.” There are plans to expand the facility later in the year and create a similar environment on the West Coast.

The Meridian Digital Theatre installation includes DSP8000 loudspeakers at the front along with a DSP7200HC centre speaker, and a pair of DSP7200s at the rear. They're driven by an 861 V6 Reference Surround Controller, 808.3 Signature Reference CD Player, and a Meridian Sooloos system. An HD621 brings audio into the system from HD video sources. The projector is an MF10 with Isco lens.