Bryston SP2 vs Meridian 861

The reality is the Bryston is a two channel preamp with a rudimentary surround package bolted on. So it is designed to do well in this area, an area where it pretty much equals the 861. The Bryston after that is a basic surround processor, with little software sophistication.

It is designed specifically for people who would be inclined to use their surround sound system for two channel, which a great deal of people on this forum would qualify. I am surprised that almost everyone doesn't own one, for many it integrates without compromise, if you're stuck in 2 channel world. :)

Using the 861 as a two channel analog preamp is dubious at best and not reccomended. Not because it is a poor performer but you're not using it for what it was intended. The reason the 861 costs so much is exactly why Ttowntony bought the Bryston. he Meridian is very sophisticated (the Bryston is the opposite) and complex in its software, most people in the audio business (ie dealers) do not understand a fraction of what the unit is capable of, some have even been compelled to call it a toy. This sort of reasoning based on gross misunderstanding means only a smaller fraction of audio consumers understand what the 861/G68 is all about.

The 861 stands alone as the very best surround sound processor on the market, nothing is close for a purely surround perspective. Yeah there are some pretenders disguised as surround processors when all their design team knows is two channel, so you get the equivalent of a dual processor Pentium V machine and then they run Word Perfect for Dos as their software on their advanced machine if you get my meaning. Mo' betta' Hardware is not the answer in surround design mo' betta' software is.

using an 861 as an analog 2 channel preamp, is like having a 2 speed automatic transmission with Overdrive installed in your 456 Ferrari.

Not thinking straight :), the wireless interface can be plugged into the 861 digitally!!!!, you can do this now! The great thing about ones and zeroes is if you don't lose any then the quality is there already any jitter will be removed by the 861's fifo buffers.....

Might be 5 years from now your speakers will be digital too, so their will be no need for a "DAC" till the speaker drivers.

Absolutely, the 861 is Meridians best 2 channel DAC, it just comes standard with bonus channels.

I know your speakers are not digital yet, one day soon they may be. My new ones have a digital crossover, so my signal is digital through my Meridian all the way to the speakers crossover.

"So are you saying that the DAC inside the 861 would produce analog signal for the amplifier at the 2-channel music performance level better than the straight analog route through the SP2?"

Yes!, shorter analog signal path = BETTER!!!!, no interconnects and minimum 8 extra contact points eliminated and op amps and impedance matching stages eliminated etc= BETTER.

Why do audiophiles ignore the fact that most companies like Meridian, bryston, Theta, Burmester and Halcro for example put their best DAC technology in their Prepros! and everyone wants to skip the efficient proper route and run an analog signal into a DIGITAL PROCESSOR. Instead of using the prepro how it is designed to be used! To me if you don't have a tt, worrying about an analog pass thru is like not buying a computer because it doesn't have a 5 1/4" floppy drive. What's the point to split valuable funds simply to buy 2 DACs? I cannot make sense of this other than it is a habit or conditioning based on ritualistic system design based in the two channel tradition. Maybe you could tell me where the disconnect is for you?

Basically you can skip a high-quality external DAC/SP2 combo because the 861 DAC would be better sound-wise anyway?

Let me tell you an even more relevant story, you'd be hard pressed to find an external DAC that run analog through the SP2 would sound better than the SP2 used a s a two channel dac! The 861 would sound better yes, easily.

I'll speak for myself, 2 channel is a joke compared to surround, with the 861 2 channel CD's surpass the best LP has to offer with an ease that is downright frightening to the analog protagonists who often believe multichannel is incapable of high fidelity. I will tell you that the 861 playing two channel is not as good as LP has to offer. Interesting no?