Hikejohn,
I have a SSP80 in on audition. From what I can tell so far is that the analog portion is pretty good. Maybee close to the best, if not the best that I have heard in a pre/pro. It's not as good as my dedicated pre-amp, but it is definitely musical sounding and enjoyable. I have not tried it yet for movies, only two channel so far. I was using an Arcam DV79 for the source and it seems that connecting digital to the SSP80 was a little better than going in analog. I think it is mostly due to better DACs in the Halcro. You had to listen for it, but the voices were a little more clear going digital in with the DV79.
I not 100% sure, but I think Meridian processes all analog signals, so it is not a straight pass through? I have never heard the Meridian analog so I can't comment.
I have a SSP80 in on audition. From what I can tell so far is that the analog portion is pretty good. Maybee close to the best, if not the best that I have heard in a pre/pro. It's not as good as my dedicated pre-amp, but it is definitely musical sounding and enjoyable. I have not tried it yet for movies, only two channel so far. I was using an Arcam DV79 for the source and it seems that connecting digital to the SSP80 was a little better than going in analog. I think it is mostly due to better DACs in the Halcro. You had to listen for it, but the voices were a little more clear going digital in with the DV79.
I not 100% sure, but I think Meridian processes all analog signals, so it is not a straight pass through? I have never heard the Meridian analog so I can't comment.