Boothroyd Stuart Meridian 101/105 / Revisited

[Reid Malenfant]

Yes! That's it Chris

Odd stuff, but i thought it sounded very good once i got it working

Cheers for the picture reminder, they are the ones!

[Rare Bird]

I used to have those Chris

[Neil McCauley]

That would be the Meridian Component amplifier:



Made from bits like this:

A rather clever system that was. Not very well publicised. Had a number of clever tricks up its sleeve including multiple stereo volume controls that in turn drove three stereo power amps. Armed with a Radio Shack db meter it was possible to achieve very reasonable tri-amping.

After a particularly onerous set of legal threats from a customer who had bought the system on the basis that the FM module would be produced (he saw a mock-up in my brochure courtesy of BS Meridian) the hapless makers were obliged to produce a limited run of 12 – at massive cost. I bought 9 I think. I certainly sold every one

Other than the ultra-rare Meridian 107 stereo power and the equally rare 102 self-powered phono stage. the ‘Zebra’ FM module must be concurrently the lowest production run and least profitable product they have ever made.

Finally I have it on very good authority indeed from retired technical employee that a few years back the entire store of spares, modules and packing were unceremoniously dumped in a skip. I very much doubt if there is anyone left who can repair them. A pity really. A product far ahead of its time.

[The Grand Wazoo]

Fascinating stuff Howard.

[Barry]

Whatever happened to the Boothroyd-Stewart 'Orpheus' pre and power amp? Did they ever make into production?

The preamp was a gorgeous looking precursor to the 'rainbow' Lecson pre. Very '70s (should suit André) with a Nextel suede finish.

Can't find an image, but it had the sort of design aesthetics that would, I'm sure, have graced the cover of Hi-Fi for Pleasure magazine (no doubt being 'cradled' by a semi-clad female!) Now those were 'mens mags'.

However in passing I found this not-inappropriate article:

http://www.meridian-audio.info/publi...)%5B460%5D.pdf

[Neil McCauley]

Whatever happened to the Boothroyd-Stewart 'Orpheus' pre and power amp? Did they ever make into production?

The preamp was a gorgeous looking precursor to the 'rainbow' Lecson pre. Very '70s (should suit André) with a Nextel suede finish.

Can't find an image, but it had the sort of design aesthetics that would, I'm sure, have graced the cover of Hi-Fi for Pleasure magazine (no doubt being 'cradled' by a semi-clad female!) Now those were 'mens mags'.

However in passing I found this not-inappropriate article:

http://www.meridian-audio.info/publi...)%5B460%5D.pdf

Yes, they did. I have the Orpheus preamp and it still works. Among many other facilities it has a very advanced bass equalization module with three parametric sliders centered around the 3 principle bass Eigentone pivot points. More here > http://lp2cd.com/audio_terms/e/eigentone.html

The Orpheus power amps was rebadged as the Meridian 107 power amp. Only 9 were produced. All had bronzed glass finish. Mr. B wanted them to have clear glass sides. However safety issues (toughened glass was very expensive back then) plus the fact that the wiring could not be made neat enough meant this was abandoned.

I had my 101/107 reviewed by Phillip Mount (you know him today as Noel Keywood) in Practical Hi-Fi & Audio. Speakers were Gale 401a. PM was at that time a miserable sod. However he did volunteer that at the time (1978 I think) that this was one of the finest systems he had yet heard.

The Hi-Fi for Pleasure editor, much to his cost decided against big-boobed birds for the front cover. He demanded a different type of bird altogether. A tame white dove in fact. That’s what you’ll see on the HFP front cover. Unfortunately the bird was powerfully incontinent. They had envisaged the major problem being getting the equipment and fluttering bird in one image. They had not envisaged clearing liquid shite from the preamp sliders. This is why prominence in the shot is given to the power amp in all its magisterial bronze glass.

Meanwhile NAIM were producing bolt-together casework that made army ammo boxes look elegant. And so it goes.

[Barry]

Yes, they did. I have the Orpheus preamp and it still works. Among many other facilities it has a very advanced bass equalization module with three parametric sliders centered around the 3 principle bass Eigentone pivot points. More here > http://lp2cd.com/audio_terms/e/eigentone.html

The Orpheus power amps was rebadged as the Meridian 107 power amp. Only 9 were produced. All had bronzed glass finish. Mr. B wanted them to have clear glass sides. However safety issues (toughened glass was very expensive back then) plus the fact that the wiring could not be made neat enough meant this was abandoned.

I had my 101/107 reviewed by Phillip Mount (you know him today as Noel Keywood) in Practical Hi-Fi & Audio. Speakers were Gale 401a. PM was at that time a miserable sod. However he did volunteer that at the time (1978 I think) that this was one of the finest systems he had yet heard.

The Hi-Fi for Pleasure editor, much to his cost decided against big-boobed birds for the front cover. He demanded a different type of bird altogether. A tame white dove in fact. That’s what you’ll see on the HFP front cover. Unfortunately the bird was powerfully incontinent. They had envisaged the major problem being getting the equipment and fluttering bird in one image. They had not envisaged clearing liquid shite from the preamp sliders. This is why prominence in the shot is given to the power amp in all its magisterial bronze glass.

Meanwhile NAIM were producing bolt-together casework that made army ammo boxes look elegant. And so it goes.

Ah yes, now you describe it I think I might have seen that cover. Whatever you may have thought of the contents of Hi-Fi for Pleasure, their covers were often striking, though understandably would be thought of as sexist today.

I think the advertisment on the rear cover for the Gale 401s featured a naked female wrapping herself around said speaker - in much the same way as new cars at Olympia were displayed. The advertisment created such a furore that it was quickly pulled.

I believe that someone 'out there' has scanned all those covers. A possible piece of research for someone.

Agrre with you about the early Naim gear. It looked home made, though as 'black boxes' go the NAP250 was reasonably elegant.

[MartinT]

I wonder why the 'Aux' module was a colour mismatch with the other modules? At least, as far as I can see from the photos.

[hifi_dave]

As I wrote for Hi-Fi for Pleasure from the beginning to it's demise, I have every copy of that wonderful mag. The covers were ground breaking to say the least and featured several Sun Page 3 girls before they found fame. The contents were also far more interesting than may be found now and I'm not talking about wot I rit.

The Gale advert with the 'boobs' was only run for one issue as I recall, subsequent issues featured her with a see through blouse.

Those were the days.

Ah yes, now you describe it I think I might have seen that cover. Whatever you may have thought of the contents of Hi-Fi for Pleasure, their covers were often striking, though understandably would be thought of as sexist today.

I think the advertisment on the rear cover for the Gale 401s featured a naked female wrapping herself around said speaker - in much the same way as new cars at Olympia were displayed. The advertisment created such a furore that it was quickly pulled.

I believe that someone 'out there' has scanned all those covers. A possible piece of research for someone.

Agrre with you about the early Naim gear. It looked home made, though as 'black boxes' go the NAP250 was reasonably elegant.

[Neil McCauley]

I wonder why the 'Aux' module was a colour mismatch with the other modules? At least, as far as I can see from the photos.

Simple. Poor quality control at the paint suppliers. My guess is that they has Meridian over a barrel on this.