Opinion of Meridian 557 Amp

I have had a 557 for about 2 years and have loved it. It replaced an Acurus A250 and was definitely a step up. I bought another 557 this weekend and am running the pair as bridged monoblocks. I haven't had a chance to do a serious audition, but they obviously have near limitless reserves. I currently have Thiel speakers which do not have a bi-wire option. I think the real question is how do they sound bridged vs. how do they sound run in stereo mode to vertically bi-amp a speaker with bi-wire capability.

Faberryman, You have to hear these Amps Bridged. They sound amazing. But i heard them on the Sonus Faber Extremas, which need lots of power. If your bridge them, tell me how they sound brided, compared to using one of them. Thanks [email protected]

I have not heard the actual combination you refer to but have heard the individual components. In my opinion the 566 DAC and the 502 preamp are not nearly as good as the rest of the Meridian gear concerned. But the 557 bridged works very well with Thiels and the Extremas. In some systems the 557 can be a little too "yin" and veiled, but with an exuberantly transparent speaker that also wants some "welly", then in that case I have heard the 557s sound very right indeed. Also very good with Shahinian speakers by the way.

Redkiwi, what is "welly"?

I have a 557,502, and a 508.24. My speakers are Martin-Logan SL3's. Have not been disappointed!!!!

Oops. "Welly" is an English colloquialism that I forgot to screen out. I think it originates with Wellington boots - ie. large rubber mid-calf boots that farmers wear - we call them gumboots in NZ (and often use the same word to describe those that wear them) - I didn't mean that! Being kicked by a Wellington boot is something you feel rather profoundly and so "welly" is often used by us Antipodean audiophiles (all 6 of us) as a synonym for "grunt" or "power" or "punch".

I have a pair of Extremas. Its the best sounding, smoothest speaker I have ever heard. They work well with lower wattage but love the power. I have worked my way up to dual Classe Ca 400's that I run bridged (roughly 1200 watts per channel). If I remember correctly its something to do with the crossover that makes them power hungry but Im not sure.

I would like to know what type of cables everyone is using, as well as if you are useing the balanced inputs rather than the rca's? I think the amp is great at opening up my Thiel 2.3's . Seems to fill the entire room with great sound . 508.25 /502/557 all balanced tara cables. Does anyone think the 2.3's can handle this amp bridged 1000 watts!?

Perfectimage, I agree with you Totally on the Sonus Faber Extremas. Let me ask you, Do you think the Extremas would sound good with a Rel Sub. I'v heard the Extremas can be hard to blend in with a Sub. Fleone, No, you only need one 557 Amp, to use on the Theil 2.3 speaker. I wouldn't bridge them. See the Sonus Faber Extremas need lots of power. This speaker is very deep. I heard it at the Stereophile show in the Meridian room. The System was the 557 Amps bridged, 502 preamp, 566 Dac, 518 Jitter reducer with the 500 transport. I swear, i'v never heard a system this good. It was so sweet and articulate sounding. Here's a great pic of the Sonus Faber Extremas. You see how deep they are. http://gallery.consumerreview.com/audio/gallery/files/sonus-extrema(1).asp

A Rel is a must! I use a Rel Stentor 2 sub with mine. Its a perfect match. Very seemless and it gives the Extremas a good amount of punch in the lower end using the same quality of bass. I have been debatng picking up another Rel and running stereo subs.

I really like all the older Sonus Faber models. Elaectors, Elector Amatuers. They were all very warm sounding.

Perfectimage, did you ever see this site. They got the most amazing stereo systems on here. People put there stereo systems on this site. You should put your system on here to. Here's the link http://www.arduman.com/aa/Sayfalar/friends.htm If you dont have a scanner. You can just send the owner of the site, pics of your system. His email address is [email protected]

Fleone, your Thiel 2.3's can handle the 557 bridged ONLY if you don't turn the volume up TOO loud. I am currently using 1.2s which are pretty small and can certainly handle less power than the 2.3s. My wife thinks I listen to music too loud (for you Meridian folk - 65-70). I have no doubt that if I turned the volume up to deafening levels (say 85-90), the speaker cones would detach and go sailing across the room. Of course, I might also! That being said, the availability of the extra power to handle transients is just great. The speakers have really opened up. Over the 8 years I have had these speakers, I have gone from an 80 watt Denon integrated to an Acurus A250 to a single 557 to dual 557s. The most obvious improvement was the jump to the Acurus A250, but each subsequent step has yielded an improvement as well. I would not have bought the second 557 except that it was a demo and I got it from a dealer in an after Christmas clearance sale at a very attractive price. Nevertheless, I am quite happy that I did, and now know that I can upgrade to nearly any speaker on the market and have plenty of power and the options of biwiring or biamping. Seek out a used one. There is one listed here at Audiogon for $1200 (no affiliation to me). Depending on the quality of your other components, it might be the best $1200 you could spend.