Featured Product – April 2014
When you want to enjoy your music and movies on the go or at the office, nothing beats a set of high-end headphones. Despite this, the best headphones tend to require more power than the aux port on your iPhone or PC can provide.
That’s where the Meridian Prime Headphone Amplifier comes in.
The Meridian Prime will appeal to even to most demanding audio enthusiasts with its connectivity options, audio performance, and build quality. Although it’s not designed for travel, it’s absolutely perfect for dedicated at-home listening.
Why we chose the Meridian Prime Headphone Amplifier
Photo courtesy of Meridian Audio.
We love the way high-end headphones can bring us closer to our music. The catch is that the best headphones tend to be power hungry, especially when compared to more entry-level products.
With a headphone amplifier like the Meridian Prime, your music will be fuller, more spacious, and truer to the source material. Pair that with Meridian Audio’s top-shelf reputation, and you’ve got an amazing desktop companion for your music library.
If you have a high-end set of headphones that you use while you work or for dedicated music listening, you owe it to yourself to experience the Meridian Prime Headphone Amplifier.
Meridian Audio Prime Headphone Amplifier reviews
Photo courtesy of Meridian Audio.
What Hi-Fi loves the Meridian Prime, awarding it with a five-star review, calling it, “A supremely capable headphone amplifier and also a fine, if slightly feature-limited, stereo preamp.”
Ultra High-End Review walked away with a similar impression, with reviewer Frank Berryman writing, ”Don’t let its size confuse you; the Meridian Prime is a high-end component in every sense of the word – functionality, performance, and design and construction… I can’t recommend it highly enough.”
Likewise, Neil Gader of The Absolute Sound had nothing but good to say about the Meridian Prime’s Analogue Spatial Processing – or ASP – feature.
“ASP reproduces music with more presence and more dimension and seems to enable the music to relax and shift away from the extreme right & left ear position and settle naturally on a more familiar soundstage. It’s particularly impressive reproducing the soundspace of well recorded orchestra but pop vocal images seem to beef up up with physical weight and depth… it was rare that I switched off the ASP except to remind myself why I didn’t want to listen to music without it.”
Of course, the only way to know whether the Meridian Prime Headphone Amplifier is right for you is to try it for yourself at your local HiFi House showroom.
Specs and highlights*
Photo courtesy of Meridian Audio.
The Meridian Prime Headphone Amplifier doesn’t try to win anyone over with gimmicky bells and whistles. It instead focuses on what matters most (and what Meridian does best): audio performance and build quality.
Constructed with the same level of care as Meridian Audio’s full-size components, the Meridian Prime Headphone Amplifier is built to stay true to the clarity and detail delivered by the world’s best headphones. All connectors are as close to the active audio components as possible in order to minimize the length of the audio path.
As far as connectivity goes, Meridian has you covered:
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If you’re a power user hoping to squeeze every ounce of performance you can from the Prime, we suggest investing in the Meridian Prime Power Supply. It’s an external power supply that keeps AC noise away from the pure analog stages of the actual amplifier, reducing interference and making your favorite music sound better than ever.
One of the Prime’s juiciest features is the aforementioned Analogue Spatial Processing, delivering two modes that can create a “loudspeaker-like listening experience” through your headphones. This results in a “smooth, natural feeling of spatiality,” and while the feature can be disabled entirely, we think most of you will leave it on.
The front-panel headphone outputs are optimized for performance, including a 3.5mm stereo socket for earbuds and lighter headphones. Likewise, a pair of 1/4″ stereo outputs can be used to drive up to two sets of more demanding headphones or a single set of headphones wired using separate cords for the left and right drivers (which reduces the risk of crosstalk).
Of course, the package wouldn’t be complete without Meridian’s trademark resolution enhancement techniques, including oversampling and Meridian’s unique Apodising filter. Additionally, USB 2.0 asynchronous playback is available at up to 192kHz/24-bit with up-sampling and resolution enhancement.
Where to demo and buy the Meridian Audio Prime Headphone Amplifier
Photo courtesy of Meridian Audio.
HiFi House is your locally authorized Meridian Audio dealer, serving you in Philadelphia, Wilmington, and the surrounding area.
Alongside the immensely popular Meridian Explorer and Meridian Direct DAC, the Meridian Prime Headphone Amplifier is now available at a HiFi House showroom near you.
We encourage you to call ahead or email if you would like to sample this product, this way we can be better prepared for your visit. Be sure to bring your favorite music and best set of headphones for your audition (or you could always borrow some of ours).
Click here to find a HiFi House showroom near you, or call 1.800.990.4434.
*Meridian Prime Headphone Amplifier User Guide
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