Meridian Audio


Meridian Audio is an English manufacturer of high-performance, high-fidelity audio and video components and systems founded in 1977 by Bob Stuart and Allen Boothroyd.

History

Based in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, Meridian Audio was founded by John Robert Stuart and Allen Boothroyd in 1977. Since the company's inception, all Meridian products have been built in the UK.
The company was the among the first to introduce active loudspeakers designed for the domestic market and was the first British company to manufacture a CD player in 1983. The Meridian MCD, launched in 1985, was the first audiophile CD player. In his review of the MCD, audio engineer and Stereophile founder J. Gordon Holt wrote, "For the first time, the sound of the best CDs is truly liquid and transparent, with an effortlessness that I have not previously heard except from the better analog sources... To date, then, this is the best-sounding CD player I've encountered." Meridian also created the first digital surround-sound processor, the 565 in 1994 as well as the first DSP-based digital active loudspeakers.
Today, the company's two largest markets are the United States and the UK.

Products

Meridian products have received several awards, including: