Meridian M-33 (c. 1999)
Little formal documentation survives for the Meridian M-33. What the record shows comes almost entirely from Audio magazine's September 1999 review of Meridian's Compact Theatre system, where the M-33 was the satellite speaker (Audio, September 1999, p.81).
The Compact Theatre bundled five M-33s with the M1500 powered subwoofer and the new Model 561 digital surround preamp for under $12,500. Audio described it as Meridian's attempt to squeeze most of the performance of the full-size $65,000 Digital Theatre system into a far more manageable package for a medium-sized living room (Audio, September 1999, p.81). The M-33 itself is a sealed-box design with dual 5¼-inch carbon-fiber woofers crossing over at 2.3 kHz to a tweeter mounted between them. That woof-tweet-woof layout, with careful voicing, let the speaker work just as well tipped onto its side as a horizontal center channel (Audio, September 1999, p.81).
Audio's on-axis measurements showed very smooth output from the upper bass through the lower midrange (70 Hz to 1.7 kHz). Above that, upper-midrange and high-frequency output shelved down a significant 5 dB from 1.8 kHz to 20 kHz (Audio, September 1999, p.84). The companion M1500 subwoofer used a single 10-inch driver in an overdamped alignment, driven by an amp with a deceptively moderate power rating. It was tuned for control rather than rattling rafters (Audio, September 1999, p.85). The magazine's verdict was that Meridian had "another winner" with the Compact Theatre, and that it was unique among high-end home-theater forays of the time for being small and elegant (Audio, September 1999, p.85).
eBay Listings
As an eBay Partner, we earn from qualifying purchases. This helps support our independent vintage technology research.