Meridian Audio release new Prime Headphone Amplifier

The last year Meridian Audio have been busy! First there was Explorer, a pocketable USB streamer for dedicated headphone wearers, next there was Director–larger, input laden and oriented towards home system users–from servers to Apple TV.

The Meridian Prime is a "Reference" level component. A full function analog headphone amplifier with built-in USB/DAC connectivity.

Press release:

Meridian’s Prime Headphone Amplifier is a reference-quality analogue headphone amplifier that can replay audio from both analogue and USB-based sources. Built into an elegant and compact Allen Boothroyd-designed metal case, Meridian’s Prime Headphone Amplifier also provides a preamp output to drive an external audio system or analogue active loudspeakers.

The Prime Headphone Amplifier is designed to appeal to audio enthusiasts who seek the highest possible performance from conventional analogue audio sources including personal stereo players, or from a computer via USB, listening on headphones, a conventional audio system or analogue active loudspeakers.

The Meridian Prime Headphone Amplifier can be powered by the wall-mounted supply provided or, for even higher audio quality, by the Meridian Prime Power Supply. The use of this external power supply means that AC noise is kept well away from the pure analogue stages of the Headphone Amplifier.

“Outside the Head”
Analogue Spatial Processing
In addition to simply replaying stereo audio at the highest possible quality via headphones, Meridian Prime’s headphone outputs also include two “Analogue Spatial Processing” modes, i and ii, which replace the typical “in the head” experience of headphone listening with a smooth, natural feeling of spatiality that is much more like listening on a pair of loudspeakers in front of the listener.

Most recordings are made with loudspeaker listening in mind. When listening to stereo recordings on loudspeakers, your ears pick up signals from both channels. The sound from the right loudspeaker reaches your left ear a little later than it reaches your right (it’s further away) and vice versa. In addition, the high frequencies from the source that is a little further away are slightly attenuated.

The Prime Headphone Amplifier’s Analogue Spatial Processing simulates these effects with pure analogue circuitry and a choice of two settings (plus bypass – useful if you are listening to binaural or coincident-pair recordings). The processing is carried out entirely in the analogue domain and is switched in and out from the front panel by logic-controlled analogue switches, ensuring that the audio signal path through the unit remains as short and pristine as possible.

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