STEREO GUIDE verdict
The Meridian Ellipse is the most versatile Onebox solution with app control, USB-C and streaming integration.
As a fully-fledged streaming solution in a housing with sensational bass, it replaces stereo systems for more relaxed music enjoyment amazingly well.
Advantages
- Mature sound with sensational bass
- A surprising amount of space for a Onebox system
- Exemplary connectivity and app control
Disadvantages
- sounds somewhat distant, more homogeneous than detailed
- Dynamics somewhat dependent on the music genre
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Sound: naturalness / transparency9
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Sound: Bass / Dynamics9.2
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Practice / Connectivity10
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Price/Performance8.8
The Meridian Ellipse is the latest, but above all particularly elaborate answer to a question that hi-fi dealers have to listen to again and again, especially from the better halves of audiophiles: “Don’t they have it a little smaller?” Room-filling sound from a single component that can replace the stereo system in a neat designer living room – several high-end manufacturers have already tried their hand at this dream. Including the digital pioneers at Meridian, who even built a DVD player into their F80 active loudspeaker as part of a brand cooperation with Ferrari. That was almost 20 years ago, and some later tried their hand at this concept of a slightly different, more “normal” high-end.
However, all previous implementations had one disadvantage in common: they lacked the wide reproduction of a stereo system or even a room-filling sound image. This is exactly what the Meridian Ellipse is now supposed to deliver, in addition to deep bass like from stereo speakers and the connection and operating options of a modern complete system.
Can all this be achieved in such a small sculpture? The oval design speaker is just 42 centimeters wide. Even smaller than significantly cheaper competitors. So how does the Meridian Ellipse justify its price tag of 2,400 euros? Well, there is no doubt that manufacturing in England has its price. It is not for nothing that many traditional British brands have their production facilities in China. Meridian is particularly proud of its in-house circuit board assembly in the Cambridge factory. I visited there in the late 80s. The charismatic founders, Cambridge graduates Allen Boothroyd (design) and Bob Stuart (electronics development), told me first-hand about the background to the design-oriented, yet technology-focused brand.
Legendary reference line
The final assembly of the Ellipse and the other components of the British audio company still takes place at the company headquarters in Cambridge, just east of the zero meridian, where the founders met at university. Each individual unit is subjected to rigorous acoustic testing, just as it was back then. If you look at the wide range of possible applications, the price suddenly seems justified. After all, according to the German distributor Audio Reference, it is a fully-fledged streaming stereo system.
Everything, really everything?
We have to expressly agree – we can attest that the Ellipse is almost fully equipped when it comes to playback options. This applies to the network-based protocols as well as the other wireless, analog and digital options. The engineers have not only integrated an analog input in jack form on the compact terminal, but also an optical playback option, for example for a TV or CD drive. There is also a USB-C port to which a smartphone, tablet or laptop can be connected and displayed directly as a sound card.
The Ellipse can be easily integrated into the home network via Wi-Fi, but the Ethernet socket is a useful alternative if the connection is unstable. Once the Meridian is “in”, it can be controlled by all Airplay 2-compatible devices, as well as via Google Cast and with the native Connect protocols from Tidal or Spotify.
Roon coming soon
At Roon, the Meridian Ellipse registers as Roon Ready, i.e. the highest quality level (although this was still in the certification phase at the time of the review). The multi-room speaker can process UPnP streams directly or offer itself as a Bluetooth speaker(Bluetooth 5.3) for spontaneous use. In addition to the standard SBC, only AAC is installed as a codec. This should not be seen as an obstacle to quality, as experience has shown that devices with higher-quality aptX codecs can also handle the Google Cast standard, which is more stable anyway. As a test, we also connected a USB hard drive to the back of the Meridian Ellipse, and it was immediately recognized along with the music on it.
We are thrilled! Really the only connection option that some users might miss would be an HDMI (ARC), which the Ellipse doesn’t have. But that’s not really tragic. The TV can dock via an optical input and any input can even be prioritized in the Merdian Control app.
The most important functions can be controlled via illuminated touch surfaces on the top of the device: volume, play/pause, track skip and Bluetooth connection. The Meridian button in the middle is used to select the source as well as to switch the device on/off with a longer touch.
The most versatile app
However, you can only really make the most of the device with the app. The Meridian Control app is the same app that is used to control and set up the active speakers in the house. This makes it easy to integrate the Ellipse into a multi-room environment with these speakers.
The range of functions of the app, which is available free of charge in the Apple App Store and on Google Play, is somewhat overwhelming at first glance, but is organized quite logically. There is a configuration section that really only serves to set up the individual zones of a multiroom environment and their players. The developers have really thought of everything here, including a gain adjustment to compensate for volume differences.
In the “Control” section of the Meridian app, you can manage and group the individual zones and adjust the volume. Each individual zone also has a kind of remote control within the app with source selection, volume control and mute button. There is also an overview screen and a “Now Playing” view.
A lot of influence on the sound
The app’s most powerful tool is a little hidden under “Menus”: the tone control. Here you can tell that the app was also programmed for the company’s significantly more expensive floorstanding speakers. You can also sense that the DSP engine behind it embodies serious high-end technology instead of cheaply purchased chip modules. For example, we wouldn’t have expected the selection of the absolute phase on a one-box speaker. The location adjustment, which optimizes the bass acoustically for free placement, near-wall position, shelf or corner placement, is probably also more useful for the Ellipse. Exemplary!
In addition to a classic treble and bass control, there are also specific options for the Meridian Ellipse as a one-box system. In addition to a four-stage adjustable “Bass & Space” option, which increases the room size and bass foundation at the same time, there is also the “Image Elevation” for enhancing the sound image and an “Image Focus” control.
High-end virtues built in
Behind the sturdy steel front grille, a few surprises await us as hi-fi reviewers: Meridian only uses two full-range drivers for the mid-high range and the aforementioned stereo imaging. At 9 centimeters, these are relatively large and are each driven by a 25 watt sine wave power amplifier. The manufacturer also explains the omission of tweeters with the fact that fewer interferences occur in the room with full-range drivers and the algorithms for improving the spatial imaging in the DSPs can therefore do their work much more effectively and without the known side effects such as phasing.
As is usual in the high-end audio sector, the manufacturer specifies the crossover frequency: Below 180 Hz, the two full-range speakers are faded out. This leaves enough reserve not only for the mid-high frequencies, but also for differential signals that are intended to enlarge the spatial image.
Maximum cone area for better bass
A central bass in the unusual 16 x 10 cm oval format operates below 180 Hz. More cone area is not possible in such a compact cabinet. The Meridian Ellipse also needs this, because its bass works on a closed volume. This may come as a surprise to loudspeaker designers, who like to rely on passive cones in favor of higher levels and lower cut-off frequencies in such compact designs. However, Meridian says that this is a conscious decision in favor of much more precise and room-insensitive bass. We can fully understand the latter idea, because every resonator in the bass range also increases the risk of boominess and booming. This is especially true when such a designer speaker is placed close to the wall or on a shelf.
Thanks to digital equalization, the manufacturer nevertheless promises a lower cut-off frequency of 40 Hz. This is on a par with full-blown active compact speakers with bass reflex tubes. Incidentally, the digital signal processors in the Ellipse come from the Meridian DSP9 super speaker, which is already scratching the 100,000 euro mark, and, according to the manufacturer, guarantee completely loss-free, time-correct and high-resolution processing with 12 digital technologies. In the Ellipse, in addition to signal processing, they also provide overload protection for the chassis and power amplifiers as well as perfectly time-correct filtering.
This is what the Onebox Meridian Ellipse stereo system sounds like
Admittedly, in view of the compact dimensions (only 42 centimeters wide) and the minimalist equipment, we were somewhat skeptical, despite all the technology, whether the Meridian Ellipse could really deliver the promised sound fireworks.
At least one thing is clear after a few bars: no competitor in its class (and above) can match the Meridian’s bass foundation. Not only does it sound deep and clean, but its bass is also powerful, with an accurate and dry kick. This is particularly important if such a one-box system is to be placed on a shelf, lowboard or close to a wall. Here, the Meridian Ellipse effortlessly maintained control, its bass always played to the point and never boomed. The bass adjustment in the app only really had to be used when placed close to a corner or on a shelf when the low tones became too much.
It can still do this at astonishing levels, but then loses some of its thrust at the bottom. For very large rooms or bass-driven parties, it does reach its limits due to its volume.
The eternal dream of wide open spaces
The second absolutely amazing effect is how effortlessly the Meridian Ellipse fills the room. Especially when one of the more intensive options of “Bass & Space” is selected, the little one sounds huge in width and depth. This is a little to the detriment of directness, the sound is rather relaxed and minimally distanced, but the effect is absolutely amazing. We were less convinced by the “Image elevation” function, as it made voices appear narrow-lipped rather than really high-pitched.
In the basic setting, the Meridian Ellipse seemed to us to be on the warm tonal side. Certainly not a mistake, but the potential of this little all-in-one wonder is only really revealed when you adjust it to the acoustic conditions in the room for treble and bass. It’s worth experimenting with the treble control in particular, as the quite clear directional effect in the treble range can lead to somewhat under-represented trebles, depending on the room.
The Ellipse sounds round in hi-fi terms
In our review, with a moderate boost of +2.5 dB, it was surprisingly balanced, mature and playful, even from a hi-fi point of view. As is typical of full-range speakers, it doesn’t have the final resolution of fizzy sounds, which discerning listeners of classical music, jazz or even rock with choirs might find a little too homogeneous.
In general, we noticed that the Meridian’s performance is somewhat dependent on the chosen music genre. Everything that sounds rather relaxed and spacious, from ambient to smooth jazz, pop, acoustic folk or instrumental classical music, suited its “Laid Back” character and sounded simply phenomenal. It was able to reproduce classical music with choirs, loud big bands or rather snappy rock recordings flawlessly and with an astonishingly spacious sound, but the astonishing effect was significantly reduced here.
Despite minor limitations, we were delighted with the Meridian Ellipse at the end of the day. No other manufacturer has ever implemented the all-in-one concept so consistently and with such a room-filling bass.
Meridian Ellipse: Conclusion and alternatives
The Meridian Ellipse is the most versatile Onebox concept ever in terms of playback and operating options with app, USB-C, streaming integration and acoustic adaptation to the room. It is a fully-fledged streaming stereo system in one housing. This connection concept was previously only known from compact streaming stereo systems – which then also move back into the price range of the Meridian Ellipse and have no chance against it in terms of bass anyway.
Of course, this has its price, which is many times higher than that of more simply equipped Onebox systems. Looking at the form factor alone, the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Gen 4 could be a contender. It shines with slightly more treble effects, but in terms of natural bass and, above all, spatial imaging, it is so clearly inferior to the Ellipse that a direct comparison is impossible.
Does the Meridian Ellipse now perform the miracle of really replacing a stereo system? For those who want to have music in the whole room in a more cultivated and sometimes loud way, definitely. For those who sit concentrated on the sofa and expect maximum detail resolution, directness and voice localization in the room like a sound engineer – rather not. But without a properly set up stereo system, this is not possible.
Technical data Meridian Ellipse
- Manufacturer’s recommended retail price: 2,400 euros
- Dimensions (W x H x D): 41.5 x 17 x 22.5 cm
- Weight: 3.9 kg
- Special features: AirPlay 2, Google Chromecast, Roon Ready, UPnP, Bluetooth 5.2, USB-C, analog jack 3.5 mm, optical input, sound control, location adjustment, stereo simulation adjustable via app
- More at www.audio-reference.de
