Meridian DSP9 Active Floorstanding Speaker

The DSP9 is Meridian's reference statement loudspeaker — the product that defines what the company is capable of when cost and size are not the constraints. It is the second loudspeaker to emerge from Meridian's Extreme Engineering Programme, the research initiative that exists to advance active loudspeaker design to its absolute limit. The result is a speaker that reaches 20Hz at the low end, 40kHz at the top, delivers 119dB peak SPL from a single cabinet, and does so with the timing, coherence, and low-level resolution that comes from a fully active, fully digital system engineered from the ground up as a single unit.

At £60,000 per pair, the DSP9 is not a product for most rooms or most budgets. But for those it is for, it is among the finest loudspeakers made anywhere in the world. Essential Install called it "the best sounding loudspeaker I have reviewed in the last 30 years — including several models that are twice their asking price."

Meridian and Martins Hi-Fi

Meridian Audio was founded in 1977 in Cambridgeshire by Bob Stuart and Allen Boothroyd. The DSP9 represents the current apex of everything they have learned in nearly five decades of active loudspeaker design. Martins Hi-Fi has had a long-standing relationship with Meridian throughout that time — their products have been a fixture in our Norwich showroom for decades, and we understand the range from the entry level through to the reference tier. At the DSP9 level, the relationship between dealer and customer matters enormously. This is not a product you buy from a listing. Contact us to arrange a proper demonstration.

The Extreme Engineering Programme

The Extreme Engineering Programme is Meridian's internal research initiative, created to push active loudspeaker technology beyond what is commercially practical and into what is technically possible. The DSP8000 XE was the first product to emerge from it; the DSP9 is the second. Both represent years of engineering investment that has no parallel in the industry.

The DSP9's cabinet is the most visible expression of that programme. The sculptured exterior is not a design exercise — the curvature of every surface minimises diffraction from the drive units, and the three-dimensional internal geometry creates acoustically isolated chambers that control resonance and standing waves. The cabinet is not a box. It is a precisely engineered acoustic structure.

Drive Units and Amplification

Inside each DSP9 are six drive units, each with its own dedicated amplifier channel:

• Tweeter: 25mm beryllium dome with silver voice-coil and a custom steel waveguide. Beryllium is the material of choice for reference tweeters — it is stiffer and lighter than titanium or aluminium, producing a driver that operates with vanishingly low distortion through the treble range. Amplified by a Class-AB stage capable of over 150W into 4Ω.

• Mid-range: 160mm driver with a non-conductive voice-coil former and an anti-resonance clamp-ring mounting system — the same mounting system used on the bass drivers to eliminate resonance transmission into the cabinet. Amplified by a second Class-AB stage, also over 150W into 4Ω, with THD below 0.005% at 1kHz.

• Bass: Four 200mm polypropylene long-throw drivers, each capable of up to 24mm of excursion. They are mounted in the lower section of the cabinet with the anti-resonance clamp-ring system. Each driver is fed by a bridged pair of Class-D amplifiers capable of over 240W into 4Ω — eight amplifier channels in total for the bass section alone.

The Extreme Engineering Programme's Precision Sonic Transport ensures that the entire signal path — from input to each drive unit — maintains maximum sonic fidelity at every stage. This is not a conventional signal path. Every process the signal undergoes is engineered specifically for its effect on the final acoustic output.

DSP Technologies

The DSP9 implements Meridian's full suite of reference signal processing technologies:

Full Frequency Alignment (FFA) is specific to the DSP9 and DSP8000 XE and represents the highest expression of Meridian's timing work. It uses digital filters and delays to correct group delay across the entire frequency range — ensuring that every frequency arrives at the listener's ear simultaneously. The effect on transient accuracy and imaging is profound.

Bespoke Signal Mapping divides the audio into frequency bands and routes each to the appropriate drive unit with an optimal response, ensuring the crossover between bass, mid-range, and tweeter is acoustically seamless.

E3 Bass (Expand, Extend, Enhance) applies three stages of bass processing to extract maximum low-frequency extension from the drive units without compression or distortion. The DSP9 reaches 20Hz — the limit of human hearing — in a sealed enclosure with no port colouration.

Q-Sync minimises jitter through Meridian's buffering system, preserving the timing integrity that defines the Meridian sound character.

True Time — Meridian's apodising filter — eliminates pre-ringing from digital filters, converting pre-echo to post-echo for cleaner transients and more natural decay.

True Link provides encrypted high-definition audio transfer over SpeakerLink connections, maintaining authentication through the signal path for MQA material and ensuring the SPDIF clock signal transmits with minimum degradation.

Free-Q compensates for acoustic problems introduced by room placement. At this level, placement optimisation is not optional — it is part of the engineering.

Pro-Active Bass and Pro-Active Thermal protect the bass drivers from over-excursion and thermal stress at high output levels, allowing the DSP9 to operate at its performance limits without risk of damage.

Sound

StereoNet described the DSP9's characteristics with precision: "Superb resolution, incredible mid/low synchronicity and uncanny bass extension. Bass is phenomenal, tight and fast. The DSP9 can play below 15Hz, even with just 200mm woofers."

The German publication Audio Test put it more directly: "The sound is not simply played, but projected into the room. Very precise and expressive, even at low volume — phenomenal."

What these observations reflect is the consequence of a fully active, fully digital system with no passive crossover, no shared power supply between driver channels, and no mismatch between amplifier and driver characteristics. The DSP9 does not approximate the performance of its drive units — it controls them completely. The result is a speaker that resolves low-level detail, maintains dynamic contrast, and images with a precision that passive loudspeakers at any price cannot match.

Connectivity

The DSP9 operates natively within a Meridian system via SpeakerLink — the proprietary RJ45 connection that carries digital audio, control signals, and power communication between Meridian components. In a full Meridian system, no additional configuration is required.

For use with non-Meridian sources, the DSP9 accepts: - Co-axial digital audio (RCA) — up to 192kHz/24-bit - Optical digital audio (Toslink) — up to 96kHz/24-bit - USB-C digital audio — up to 384kHz/24-bit - Bluetooth via the supplied Meridian B-Link adapter - Balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA analogue inputs via the optional IA21 Analogue Input Module

The B-Link adapter also enables control via the Meridian Control app for volume, input selection, and full configuration access.

Digital signals at 44.1kHz or 48kHz are upsampled internally to 176.4kHz and 192kHz respectively. The DSP9 renders MQA material when fed from a Meridian MQA decoder, with True Link maintaining authentication throughout.

Design and Awards

The DSP9 has collected awards from every significant industry body since its release — Red Dot 2024, CE Pro Product Awards 2023, CEDIA Best Hardware 2023, London Design Awards 2023, Residential Systems Best of Show ISE 2024, and Top New Technology at ISE 2024, among others. These are not participation awards — they reflect unanimous recognition from audio industry professionals that the DSP9 represents a genuine advance in loudspeaker design.

The tapering cabinet — 392mm wide at its widest point, reducing to 158mm — stands 1101mm tall and weighs 68kg per speaker. Finishing options include complementary neutral tones and bold vibrant colours in matte or gloss, making the DSP9 adaptable to any interior.

Technical Specifications

Who Is It For?

The DSP9 is for the listener who has exhausted what passive loudspeakers can offer and wants to understand what a reference active system genuinely sounds like. It suits a dedicated listening room or a large open-plan space; its output headroom — 119dB at 1m — means it will fill any domestic environment without strain.

It is also the natural choice for a serious Meridian system owner who already has Meridian electronics and wants loudspeakers that are native to that ecosystem. In a SpeakerLink system, the DSP9 operates without configuration and without compromise.

Those stepping into the Meridian active range for the first time may also want to consider the DSP8000 XE. Both deserve a listening session before any decision is made. See the full Meridian range we stock.

Buying from Martin's Hi-Fi

Martins Hi-Fi has stocked and demonstrated Meridian since long before the DSP9 existed. Our long-standing relationship with the brand means we have heard every significant Meridian loudspeaker in depth — and we understand where the DSP9 sits in the landscape of what is possible.

At this level, buying from a dealer who knows the product properly is not a nicety — it is essential. Setup, placement, system matching, and configuration all affect what the DSP9 ultimately does in a room. Dave and Chris can advise on every aspect of that, and we will not recommend the DSP9 unless it is genuinely the right product for your situation.

Contact us at info@martinshifi.co.uk, call 01603 627010, or WhatsApp on 07554 687137. We are at 85–91 Ber Street, Norwich, NR1 3EY. You can read more about how we work on our Why Martin's page.

Contact: info@martinshifi.co.uk | 01603 627010 | WhatsApp: 07554 687137 | 85–91 Ber Street, Norwich, NR1 3EY