Meridian's systems to be launched with Archimedia in the CES/Hometech exhibition and conference in Dubai
Meridian Audio Ltd, the British manufacturer of high-end audio and video home entertainment systems, has appointed UAE based Archimedia as its exclusive regional master distributor for the Middle East and North Africa. The alliance will position Meridian - which has been a closely guarded secret amongst discerning cognoscenti desiring the ultimate in home entertainment (DSP8000 loudspeakers pictured left) - to capitalise on Archimedia's market leadership and aggressive growth strategy and expand its presence throughout the rapidly growing Middle East market.
John Buchanan, Meridian Director of Sales, stated, "We are very excited to be partnering with Archimedia on the distribution of our award-winning home theatre and audio systems in the Middle East. As a market leader, Archimedia is the perfect partner to support existing and loyal Meridian enthusiasts and to build greater Meridian brand awareness in this strategic market."
Karim Zaki, CEO of Archimedia commented, "We are extremely pleased with this addition to our portfolio of brands. Meridian enables us to expand our offering of truly high-end audio and video solutions and Meridian's stylish and superb sounding systems and proprietary DSP technology made it the obvious choice for us."
Meridian's systems will be launched with Archimedia at the CES/Hometech exhibition and conference, taking place between May 25th and 27th in Dubai.
"We are thrilled to be launching together at the CES/Hometech show this month," said Buchanan. "We are reaching out to previously unaware consumers with the message that truly high performance home entertainment is desirable, relevant and available, and Archimedia embodies this message."
Founded in 1977 by audio engineer Bob Stuart and industrial designer Allen Boothroyd, Meridian Audio Limited design and manufacture uncompromised home entertainment systems offering the most exceptional performance. Headquartered in Huntingdon, near Cambridge, England the company's local modern production facilities are purpose-built for the manufacturing of the highest quality consumer audio and video products, distributed in 56 countries including the UK, USA, Russia and Japan.
Meridian is a multi-award winning company gaining much critical and industry acclaim as a world-leader in digital and analogue audio reproduction winning 135 awards for 156 products/innovations to date including the coveted British Design Council Award for Outstanding British Products an unprecedented three times in addition to many other international accolades.
Meridian developed the world's first audiophile CD player, the world's first consumer digital surround controller and Meridian Lossless Packing (MLP) system - the technology used to achieve super-quality audio with a longer playing time on high-resolution discs like DVD-Audio. Blu-Ray and HD-DVD is the only UK audio hardware manufacturer to be a member of the DVD and Blu-Ray Forums (international association of the DVD industry). The company's optical disc players, DSP-based (digital signal processing) loudspeakers and Digital Theatre systems are unique in the industry, maintaining a super-quality digital audio signal throughout the path from the source to the amplifier, and generating advanced characteristics that would be impossible with conventional analogue systems.
The company has a long history of partnerships. As the inventor of MLP, it has partnered with Dolby Laboratories for many years. In 2005, Meridian signed an agreement to license, develop, manufacture and distribute video products under the Faroudja brand name.
"Meridian has a thirty-year history of successfully developing advanced and highly-regarded audio and video products and technologies," says Bob Stuart, Meridian co-founder and Chairman. "The Muse approach is a fantastic next step for our enterprise," he went on, "as we discussed the formation of the partnership, we found strong shared values, complementary areas of expertise and unique opportunities to further develop our brand. We are honoured that such a uniquely talented and powerful group of individuals perceived the special qualities of Meridian and wanted to support our activities."
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Editor's notes
About Archimedia
Archimedia is the region's leading residential systems integration company, with operations in the UAE and Egypt, and with showrooms opening soon throughout the GCC. They specialise in high-end audiovisual and automation solutions, and offer a portfolio of many of the world's foremost audio, video and automation brands, including Bowers & Wilkins, Crestron, Classé, Runco, Rotel, Kaleidescape, Sonos, and Nevo.
Meridian's key products
Transportable audio system: Meridian F80 is a high-integrity digital sound system, based on powerful digital signal processing (DSP) technology. This electronic heart is surrounded by a sturdy, well-damped cabinet in which each driver has its own compartment. Innovative low-resonance, high mass composite materials developed in conjunction with Ferrari ensure that this cabinet offers excellent dynamic integrity.
Speaker: Meridian DSP8000 Digital Active Loudspeaker is designed to reproduce sounds at up to full natural level while providing all the resolution required by sources of up to 24bit and 192kHz. Such demanding dynamic resolution called for a new approach to cabinet construction and selection of advanced drive unit materials. RRP £28,750
CD player: 800 Version 4 Reference Optical Disc Player offers the kind of features needed to exploit DVD in a high-end home theatre, to interface with state-of-the-art digital surround processors and to handle the latest high-quality projection and plasma systems, including the high-definition digital video interface standard, HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface). Version 4 is the latest incarnation of the 800 Optical Disc Player, which combines new software with a modified 'core' card complement offering a significant increase in the quality and flexibility of the system. RRP from £11,525
Surround sound: Meridian G68 Surround Controller (G Series) is a powerful, flexible surround controller with an AM/FM tuner built-in, and represents the centre piece of the G Series range, with multiple variants available to suit a wide range of applications. At the heart of the G68 is a powerful DSP engine consisting of five Motorola 56367s running at 150MHz - delivering an incredible 750MIPS (million instructions per second.
Home theatre: Meridian is the exclusive manufacturer and distributor of the prestigious Faroudja brand, a name know the world over for superb video processing and precisely optimized high definition projectors. Today, Faroudja products are made in Meridian's UK factory. As a result, the company can offer a complete system - not only breathtaking surround sound, but vibrant, crystal-clear images too: the Meridian Digital Theatre. Faroudja deinterlacing and scaling technology is also incorporated into Meridian DVD players.
For more information, please contact:
Zoë Jones
PR Director
Sidhu & Simon Communications
Tel: 00 44 (0) 207 491 9900
Email: zoe@sidhuandsimon.com
Maha Nagy
Account Manager, Organizational Consultants (Archimedia)
Tel: 00971502946795
Email: mangy@oc.com.eg
© Press Release 2008
