Meridian 502 Pre Amplifier

British company Meridian Audio Ltd was founded back in 1977 by Bob Stuart and Allen Boothroyd. Here we have a fine example of their 502 Pre Amplifier that is in good overall condition with some light marking to the right hand side. It comes in its original factory packaging with a full system master remote control unit, manuals, mains cable, DIN cable, and our normal three month warranty.

Meridian Say….

Meridian has established a strong reputation for preamps. The Meridian 502 is by far the highest specification and best sounding preamp from this distinguished high-end company.

The 502 has been designed as a reference quality partner to the 557 and 505 Power Amplifiers, which also feature balanced operation and dual-mono construction. This preamp is ready to receive balanced inputs from Meridian’s 588 CD Player or 566 D–A Converter and when used with 557, 505 or a Meridian Active Loudspeaker, it completes a fully balanced analogue system.

Balanced operation has always been used in professional audio because it can bring very substantial improvements in dynamic range by reducing inadvertent system noise from cabling or ground-loops. In a music system, balanced operation guarantees that the very best sonics are obtained from a combination of components.

The 502 brings the very best sonic and musical results to an all-analogue hi-fi. Seven sources can be controlled – four connected as unbalanced on phono, the other three provide fully balanced operation with XLR inputs.

502 provides balanced (XLR) and unbalanced outputs so it can be used with either balanced or single-ended power amplifiers or active speakers. A balanced tape output is also provided to allow sophisticated connection for ‘Pro’ recorders and processors or balanced operation in a two-room setup.

502 is constructed in a dual-mono format; there are separate isolated printed circuits for the left and right channels. Each channel has its own high performance power supply which employs linear techniques, massive storage with audiophile-grade capacitors and multiple ultra-low-noise linear active regulation.

No expense has been spared in the construction – the 502 uses very high quality components including high-grade gold-plated connectors, Nichicon and polypropylene audio-grade capacitors, ultra-linear amplifier stages, four-layer PCB construction and a low-flux toroidal transformer. For vinyl lovers, two ultra-high-end mono phono modules can be fitted as an option (one for each channel).

Preamps that integrate analogue audio systems need to have a wide range of operating levels and gains. The 502 has enormous overload capacity and will accept and deliver over 4V rms single-ended (8V rms balanced). The gain setting allows a ±12dB variation; this gain setting is user-adjustable for each input and automatically remembered by the preamp. Like all the Meridian 500 Series, 502 has full remote capability and it can control a Meridian system when used with the MSR system remote. The on-board controller also has RS232 access for sophisticated system integration and computer control.

Features:

Completes a fully balanced analogue system when used with 500 Series amps or Meridian Active Loudspeakers

Constructed in dual mono to match the 557 power amp

Two tape outputs

User adjustable sensitivity

Phono option with MC or MM plug-in modules for each channel

Large low-field ultra-linear power supply

Specifications:

Distortion: Less than 0.01% input to output.

Signal/Noise: Better than – 96 dB CCIR (1V output, normal input) Less than – 70 dB for MM input and – 60 dB for MC.

MM option: Sensitivity adjustable 0.5 – 17 mV for 5 cm/s @ 1 kHz. Overload point 47 mV @ 1 kHz. Cartridge load 47 k ohms + 100 pF.

MC option: Sensitivity adjustable 38 – 1200 μV for 5 cm/s @ 1 kHz. Cartridge load 220 ohms + 10 nF.

Inputs: 4 unbalanced on phono, 27 – 840 mV rms (impedance 20 k ohms); 3 balanced on XLR, 27 – 840 mV rms (impedance 20 k ohms).

Outputs: 1 unbalanced on phono, 1.4 – 3 V rms (impedance 47 ohms); 1 balanced output on XLR, 1.4 – 3 V rms (impedance 47 ohms).

Tape outputs: Two unbalanced 1.5 V rms (impedance 47 ohms).

Construction: Two-channel dual-mono construction. High-grade components used throughout. Phono option with new moving-coil or magnetic plug-in modules for each channel. Large low-field ultra-linear power supply. Black textured enamel and glass finish.

Dimensions: 321 (W) x 332 (D) x 88 (H) mm

Weight: 5.0 kg

Controls: Front panel controls for Source, Copy, Mute, Display, Volume up/down, Off. Volume control: 99 steps of 1dB with balanced mode. Remote control, Meridian 500-Comms and RS232 operation Two Room Plus compatible.

Front display: 8-character dot-matrix LED display.