Meridian has taken the wraps off of its new Prime Headphone Amplifier. The Prime comes with analogue and digital inputs in the form of stereo, 3.5mm and asynchronous USB connections, allowing you to connect a variety of sources.
The Prime Headphone Amp comes bundled with a standard power supply, however Meridian also offers an £800 Prime Power Supply, which keeps AC noise away from the analogue stages, in an effort to further improve sound quality.
The Prime Amplifier supports headphones with 3.5mm and 1/4in jacks, with separate inputs for each. The impedance level for each connection is specifically manipulated for each headphone type. Phono sockets found on the rear allow the device to be connected to a power amp.
Meridian has included two unique ASP (Analogue Spatial Processing) modes with the Prime Headphone Amplifier. These aim to recreate the listening feeling you get when using a traditional loudspeaker set-up.
The device is capable of supporting digital sources up to 192kHz and the USB input can upsample 44.1/48kHz sources to 88.2/96kHz. This is done via Meridian's own Apodising filter.
Meridian's co-founder Allen Boothroyd designed the all-metal enclosure for the amp. With no screws in sight, the unit can be opened up thanks to a magnetic release mechanism.
The Meridian Prime Headphone Amplifier is available to buy now direct from Meridian's website and costs £1200. We'll be getting hold of our review sample next week so look out for our review.
