Brand loyalty seems to be de rigueur at the moment and Ferrari must be one of the main culprits. Ferrari recently started handing out brand associations like Mentos at a Foo Fighters concert. You can now get Ferrari phones, Ferrari notebooks and even Ferrari Lego! If you’re not careful, the Ferrari brand will soon be so watered down that it won’t bring any caché with it at all.
Not that we’ve gotten there yet, but one has to think about the relevance of Ferrari branding on a piece of high-end audio equipment, even one made by the award-winning Meridian. Sure, having high-end audio in your Ferrari might be desirable, but vice versa? let’s find out
The F80 is a small desktop all-in-one home entertainment system designed and built by Meridian Audio in collaboration with Ferrari. It includes a 2.1 speaker setup, quality amplifier and digital sound processor, CD player, DAB/FM tuner, DVD player and a healthy selection of additional audio inputs for connecting your Personal Media Player (PMP) or other external audio sources. It all fits into a package that measures just 408 x 230 x 185mm, making it easy to fit on most window sills, bedside tables or TV cabinets. Of course, given its staggering price and eye-catching looks, you wouldn’t want it in any of the above locations, but would rather have it standing high up on a pedestal in the center of your living room, both to really show it off and to keep it out of reach keeping children and pets.
The version that was sent to us is finished in a bright yellow (red, black, silver and white are also available) or Modena Giallo to give the official name. Whatever it’s called, it’s definitely beautiful. The color is rich and bright, and the glossy surface is flawless. If the only impetus Ferrari had in the design of the F80 was the paintwork, it would still justify the connection.
However, you will be pleased to hear that this is not the case. Not only did Ferrari bring their painting skills to the process, but they were instrumental in the development of the low-resonance, high-mass composites used in the chassis. These materials were needed to enable the construction of such a small device – especially given its chosen curved shape – that could maintain the audio quality Meridian is associated with. Its stiffness and density suppresses resonances and eliminates the possibility of the rattling you normally associate with a plastic construction.
Speaking of construction, if the old audio equipment adage “the heavier it is, the better it sounds” is true, the F80 certainly has to be second to none. At 6.5 kg (14.3 lbs), this thing is without a doubt the deceptively heaviest thing we’ve ever tested. Without exception, everyone in the office who stopped by to see it picked it up and underestimated the effort – luckily there were no injuries in the process, save for a few slightly bruised egos.
That weight combined with the device’s mains operation pretty much negates the portability of the F80, despite its compact looks. It’s fine for going from room to room or going outside for a BBQ, but it’s not a boom box replacement.
In addition to the high-density composite materials used in the chassis, the F80 has two other features that ensure the unit’s excellent sound quality. First are the specially designed speakers, all contained in their own isolated compartments. The left and right speakers are full-range designs that use powerful neodymium magnets and high-temperature voice coils in conjunction with a die-cast chassis and magnesium/aluminum alloy diaphragms to deliver immense power and volume while maintaining pinpoint accuracy to guarantee. The subwoofer, on the other hand, is a special long-excursion design that offers high bass response despite its relatively small size.
The second pillar of the F80 is the Digital Sound Processor (DSP). Well, some of you may have hacked the mentioned DSP as visions of those horrible sound-destroying digital EQ settings that you get on MP3 players come to mind. However, let me assure you that this is the last thing the DSP does on the F80. Rather, it optimizes the distribution of the audio signal to make the most of the compact speaker layout to provide a wider soundstage.
The extent to which it affects the sound can be controlled via the menu system with seven ‘Width’ options on offer. Stick with the width setting of 0 and you’ll still get a very pleasing stereo effect when seated in the best position. If you’re too close or listening at low volumes, the effect is lost a bit, but cranking up the width setting compensates for this. We’ve found that setting the width to “3” is a good all-around setting if you just want to set and forget.
Other sound customization options include a location setting that lets you choose from Table, Shelf, Corner, Floor, and Free. The difference between the two is subtle but noticeable, and certainly choosing the “right” setting will ensure optimal listening. However, if you’re unsure, selecting the “Free” option seemed fine for most situations.
Bass level can also be adjusted for typical effect, and while there’s no dedicated treble setting, there is a “tilt” control that oscillates the frequency balance around a central point, reducing bass while increasing treble, or vice versa . As usual, we found we didn’t feel like leaving these controls set and simply left them both at “0” for the majority of our listening. Not that they produced a bad sound, but we were pretty happy with the default setting and we’re sure most other listeners would be too.
While touching on the menu issue, I have to say that it’s one of the best menus I’ve ever used. A large part of the usability is thanks to the crystal-clear yellow OLED screen. It’s perfectly legible from every angle, to the point where you can’t physically see it, and the high resolution makes even the fine text in the menu crisp.
The menu itself is controlled by seven of the ten buttons that run down the center of the F80 just below the display. Aside from the home button, which toggles between the main menu and your current display, all buttons are context-sensitive. So when you are in radio mode, you adjust the tuning and switch between the (radio) bands. When playing a CD they will play/pause, skip forward, skip back, etc. It really is that intuitive, I just can’t fault it. Best of all, unlike many other devices, the menu doesn’t expire when you adjust the settings. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been frustrated with menus disappearing when testing different settings – I’m in the menu for a reason, don’t try to question me!
And relax…
On the back there’s a wide range of input and output options, with digital audio in and out, S-video and composite outputs, and an iPod dock connector that stands out (this is compatible with the forthcoming i80 dock ). The video connections are for DVD playback and the quality from them is quite impressive. However, we consider recording component video to be the absolute minimum necessary to get the best video signal from your DVDs. Additionally, we’d ideally have HDMI output and Blu-ray Disc support to make this a true one-stop home entertainment system. The latter are forgivable, though, considering the F80 actually launched early last year – maybe it’s time for an update?
The remote control is also a bit disappointing. It’s a generic button cell battery powered thing that uses little popper style buttons. It’s not inherently bad, but it doesn’t have the classy feel you’d expect from a product this expensive.
There are two external antenna connections with three different antenna extensions included, as well as an internal antenna, giving plenty of options for an optimal radio setup. Unfortunately, radio reception, and DAB in particular, is very poor in our area so it’s always difficult for us to comment on the tuning abilities of one device over another. For what it’s worth, the F80 was no worse than any other unit we’ve tested, and when a signal was found the F80 shone just as brightly as any other sound source, which of course this unit is really all about.
No matter what genre of music or video I threw at it, the F80 not only handled it, it excelled at it all. Whether the violins of Mozart, the cheeky attitude of the Sex Pistols, the soporific tones of Dido or the pulse of the Serenity engines, it never missed a beat while maintaining clarity, warmth and brute power. It’s really fantastic and certainly on par with any conventional Hi-Fi that costs £1,000.
So is the F80 worth its £1,500 asking price? Not quite. Unless you really want a Ferrari-branded hi-fi system. Technically, it just doesn’t add up. On the one hand, the F80 pretends to be an all-in-one home entertainment center with its DVD playback, but it lacks key features like HD movie playback and HDMI connectivity. If you take DVD playback as an added bonus and consider the F80 purely as a compact hi-fi then it struggles again, simply because £500 is a hefty premium to pay just for the compact design. However, if you don’t have the space for a ‘proper’ hi-fi system and appreciate the convenience of such a compact unit, there are few on the market that can offer the same audio fidelity.
“‘Verdict”‘
With the F80, Meridian proudly follows Ferrari by crafting a stylish and beautifully crafted compact home entertainment system. The sound quality is unparalleled for such a small device and the extras like DVD playback are very welcome. The only sticking point is the astronomical price, but there’s little else on the market that can offer everything the F80 offers in such a small package.