Anybody fan or Meridian 3 ch stereo?

A long while back I was working for a shop selling Krell,Mc,B&W etc and guy ordered up B&W 803N as soon as it came out.But we also brought along a 800 series center.o my surpise there were no rears and this was a muisc only system.Then he turned on 3 channel music mode and it was great nothing like I had ever heard from a HT reciever or high end HT pre that had that option in past.He just said Meridian had figured out the steering logic better than anybody else.Then I rembered reading that durring 30's when Bell Labs was developing Stereo it was originally going to be a 3 speaker system with a "fill" or "Phantom" speaker as they called it.No sure if this would have led to difference in 78 groove tech but I think not.But marketting folks decided for economy a 2 speker system might not sound as good but be easier to sell.So wondering if anybody knows Meridian and listens in that mode and can commen on it.The new gear is a bit out of my league price wise but wondering if there is a decent sounding (568???) pre that would have well developed 3 channel music mode and 5.1 as bonus.Know they have sold the sound and video switching boxes sperately but I never liked idea wirring video through switching box anyway since I don't wan signal to be messed up for soem copying convenience anyway.Any Meridian fans out there "steer"(sorry about that) me in right direction.
Cheers
Chazzbo