Good Processor

Bear in mind that, despite its excellent performance. the 861 is a digital-only device without any analog bypass or passthrough.

1. Few (but some) old receivers will redigitize the 5.1 analog but that is not optimum. If you want it to process digital (RC, Bass management, etc.), feed it digital
2. Oppos do not do room correction.
3. Meridian does RC below 300Hz which is where you really need it.
4. It is not standard but the Meridian 861s can be configured with a 5.1 RCA analog input.
5. IMHO, the Meridian sound is surprisingly analog and liquid.

I am a big fan of Audyssey but I think Bol972 is a bit over
the top in his descriptions of what Pro can accomplish, even
in his hands. His statement that "Resolution is a lot
higher compared to XT32" is patently false since Pro
can only utilize the DSP resolution already built into the
processor. Therefore, it cannot exceed it.

Basically, Pro offers a superior microphone, more microphone
positions, more sophisticated computation and greater
tweakability/control compared with non-Pro implementations.
However, the processor's inherent constraints remain and
that means that Pro is a significant enhancement but not a
different animal.

"Audyssey Volume and EQ do a lot in resolution."

So, you are speaking of SUBJECTIVE resolution. That was not clear from your original post and, especially with regard to DV and DEQ, quite debatable.

Jdub39, I have had the same experience with the 8801/dual subs using XT32/Pro. It does integrate the bass well.

Tcatman wrote: "Kr4 seems to
minimize the advantages of the Pro treatment... (or at least
how Bo1972 writes about it)

He writes a
lot but don't take his word for my position. It is a fact
that Pro does not change or improve the resolution of the
version of MultiEQ built into a prepro or AVR. What it does
add is a superior measurement and calculation method that
optimizes what the original MultEQ can do. It will not make
MultEQ XT into MultEQ XT32.

How important Pro is depends on which version of MultEQ you
have (it is more important for XT than for XT32) and what
your acoustical issues are (a perfect room needs none of
this, of course).

So, I will say again that I am a fan of Audyssey, MultEQ
XT32 and of MultEQ Pro, use them in my personal system and
recommend them but I do not subscribe to Bo1972's wild
hyperbole for any of them.

Tcatman wrote: So... working through the Audyssey site... It turns out that only MultEQ XT32 will process the main LR channels along with the sub. Every other Audyssey product processes the surrounds and sub only.

You are mistaken. All implementations of Audyssey (other than 2EQ) will process the main LR channels and the sub.

Tcatman, only 2EQ fails to EQ the subwoofers. For all the others, every speaker is EQ-ed but the descriptions are misleading in that they refer to all the non-subwoofers as satellites. So, you are right that one might be misled by the wording.

Dbphd, yes, the SMS-1 does digitize the subwoofer signal.

1. The answer to your question about XT32/Pro is no. AFAIK,
the two sub outputs have the same signal and are not stereo.
This is the most common arrangement in prepros and has nothing
to do with Audyssey or AudysseyPro.

2. "I take it you never heard the 8801?" (Already
asked of you.) I was always luke warm about Marantz prepros
until now.