NEWS: Meridian adds a touch of Dunhill luxury to its AD88 home entertainment system
British hi-fi specialist Meridian has made something of a habit of late of developing products in conjunction with other luxury brands. Remember the Ferrari F80 system?
Now it's teamed up with that quintessentially British brand Alfred Dunhill to produce the AD88 home entertainment system.
Hand built in the UK, the Alfred Dunhill AD88 is finished in polished wood and hand lacquer. But beneath that very traditional exterior lies a high-tech heart.
Like the F80 system before it, the AD88 is a CD/DVD player with built-in DAB/FM/AM radio, and just to prove it's a product for the 21st century, there's an iPod docking station too.
The system is powered by three amplifiers, which deliver 80w to the two front speakers and the rear subwoofer. The result, claims Meridian, is "a wonderfully detailed rich output with an impressively wide acoustic soundstage".
The electronics are housed in a solid, die-cast metal baseplate and the speakers are enclosed in a densely-layered wooden cabinet.
The AD88 will be available from July for £1999, including iPod dock.
Technorati Tags: Alfred Dunhill, AM, CD, DAB, DVD, FM, iPod dock, Meridian AD88
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Perhaps one with Jaeger LeCoutre with a funky Swiss alarm clock?
It looks a bit "boring" after the F80.
Amen to that bigrich. When do we get the F80 mk II with an iPod doc built in. Like the wooden finish though.
Wondered when we'd start to see tie-ups like this - the new consortium of investors behind Meridian include the Richemont group -
www.richemont.com/our_businesses.html
- whose brands include Dunhill, Cartier and many more.
So a Cartier/Meridian iPod dock? Encrusted with diamonds perhaps. Now that I have to see!
Van Cleef & Arpels diamonds, perhaps! The cross-luxury-branding possibilities are endless...
I don't think there's much likelihood of us creating a diamond encrusted dock, somehow! Dunhill is a terrific brand steeped in history and synonymous with craftsmanship, and we're really proud to have been asked to create this system for them. However, we've also turned down some partnership opportunities since the Richemont investment because we didn't feel that they would be right for us. Projects like the Dunhill AD88 are wonderful complements to our core business that really help improve our brand's visibility amongst a wider audience. Oh, and the product sounds absolutely astonishing too. ;-)
Stuart Russell, Meridian Marketing.
just had a look at their website to see if there was any more info, they seem to be selling it now, obviously not July yet! Now if only I could justify the £2k for it, not sure the fiancé would be too pleased if I used the wedding fund, although could add it to the list I guess....!
Fair enough, Stuart, but it is still a £2k lump of dull. It is possible to get away with big buck price tags if you create a design icon associated with an iconic name - the F80 being a case in point.
This looks like a black brick (albeit with a nice finish) with a name associated with the cigarette industry.
Why not go the whole hog and call it the 'Bernard Matthews'?.
I had an F80 and it was fantastic, this one just doesn't get the juices running at all.
Perhaps a tie up with Porsche Design or Lamborghini might be intersting though. Wow, how about Pagani, that would look fantastic.
Have to say, if the the F80 is nything to go by thghou, it will sound a million dollars for the money.