It's easy to dismiss Meridian's F80 as an ordinary tabletop radio, or worse, an alarm clock. That is, until you notice that it carries the iconic prancing horse – Ferrari's famous logo – on the front of its speakers and the highly lacquered surfaces are splashed in signature Ferrari colors. Perhaps more importantly, once you spot the much-vaunted Meridien name emblazoned below Ferrari's, you can then be sure that this diminutive elliptical shaped entertainment system packs a powerful sound. Its 3-amp audio engine delivers 80 watts to the two front speakers and integral rear subwoofer.

The system incorporates a DAB/FM/AM tuner, CD/DVD/VCD player, and a mini-DIN connector that can be plugged in to an iPod® dock. This represents a departure from Meridian's traditional focus – creating high-end separate hi-fi systems and components such as amplifiers and surround-sound decoders. However, in integrating all these components into a single system in the F80, Meridian has ensured that quality and performance have not been compromised.

The Meridian F80's high-integrity sound system is housed in a solid die-cast metal base. Both the left and right stereo loudspeakers are enclosed in separate compartments made of low-resonance and high-mass composites – this is where Ferrari's expertise in the field of materials technology comes into play. And based on Meridian's patented Digital Signal Processing (DSP) technology, the sound is clearer, richer and fuller – whether at high or low volume. Active equalization automatically balances bass and treble, and built-in location compensation controls adjust the audio output, so that the F80 always sounds its best in any room position.