Meridian 808 reference cd player
billyg -- Wed, 08/16/2006 - 09:05
I loved your review on the 808 and are really contemplating buying one of these but a few key words in your review and on a post about the cary 306 sacd player concerned me. It seems from the post on the carry that it is real close to the Meridian in quality so is the meridian overpriced? Is the Meridain too polite and lacking in bass. Currently I have Mcintosh Mc501 monos with mcintosh c2200 preamp with Von Schweikert Vr4sr speakers and my only source is a cd player which is currently the mcintosh mcd-201. Will I be blown away at the sound of the Meridian? You mentioned in the review that the only negative thing about the player is that a really bad recording will sound like a bad recording and I was wondering if that was true with any great piece of audio equipment or if say the esoteric xo1 limited would do the same thing with a bad recording. One can infer from the review that this player was the best thing out there currently but I am a little reluctant to pull the trigger. Please advise and keep up the great work!!
I don't think the Merdian is overpriced, and I wouldn't read too much into my comments about the bass. Phrases like that in reviews tend to be seen as a red flag when in fact they are simply observations detailing the product's sound. The Cary has more bass weight and heft than the Meridian, but that sound may not suit all systems or listeners.
Robert Harley
Editor-in-Chief
The Absolute Sound
The Perfect Vision
hi mr harley..please be so kind and try to inform me about my decision of changing my 808 meridian cd player with the arc 808,i did all ready but sometimes my heart and soul remains at least till now,fixed in meridianans ver y musical and rock music afordable,the arc seems not to match perfectly in my system,thje sound is very analitica, and sometimes harsh and cold could it be because of the other components? pass 350 amp with x1 pre confidence c4 dynaudio spealers with audioquest vulcano speakers cables,and sky interconects,also audio power industries filter and enhancer..i would apreciate very much your opinion,thanks again......george..
Hello Robert,
Thanks for the reply. IS the bass weight (cary 306) and heft that noticeable and is the Meridian lacking in bass. A friend of mine had the cary and sold it to buy the Meridian becasue he felt the Meridian had more bass slam but the sound and detail Meridian being better) was night and day. I also read in the review that the Meridian's bass hit like a recking ball. Am I worrying too much. Anymore insight would be helpful since I can't listen to either of them
Billyg:
I have no reservations about the Meridian's bass. It is quite dynamic, extended, detailed, and weighty.
Robert Harley
Hi,
I have two set of questions:
1) I see that the 808 has a volume variable output. Since I am using only CD, I don't really need a preamplifier. How is the quality of the variable output?
Can I feed directly an ARC ref 210 (driving a pair of Magico Mini) with the 808 and therefore saving the 10k of the ARC Ref3, without losing in term of sound quality?
2) How does a player like the 808 compare against some transport / wandler reference designs of 10 years ago. Specifically I am owning a combo Wadia 20/ Wadia 25, and using the variable output of the Wadia 25 to drive directly the amplifier. Since it is difficult to find in Taiwan a place to listen for the 808, would love to know first your opinion on how much I could potentially gain by replacing the Wadia by the 808.
thanks for your help
I have had the new meridian player for a few months now and I love it. I have not used it dorectly into my ref 210's since I did not get the version with the pre- section. I have used it with the REF 3 and to date it is the best single box player I have used. I prefer it to the EMM, REF CD-7 and CD-5. I am getting a new Ref CD-8 shortly and that is supposed to be much better than the CD-7 so only time will tell. I have used the Meridian with Magico V.3, ML CLX and Focal Grands. It is a really great sounding piece and I would tell you to get to listen to one if you can and I would probably guess it would sound great directly into your amps as well although I love the REF 3.
I have tried running the dCS stack into the REF 210's with and without the preamp and have found that I prefer it without the preamp in the middle and the extra set of cables and connectors . Hope that helps you.
This unit will KILL something 10 years old....1st round knockout!
The new generation of digital gear Meridian, all the dCS stacks, and I hope the REF CD-8 are clearly superior to older stuff out there.
It's been a year since the last post and I have read Meridian has released the 808.2 now. However, I heard the current 808 is not upgradeable to the new version. This seems very disappointing for their flagship player.
Does anyone have any insight into why they took this direction?
Hi jfk
I tested a 808i at home directly to the power amp and with the preamp in between. I prefered the sound with my preamp (at the time an old MF MVX!!!). Feeding the power amp directly gave me a veiled, less transparent and boring sound. At that time I didn´t notice a great improvement over the G08, and so I bought a G08. Now with my new Mcintosh C100 and MC402 pre and power it might be diferent. I'm waiting for the new 808.2 due to come out the first quarter 2008.
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