I have Vodka HDMI and Toslink cables. For comparison sake, I also have a Nordost Valhalla running out of a transport into the same dac that the Vodkas are sending a signal to.
Roku w/Spotify--->Vodka HDMI-->TV--Vodka Optical-->DAC
The video is superb. The audio is fantastic.
Granted, my source is not an MBL CD player...I find the Vodka nearly as good as the Valhalla in this application, with slightly less "air."
I bought an audio/video splitter (something like your Meridian, but for $50 bucks), and didn't find it to sound any better/worse than re-routing the audio through the TVs optical out-so I pulled it out of the setup.
I've changed a lot of stuff around lately, have no desire to change the Vodka.