Ayre CX7e vs. Meridain G08

Bigtee: I have no personal experience with the Meridians you mention, but presumably the drawer mechanism felt cheaper because it was cheaper -- beginning I believe with the 588 and continuing in the G08, as far as I know Meridian switched to using OEM computer DVD-ROM drives instead of audio CD transports. Combined with their digital buffer/reclocking circuit design, these machines are said to scan disk data multiple times at faster than real-time speeds for lower average error rates and lowered sensitivity to isolation and build-quality concerns regarding the drive mechanism itself. Whether this way of doing things actually sounds better than the old way (real-time single-pass data reading, transport isolation and build quality critical factors) I don't know, but Meridian must think so.

Bigtee: When you say "I have noticed higher jitter levels with this technology", are you referring to figures published in reviews, or manufacturer specs? (Forgive me for assuming you're not set up to determine this for yourself.) Or are you making an inference based on sound? In any case, I can't really see how taking the Meridian approach would necessarily result in worse timing errors delivering the data to the DACs (I'll bet Meridian claims the opposite). Just curious -- and also to know what other players you allude to that you feel could be grouped with the newer Meridians. (I don't know if any others employ a system for rereading and reclocking the data similar to what Meridian does?)

Islandear: I've wondered, if I were to try one of these machines (haven't done so yet mostly because they lack digital inputs), whether the 08 differed significantly from the 588 other than cosmetically, so thanks for the info.

Mr. Hansen: I recall JA once writing something to the effect of cautioning that his jitter test results should only be compared to his own past numbers -- that they can't be cross-compared with numbers from other sources, and that it's where they fall within the spectrum of his past results that matters, rather than the absolute numbers themselves. Given that proviso, and the fact that he frequently characterizes how his figures for a unit under test compare to his historical upper echelon, one would think he couldn't fail to notice and take corrective action if needed (or note the poorer performance of recent players) should his results show a clear trend of worsening over time. Since he hasn't written anything like that, my assumption would be that if you contacted him about this question he'd probably say that, notwithstanding any one-time unspecified changes to his test set-up or method such as you noted, there is no such overall trend. Don't know if that would be correct or not, but personally I'm not about to go through my back issues of Stereophile and track his figures to try and find out...

Mr. Hansen: Thanks for your expanded comments and the link, I did not recall that JA admitted to some mystification about his results. I certainly agree that these jitter tests seem to be exquisitely sensitive and should probably be taken at something less than strictly face value. But if you reread my post, I think you'll see that nothing I said was in disbelief of your statements.