Meridian 508.24 or a Gamut CD1R (or a CD1S, but not the CD1) both are excellent front ends, don't bother complicating you system with separates at this price point you will just be compromising your system.
The Meridian is very detailed with great bass response, the only thing that was annoying to me is that it is very slow on all operations (opening, closing, playing, next track).
The Gamut is just plain musical with tons of detail without any edge.... really truely amazing. I'm going to be upgrading from my Gamut to a $15k worth of front end because there is no middle step. The Gamut remote layout sucks (it's an old California Audio remote (my old DX1 had the same remote) but then again I use a Pronto so it's not that important and it is really fast and plays burns also.
The Meridian is very detailed with great bass response, the only thing that was annoying to me is that it is very slow on all operations (opening, closing, playing, next track).
The Gamut is just plain musical with tons of detail without any edge.... really truely amazing. I'm going to be upgrading from my Gamut to a $15k worth of front end because there is no middle step. The Gamut remote layout sucks (it's an old California Audio remote (my old DX1 had the same remote) but then again I use a Pronto so it's not that important and it is really fast and plays burns also.