I have not heard the Meridian, but I bought an Arcam 23t about 2 months ago. I am quite happy with it. It is very detailed, yet non-fatigueing. It is discounted somewhat at dealers ( I paid around $1900 for mine), and used ones on Audiogon go for around $1350. There may be better CD players out there, but you can't beat the Arcam for the price.
