Meridian 808.3

Why, are you seriously considering a $20K CD player? If you are, I'm sure there are several dealers who will be happy to give you all the particulars.

I own the 808.2. It and the remote have so many quirks. I have no idea if all these quirks have been addressed.
Quirks: The remote doesn't work as well as it first did. I now have to push 3/5/6 different button to get the blue light to respond and make changes. (It AIN'T the batteries)
Then the unit will loose its lock on any digital input and has to be re-booted for some reason. I hate to think about sending this back to France for repairs. Just thought one should be aware of these gremlins within the 808.2.

My 808.3 is much better then previous model which I also owned.Very fast,vary well balanced.

Hire a band

Well, they will probably be used for around $10K or less soon.
(They are about $12-13K now.)
An Accuphase 75V was going used for $8K 10 years ago,
and that was a so-so player. (I sold mine.) So if the Meridian is really as good as TAS claims (which I doubt considering the lack of attention around here), it would be worth it.
The EMM SE separates (to my ears IMHO) I would say are worth every penny at the $9K they sell for used.

Re: (Vermeal: "Hire a band")

Oh-oh, looks like my wife found me out here on Audiogon.
Listen Honey, if this is you, I promise not to use all of
Mr. Whiskers' fresh litter for my speaker stands again.
love and kisses :-)

Emms with all the problems are not worth of trouble,we were comparing them side by side and Emms needed it Oyaide silver cable to shine with Harmonix XLR cable it was dead,no 3D soundstage as on Meridian and it was like you covered speakers with some rag,plain awfull.The owner was screaming on local forum how awfull Meridian was,very funny experience.

I am with the wife and she knows you upgraded that preamp. You said it was sent in for repair. She has been writing the model numbers down, And she/we have been taking money out of the 401K for years

LOL! Thanks.

I found this interesting review about the 808.3, where it sounds very favorable, but the text sounds like it is ruthlessly revealing, and says that it appeals to the intellect rather than emotions, which sounds kind of negative to me.

techradar.com/reviews/audio-visual/hi-fi-and-audio/cd-players-and-recorders/meridian-808-3-signature-reference-902692/review?src=rss&attr=reviewall&artc_pg=2

It seems that the 808.3 and the EMM XDS1 are the most well-known names in the ultra-high-end player field.
It also seems that there is little experience with them here or asylum.