Meridian G08 a step up from 508.24 ?

I've now had an opportunity to compare my 508.24 with a G08 at a local Meridian retailer. I was expecting the worst, but to my surprise the 508.24 pretty much held its own. The G08 was smoother, had slightly more detail, maybe a touch more depth and focus, but the 508.24 beat it in terms of dynamics and transparency (though not by much). I think the differences come down to upsampling - which on these results has pluses and minuses. The salesman's final words were that he would struggle to pick between the two on a blind test ( and he was trying to sell me the G08). On the basis of what I heard, I'll stick with the 508.24.

Mind you I had a chance to compare the 508.24 with the new Cary 306 Pro as well. Unfortunately, the Meridian was left behind in that comparison, on every front, but mainly in terms of the detail - the Cary was able to extract an extraordinary amount of detail that just wasn't apparent with the 508.24. Though when you consider that the Cary is about $7000 whereas you can pick up a 508.24 for about $1200, it still represents great value.

I almost decided to sell my ProAc Ref 8 Signature. But after I got the G08 and connected it to my system replacing the Wadia 830, I changed my mind and still kept my ProAc since then. My ProAc sounds much greater than before. You will not regret with the G08.

Schwiinindia
It looks like you have the new 808.2 Meridian CDP. Did you have the opportunity to compare the precedessor 808?

Get the Meridian 808.s Ref CD Player.
You will not regret it !!

Cary Audio CD 306 SACD [Serial # 08306PV6044]
Meridian 808i.2 Signature Referance CD Player [Serial # 808.200379]

Yeah you are right about the recordings. The 508.24 is very revealing of poor recordings and poorly stamped discs. I have 4 Eva Cassidy Cds and 3 of them continously skips. At first I thought there was something wrong with the player and had it checked out but there was nothing wrong. I had the laser replaced by Meridian and yet it still skips on these Cds. Other Cds no problems

I have a similar predicament. I'm currently running a 508.24 with VT100 MkIII and LS16 MkII and wondering about the G08. I've heard the G08 in another system (solid state), and liked it very much. Based on that audition, I suspect that the G08 would definitely be a step up in terms of soundstage and presence - I remember it being very involving and having a very airy, open sound, much more so than the G06 which I compared it with. I guess that the 508.24 is somewhere between the G06 and G08 in quality.

One thing I am finding with my current system is that I'm only getting the best out of it with well-produced recordings, of which there are fewer than you might think -in which case that may be the limiting factor, even with the G08.