Meridian G08 or Linn Ikemi

JM,
Unfortunately the 602's parts are unavailable, fortunately (knock on wood) I've yet to have a problem with it.
As for musicality, it's hard to beat. They're beatifully made and finished as well. It's up to you to justify the expense, the D/A converter (606) alone is in my opinion worth a good 600$.

Jeff,

I would really recommend getting a newer player. Because if that one breaks (Transport or a laser) you might not be able to repair it because of lack of parts availablity. Then your $$$ went down the drain..

Chris

Homer,
I've recently been given the chance to buy a 602/606, that has been tweaked by a dealer/repairer to use as their reference player, for $1,200 - this player being more than 10 years old, I'm having difficulty in justifying whether i should buy this combo or spend the $1,200 on something more current. Can you give me some advice? I'll be running B&W 802 (matrix, not nautilus), Audio Research LS-15 and VT-100 and various good cables. thanks for your help. Jeff

Umm.... in case anyone cares, the above should read Meridian 201 Pre-Amp.....

I've had a Meridian 602 Transport since 1993, coupled with a Meridian 203 DAC until this summer when I sold it and bought a Meridian 606 DAC.
I have had the opportunity to listen to a ton of other gear (from cheap-ass Teac to high end Mark Levinson and the like having worked in an audio store). I absolutely love the Meridian equipment. I thought that the 203 DAC sounded great until I got the 606.... AMAZING! Much more detailed and refined, leaps and bounds!

This is coupled to;
Meridian 203 pre-amp (1991!!)
Meridian 105 monoblocks (1979!!! for mid and tweeters)
PS Audio 250 monoblocks (bass)
Marchand XM9 crossover
Mirage M3si speakers (look great sound amazing)
Cardas interconnects
.......monster cable M1 speaker cables.....

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for their input and to let you know that I have just purchased an Ikemi.
Thanks Again

My g08 definitely went through a break-in period. It was a little edgy at first and gradually became smoother. I've had it about 10 months. I would guess it took about 500 hours to stabilize. It has nice synergy with my Rowland electronics and Soliloquy 6.5 speakers. Tonality is good and resolution is very high. Very faint background instruments are audible that you can't hear on some players. The soundstage is also very deep. No comment on the Ikemi. I've never heard one.

I had a 508-24 and then an Ikemi. Both excellent players. The Linn was a little less detailed, a little more relaxed presentation, but unless you were listening side by side, you couldn't fault either one.

Both remotes sucked -- too many buttons for too many components you don't own.

I haven't heard the new Meridian stuff, so take my experience as you will.

Rich

The Meridian doesn't sound digital as a stand alone player. the meridian speakers are exacting and definitely but definitely not warm. The meridian player is extremely neutral, so if you system is bright or overly dark this will not compensate for that. but if you tonal balance is neutral to warm it is an amazing piece of equipment.

You really need to hear both of these in your system if possible the linn is a nice player also, so I don't think you could go wrong with either player.

I would go Meridian personally because of my experiences with their player and my system dynamics.

From a past post:

"The key issue with the Ikemi is vibration management: its chassis is woefully underdesigned. I cannot emphasise this enough and cite Ben's response as supporting evidence (the deteriation of playback quality with "heavier music").

However, if you are willing to manage vibration properly, you'll have arguably the finest Redbook playback available at that price point. I have compared the Ikemi to its peer group and, well, I still have the Ikemi. I've even had the opportunity to compare it to the CD12 and must say it holds its own at a fraction of the price (after a certain point, you slam hard against the limitations of the Redbook format).

One more note: if you decide to purchase an Ikemi from other than from a Linn authorized dealer, know the warantee does *not* transfer."

Linn Ikemi hands down, Meridian can not or actually refuses toi design a CD player, Speakers, Pre amp etc that does not have a Digital Sound. They claim to have a analog sound and that they invented it, but I lestened to a set of speakers and CD player just yesterday that my dealer was demoing for a Meridian rep and every one that came into the store said "sounds to thin in the bass","sounds to digital", "to crisp in the mids and highs", "very slow on accessing tracks". The current dealer for Meridian in the area is losing the franchise and the Meridian folks are approaching the local Linn dealer and the irony is that the current dealer is selling the Escoteric DV-50 as fast as they come in. That tells me that the Meridian which used to be their focus when you entered their store is now a dust collector. Buy the Linn.