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upgrade rec from meridian 508.24

happy 2022 everyone - looking for a rec to get a cd player for music no other formats red book only to replace my meridian 508.24 which finally died. i am completely satified with that sound through my system including cj premier 16mk2 premier 140 kef 104/2s lol (refurbished a few times) cardas golden all around along with vpi scoutmaster Jw11 arm kimber cable w shelter 90x via cj premier 15. old but decent sounding stuff to my ears. love vinyl of course but tryng to reboot that cd magic experienced with my 508.24. considering used moon 360d possibly meridian 596 or similiar. value soundstage, pacing, piano, strings, voice and violins to get the magical 3d effect. Any suggestions looking used with a max budget of $1500. kind regards. lew

lewdis
jc4659
527 posts
 

@lewdis I wanted to follow up on the meridian repair. I spoke with Mark at The Repair Shop and he thinks the laser needs to be replaced and I agree. The player has been showing "No Disc" with increasing frequency.  Estimated cost is $500 plus shipping which I'm not sure I want to do at this point.  When the player is working it sounds incredible.  I am currently using it as a transport in the following configuration: Optical output via a Lifatec glass cable to Wyred4Sound Remedy reclocker, then digital coax output to my new Musetec DA-005 DAC.  It is so smooth, musical, black background, incredibly deep and wide soundstage that I hate risk losing what I have going.  I was contemplating getting the AudioLab 6000CDT but will wait until my Meridian totally craps out and then decide.  The laser replacement is not the same as the original I was told.  What did you end up doing?

vinylvalet
866 posts
 

I also like the Rega CD players and the functionality of the DAC in the Saturn-R. The current lower price CD player in the Rega line is the Apollo.

I had the Meridian 508.24 decades ago and recall enjoying it very much.

dinosore
101 posts
 

I have a 508.20 with the factory upgrade to 24-bit. I rarely used it for the past few years as I have been streaming and using a Meridian Director DAC (which sounds nearly identical to the 508, perhaps a tad better). This past Christmas, my wife was using it to play holiday CDs and I noticed it skipping a few times. I decided it was time to finally replace it, so I bought a Musical Fidelity M2SCD for $1,000. I didn’t want to spend a lot on a CDP because of how little I would use it, but I was pleasantly surprised at its sound. I plan to eventually buy a new DAC and will likely just use the new CDP as a transport.

I tried contacting The Repair Shop by email and via their repair form, but never received a reply. In the meantime, I put the 508 in my second system to see if I can replicate the skipping, and I cannot. It now seems to be playing okay. Go figure. Maybe it just needed to wake up after sitting idle for so long.

I need to decide whether to keep it or sell it.

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