Meridian 808 or NOT Meridian 808

Two years ago I listened to Meridian's top of the line CD player at a my local Meridian dealer. I A-B'd it with the G08. I preferred the G08. If you have the money get what your heart desires. IMHO it is unwise to spend big money on digital front ends today (CDP's or DAC's) -- the technology is changing too fast -- I consider the 808 big money, but this is all relative of course.

All that said, if it is your heart's desire to own such a piece, you must take it for a test drive in YOUR system. Do not buy a piece of that calber without a trial in your system.

check out the new amr cd77. It retails for less than 9k and it has been compared to zanden seperates and the emm labs seperates. See the review in 6moons. To answer your question though, yes it's a great player. If you could find 1 used for under 8k than it's worth it but not for the full retail price

I agree with Pardales, once you're looking at spending that kind of money you have to hear the cdp in your system before taking the plunge. However, my experience with the 808 was the opposite, it was vastly superior to the G08. That is, (looking at my notes), the soundstage was only slightly larger but there was much greater detail and LF and HF extremes were reproduced with greater ease. While the G08 is an excellent platform, the 808 is one of the best redbook players available. But, it costs three times as much as the G08, so the bang for the buck award would have to go to the G08.

And there are several other players out there now which rival the 808's performance. Many for a few thousand less. Take your time, and insist on in-system auditions.

I'm still living the old analog world. So if you know of any CD player significantly sounds better than Meridian 808, please all by means let me know. Thanks.

Optarchie, no one in the US has yet received the AMR players, which are due to ship any day now. The 808 is $13k, the AMR is $8500, so why quibble over a few hundred when you're saving thousands, not to mention the performance. Don't expect the AMR to turn up on the used market any time soon.