The Meridian G91 will not support SACD- be careful with G-series units as the older power supplies can fail. Meridian moved to a linear power supply that was available as an upgrade and much more reliable.
If you want to stick with Meridian, the Meridian 818 is an excellent pre-amp, and network audio endpoint, you could also go that way and pair it with a stand-alone universal player (albeit a 2-box solution). I have the 818, it is nothing short of spectacular.
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Hello jdbsi5, tx for the response. Indeed I wud be keen to consider Meridian but the 818v3 seem to list well above my budget of USD$5k? :-) I think it's in the region of USD$16k?
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I can’t think of any SACD player with a volume control. All the one boxers that I am aware of feature CD only |
@mahler123, Tx for that. In that case, how' bout the combination of Oppo UDP205 as transport + perhaps a lesser model of Meridian 818v3? Any other DAC, Digital Streamer + PreAmp combo I should think about at say USD$4k budget? |
@alecela, Yes, this is exactly what I was thinking. You could go with used 818v1 (one was for sale several months ago asking $2200) and get the Oppo and come well under budget.
I saw an 818v3 lowest advertised price used was asking in the ballpark of $4750, so indeed V3 will be over budget. Others are asking a lot more, but obviously not sure they are selling. 818V2 would also be good and pricing falls somewhere in-between.
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Quick question for owners of 818:
Can I use the analog output and the balanced output at the SAME time? I'm asking as I intend to connect the balanced output to my power amp and the analog output to my sub.
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I use the Oppo 205 as a transport into a Bryston DAC3. The Oppo can be programmed to output the DSD from SACD over HDMI and the Bryston has 4 HDMI inputs. I am very happy with the results and the Bryston can be had within your budget, but it doesn’t do MQA, if that is important to you |
I also used my Oppo as a transport with a Mytek Manhatten, since traded away. The Manhattan doesn’t do HDMI but does have both digital and analog volume control, and I believe the other Myteks do as well. I used the Mytek as a preamp when my regular preamp was in the shop, but I was much happier when the latter returned to the system. The Mytek does MQA and can have optional phono preamp modules added.
Both the Mytek Brooklyn and the Bryston have “bridge” features that add streaming capability |
Hello mahler123, do you mean Bryston BDA-3? If so, based on what I've read so far on the net, it's a strict DAC and doesn't do pre-amp function? If it's indeed Bryston DAC3, I can't seem to find any info from the net. |
Try the Bryston BDA-3.14 . It is supposed to be some sort of merger of the DAC-3 and the BDP3. The Audio Advisor site also claims that it has “Preamp Functionality “. Looking at the supplied pictures, I don’t see where they are hiding the volume switch. I also own the BDP3, btw |
The BDA-3.14 has volume control. This control is via the supplied remote or an app (e.g. Bryston's, Roon). And, as has already been said, it will support an SACD feed on its HDMI ports. I'm a dealer and plan to set up a 3.14 for demonstration, by appointment, next week. They are 10% off through the end of April, as well. All Bryston is 10 off. |
Actually just sat down and took a closer look at Meridian 818v3. Reading the factory manual, I can't seem to find any reference of it doing a network streaming at say Tidal/Spotify and/or even AirPlay... Did I miss something obvious? |
You can connect it via USB to your computer for any of those. Another popular configuration is using it as an audio endpoint for Sooloos (with a core and store) or Roon. I am using mine with a Meridian Media Core 600 and Tidal. |
Tx jdbsi. One of my major objectives of the current upgrade endeavour is to lower the number of components, although I have not been very successful at that. Since my last post, I've already got the PassLab X1 pre-amp and the Oppo 205 BOA UE premium edition. So now I just need a streamer + DAC combo to replace the Meridian CD player and Linn streamer! The hunt goes on! |
alecela,
Your Oppo 205 will play any disc, including SACD, right? So what you need now is a streamer with which you can send the digital out to your Oppo, right? How much do you want to spend? |
