The 508-24 was one of the best in its era. I'm not sure that $1500 would capture what the Meridian had to offer. The Hegel cd-only players are at the top of the game today, but expensive. Rega, Arcam, and Cambridge Audio, as well as Marantz and Yamaha are making very fine players these days.
- ...
- 14 posts total
Two CD only players that I would consider in your price range (new). Exposure 2010 http://shop.generubinaudio.com/Exposure-2010S2-CD-Player-132698575963.htm Musical Fidelity M3 https://www.musicdirect.com/disc-player/musical-fidelity-m3scd-cd-player-dac http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=MFM3SCD Rich |
However, the OP does not really need a complete CD player. A normal CD player essentially consists of two parts, the drive/laser assembly that produces a robust digital signal (for years Meridian just like many other high end manufacturers used bog standard Philips asemblies), and a DAC that converts that digital signal into an analogue signal. Thanks to robust error correction, the digital signal is a bit perfect copy of the original recorded file (see here for an explanation of digital error correction: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=119305&page=1) So whatever your player, and as long as you have not totally destroyed the disc, the digital file will be the same bit perfect file. Sonic differences (though quite small) only emerge afterwards, when the digital file is converted into an analogue stream. Since the OP already has a digital to analogue converter in his pre amp/processor all he needs is a player with a digital output (preferably optical in his case). Whatever player he uses, as long as he uses the digital output, there will be no sonic differences. So he might as well use that old Sony Playstation 3, or whatever he has or buys cheaply. The only two things to consider are the mechanical noise level of the drive (that proverbial Playstation is pretty noisy) and the convenience of the user interface. But make sure it has an optical output. |
I second the Oppo 205 recommendation. @willemj makes a great point in that you can still use the digital inputs on Meridian. So if you find the Oppo somewhat disappointing just use it as a transport. However you will gain all the flexibility that mentions. Even if you don’t need or want it’s file playing capabilities you may want to purchase some Blu Ray Concerts |
- 14 posts total