Meridian 808 or NOT Meridian 808

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.

Suggest you do a search here. There was a recent listening comparison, involving 5 audiophiles, that included the 808, EMM, APL, and DCS. The 808 did not come out on top. Of course, that's not to say that you would not prefer it. Just suggest you read the posts and gather more information before spending that much money.

Essential audio: I was reffering to the Meridian. This post was about the 808 and if it was a good player or not and I said to try the amr. Please read more carefully before you post