Meridian 808.2 CD Player......

the Meridian was amongst the player I auditioned extensively while looking for a new CDP.All I can say is that it is amongst the best I have heard;What do I like about it?

1.Very uncolored sound;you get a very coherent player top to bottom,maybe tilted ever so slightly on the 'warmer'sound..

2.Transparent with lots of low level details with soudstage to die for.

What I strongly do not like about the Meridian

1.The transport.It reminds me of my car CD player;though how they managed to get such wonderful sound from such 'flimsy' transport is beyond my comprehension.

2.Doesn't play SACD.

In the end I ended up with the dcs Puccini.It was quite an easy choice in the end,because to my Ears the Puccini was distinctively superior sonically with every regards[I am talking about redbook Cd playback,not Meridian CD vsPuccini SACD}.

Fafafion is right. Forget what John Atkinson said about dcs and meridian. It is the red book performance what makes puccini so special.(I prefer redbook over Sacd) Plus you always get it upgraded by dCS. But not the Meridian!

"Forget what John Atkinson said about dcs and meridian. It is the red book performance what makes puccini so special"

Meridian 802.2 is not SACD player. John Atkinson was talking about Meridian's redbook performance.

The fact that the Puccini plays SACDs (whereas the Meridian does not)is, in my opinion, a very strong point in the Puccini's favor. But there is something in dCs's marketing that I dislike. The Puccini is advertised as a marvelous one-box player. But then we are told that for several thousand dollars more we can buy a master clock for the Puccini that will improve its sound. This not only brings the total price close to $25,000, but the marketing strategy bothers me. I would prefer a one-box player to be a one-box player. A preamp option at an additional cost would not cast a shadow on buying a player. But having to purchase (at a significant sum) a clock option in order to get a better sound does, in my opinion, cast a shadow on the purchase of a Puccini.

......thank you for your posts and positions. I owned dcs gear - Delius, Purcell and Verdi prior to my current set up of Esoteric P-05 and D-05. I enjoyed the dcs gear - however, the transport was nightmare and took a bath when I had to trade it in.....dcs is world class great gear, but getting service here in the US scares me unless that has changed in the past few years. We have all found out that digital gear breaks and needs service....which is why I went to Esoteric - a financially strong company, serviced here in the US and good customer support. Sorry to say that I have made audio purchases on that merit...if you are going to pay these kinds of dollars - I want a company that is going to be around and service my gear. Which brings me to the Meridian ....I am looking at the Meridian 808.2....as I want to scale down my current set-up....for space and ease of use as I just want to enjoy music again...without 4 huge power cords, and HRS platforms and digital interconnects - but I DO NOT want to scale down the sound - I want to improve on that. Now - the fact that the Meridian is not upgradeable is a concern....however, this is a strong company who does know their stuff in digital - it can be serviced here in the US and something about the laser assemebly that I will be able to get service and PARTS for years to come is a postive....I question how the market would be if I do decide to re-sale it in 3-5 years. Big question mark.... The dcs gear is upgradable and which is a positive, but I do not know where it gets serviced and don't know if the laser assembly or parts will be available. dcs gear seems to move well here on Audiogon. The Esoteric stuff I enjoy very much and has all the positives's that I have mentioned above.....but in my stystem - it can sound a little bright / and some times cold which has brought me here. I agree that I don't want to buy a clock to make the player better - then I will keep what I got....also, the Meridian is not upgradable but has a warmer sound than the Esoteric and maybe a harder re-sale in the futture....but is a fantastic one box player - with an ease of use for years to come - still looking at options