Ayre CX-7 vs. Meridian G08 ?

Peter and Isleander - thanks for your input. As further info, I am currently running an all tube conrad-johnson system (premier 16LS Series 2, premier 12's, into a pair of Maggie 3.5R's). I'm going to listen to both of these units withnin the next two to three weeks - I'll let you know my thoughts.

I owned the Merdian 508.24 and tommorrow I hope to bring home for a trial a Ayre CX7.
I will post my thoughts.

I've tried both in my system and ended up buying the G08. Tonally, the two players are more similar than different. They both sound very natural with a slight bias toward warmth, but the CX-7 is a little warmer than the G08. The main reason I bought the G08 was it has a deeper soundstage and higher resolution than the CX-7. You can hear some low-level things clearly with the G08 that are lost below the noise floor on the CX-7. The G08 is somewhat sensitive to ICs. I've found Kimber KS-1130 to work well in my system (Rowland/Soliloquy 6.5).

Good hunting, CJ. BTW, as Nighthawk points out, Meridian is sensitive to IC/PC/isolation tweaks. Mine is on a Symposium Ultra and Rollerblocks, power running through a Shunyata KCv2, all of which further accentuate its soundstage depth/width. Also, keep in mind the 588/G08 runs $4K retail as opposed to $3K for the CX-7...sometimes you do get what you pay for. FWIW, any change I make in my system will have to produce substantial improvement for me to give up the 588.

Gentleman, I have lsitened to both players and ended up ordering the G08 - I like the deep soundstage and bass response - plus, it mates well with my cj electronics. Thanks again for your thoughts.