Meridian 808v3 In The House

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by JSCC

Welcome to the Meridian family. You will find the 808.3 will grow on you! Congratulations on your acquisition. Cheers!

Jerry
Thanks,
I should have believed your posts about the sound quality of the 808v3. My bad. I am fortunate that Chuck offered to bring the unit over when he came to listen the the Alexandria's and Momentum's.

[howiebrou]

Welcome to Meridian Jim!

I love my 808.3 and can think of no other cdp that I would want to swap it for. Now my only question is whether to do the 808.5 upgrade

howie

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by howiebrou

Welcome to Meridian Jim!

I love my 808.3 and can think of no other cdp that I would want to swap it for. Now my only question is whether to do the 808.5 upgrade

howie

I don't see how the v5 upgrade is going to improve this amazing piece. Since the upgrade is not available 'till January I have time to think about it.

I should have listened you Jerry and you before this.

[tweet]

Congratulations, Jim.

[howiebrou]

Originally Posted by Still-One

I don't see how the v5 upgrade is going to improve this amazing piece. Since the upgrade is not available 'till January I have time to think about it.

I should have listened you Jerry and you before this.

Well the upgrade completely replaces the switching power supply with a linear one. This might have an impact on the sound, who knows? The other bit, the ID41 is mainly for the Sooloos application but since this is what my 808.3 is used for mainly, it may be worth considering although 5k is a lot of money.

howie

[Crion]

Well the 818 is the same gen as the Anniversary. And you have the 818 vs 808.3 review over at "hifi advice".

Now the 808.5 is an upgrade beyond the anniversary, both input and output cards are completely replaced and jitter reduced by 40% below the anniversary series.

So the 808.3 -> 808.5 performance difference should be pretty apparent since it already surpasses the Anniversary edition (808.4).

[howiebrou]

Originally Posted by Crion

Well the 818 is the same gen as the Anniversary. And you have the 818 vs 808.3 review over at "hifi advice".

Now the 808.5 is an upgrade beyond the anniversary, both input and output cards are completely replaced and jitter reduced by 40% below the anniversary series.

So the 808.3 -> 808.5 performance difference should be pretty apparent since it already surpasses the Anniversary edition (808.4).

I seem to remember the jitter was vanishingly low on the 808.3 anyway. It would nice if one could audition them side by side but looks like it needs a leap of faith.

[Crion]

Check the comparison review out on "hifi advice" from someone that goes all in on listening to the differences between the 808.3 vs 818.

The linear powersupply has much lower distorsion than the previous switchmode PSU in 808.3/861v6 so that will probably make it sound a bit different, more smooth and fluid if the reviews/testimonials regarding 808.3 vs 818 are anything to go by.

I actually believe we will see a performance leap again with both the PSU change and significantly (40%) improved jitter levels in the electronics... Also if I'm not mistaken or read incorrectly from the Meridian brochure, didn't it imply that apodizing had got worked upon? New revision for the improved electronics?

[pers1]

Hi
I`ve allready ordered the .5 update for my 808.4 Anv. that arrive tomorrow
It was part of the deal when I bought the Anv. set.
According to Meridian it ships in January sometime

PerS

[gshepardbuster]

Happy to see you found a .3 for your stable Jim. I have had my 808.3 for about two months now and can't imagine using anything else. As far as the update goes I will be on the sidelines as I only use as a stand alone cdp. The new psu may or may not make a difference, I would consider switching it out without doing the full update. Like all things in audio what makes a big difference for one may not for another.