Meridian Shoot Out!

[JSCC]

An extract from JS Audio, USA, when they perform a shootout between the following DAC's. Seems like Meridian is STILL the one to beat!

"When our new Meitner Audio MA-1 DAC arrived, we couldn't help but pit it against several others we have on display. Shootout!

THE SYSTEM:

Meridian Sooloos Control 15, Wilson Audio Sashas, Dan D'Agostino Master Audio Systems Momentum Monoblocks, Harmonic Resolution Systems MXR Reference Audio Stand, Boulder 1010 Preamplifier, and Nordost Silver Shadow Digital Cable, and Nordost's $3,000 Valhalla Power Cables (Hey, the price is obscene but that's the business we are in!).

CONTESTANTS:

Meitner Audio MA-1, Weiss DAC202, Meridian 808.3 Reference CD Player, Meridian Media Source 600

MUSIC:

Mino Cinelu's Soon I Will Be Home (Redbook CD in lossless FLAC), Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's The Snow Maiden - Dance of the Tumblers (straight from HD Track's High Resolution Demo), Disk 1/Part 3 from Keith Jarrett's Paris/London: Testament (24/96 from HDTracks), and Adele's Rolling in the Deep (Redbook CD in lossless FLAC).


The new $6,995 Meitner MA-1 accepts six digital ins- 1xUSB, 1xAES/EBU, 2xToslink, and 2xCoax. No visual display in this very clean presentation-cool blue LEDS indicate the digital signal's sample rate. Percussion in both Cinelu and Rimsky-Korsakov rolls over you-and then goes completely silent. Visceral at will, backs off naturally. Speaking of silence, Jarrett's piece is just that inbetween notes-silent. Such an excellent recording. Attack and decay on piano keys brings the piece to life in front of us. Simply a superb DAC with a very healthy collection of inputs for all of your needs. To quote Joe, "The Meitner is seamless, especially with the Nordost Silver Shadow cable".

With a recent price drop to $6966, Weiss Engineering's DAC202 has been a top performer for us in the store for some months now.


We've written before on its excellent qualities, including borderline holographic soundstaging. Four inputs include Firewire, USB, AES/EBU and S/PIDF Coax. The separation of instruments on a great recording is really quite remarkable, even in complicated orchestral pieces such as Dance of the Tumblers. Adele snaps right to the middle of the stage. Aside from the Firewire input, further differentiation includes the headphone out-a nice little addition. A preamp stage and remote allows you to control the volume directly. Regularly hailed as one of the best DACs on the market, including by Computer Audiophile.

Meridian Audio's Media Source 600 and 808.3 Reference CD Player approach the connections quite differently. Rather than pushing bits over digital coax, the pieces connect to the Sooloos over Meridian's network interface, running standard shielded Cat 6 cable into their proprietary ID40 network cards. As the Sooloos has now been fully integrated into the Meridian fold, the proprietary connection eliminates several jitter and clocking concerns that present obstacles over other interfaces. The MS600 DAC only accepts digital information over this input-no other options, but boasts a phenomenal $3,500 price point. The limitation provides flexibility in other ways-multiple MS600s can sit on your network throughout your home, streaming music anywhere from your Sooloos. Sonically, we knew how well it would perform-it boasts many of the same electronics in the 808.3. Piano and Adele's soulful vocals are convincing as all get-out. Especially the piano.

Meridian's $19,995 808.3 just may be the best out of the bunch-but what a difficult call to make. Not just one of the finest CD players and preamps on the planet, the 808.3's engineering and build quality put it over the top. While many of the electronics between the 808.3 and MS600 are shared, the 808.3 outperforms the MS600 by a fair margin with improved chassis and power supply. Even with the CD transport, the noise floor is just miniscule. Sonically the 808.3 improves on the MS600 in nearly every way. Keith Jarrett roars to life-what tenacity he attacks the keys with. "Soon I Will Be Home" sweeps deftly across the room.

..But Which DAC For My System?

What a phenomenal problem to have. Each piece has engaging tonality, low jitter, and a natural staging. At $3,500 Meridian's MS600 is almost certainly the best value DAC on the market-as long as Sooloos is your only source you just can't go wrong with it. Each other option will bring in other inputs. We have all four on display-come by and judge yourself!"

[PHC1]

"Meridian Sooloos Control 15, Wilson Audio Sashas, Dan D'Agostino Master Audio Systems Momentum Monoblocks, Harmonic Resolution Systems MXR Reference Audio Stand, Boulder 1010 Preamplifier, and Nordost Silver Shadow Digital Cable, and Nordost's $3,000 Valhalla Power Cables (Hey, the price is obscene but that's the business we are in!)."

That's a very nice test platform to compare DAC's with!

[JSCC]

Originally Posted by PHC1

"Meridian Sooloos Control 15, Wilson Audio Sashas, Dan D'Agostino Master Audio Systems Momentum Monoblocks, Harmonic Resolution Systems MXR Reference Audio Stand, Boulder 1010 Preamplifier, and Nordost Silver Shadow Digital Cable, and Nordost's $3,000 Valhalla Power Cables (Hey, the price is obscene but that's the business we are in!)."

That's a very nice test platform to compare DAC's with!

Which leads to the question: Sooloos & Meridian 808.3 for you?

Can consider as the platform mirror your's! Except for Transparent cablings!

[Car commander]

I have a control 15 feeding a Meitner dac ml326s pre Dartzeel NHB108B amp and

Karma 3.2fe speakers. Tara .8 conn. it sounds awesome

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by JSCC

Which leads to the question: Sooloos & Meridian 808.3 for you?

Can consider as the platform mirror your's! Except for Transparent cablings!

Jerry, I don't have any plans for changes or upgrades in the near future. I need to get my theater back the way it was before I lost some gear to a power surge and I'll be happy.