Meridian 808.2

[Still-One]

I am looking forward to the follow-up in a future Stereophile comparing the Ayre C5x-MP to the 808.2. In the April 2009 issue of Stereophile John Atkinson said that the 808.2 was the finest sounding CD player he had yet heard. His reference player had been a C5-xe that he had sent back for the MP upgrade. In the current Stereophile they raved about the C5-xeMP.

In the current issue of The Absolute Sound Robert Harley called the 808.2 the most significant product in the history of Compact Disc. The ability to remove pre-ringing after the fact. As Serge has noted the Ayre also takes care of the post ringing.

This is getting good.

[TommyC]

Do you think McIntosh will also implement this feature in their future disc players?

[Still-One]

Boy. Audiogon has a No Reserve auction for a 808.2 ending in about 30 minutes with an opening bid of $8k. That is tempting.

[jdandy]

Jim.......So, did you win?

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Jim.......So, did you win?

It was tempting, but I did not bid. I was surprised that there were no offers at $8k and it was being offered by someone with quite a bit of feedback.

I was going to bring home a Wadia player to compare to my MCD-500 over the long holiday weekend but my cables had not arrived as planned by Friday. I will set something again in the near future.

Jim

[1KW]

What is pre-ringing ?

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by 1KW

What is pre-ringing ?

There is an excellent explanation (with diagram) in this months Absolute Sound review of the 808.2.

It is kind of long so I will not copy it all here. The gist of the explanation is as follows. If over time all samples are set to zero state except for one, due to digital filters you would hear some smearing of that pulse because some of the impulse energy (ringing) would occur up to 2ms on either side of the pulse. The impulse sets the filter ringing as a hammer would set a bell to ring.

If I get time later I will copy all of the paragraphs involved int he article.

[howiebrou]

Originally Posted by Stillone

It was tempting, but I did not bid. I was surprised that there were no offers at $8k and it was being offered by someone with quite a bit of feedback.

I was going to bring home a Wadia player to compare to my MCD-500 over the long holiday weekend but my cables had not arrived as planned by Friday. I will set something again in the near future.

Jim

Jim,

If you are interested in one, my dealer might have a mint demo for that price. Let me know. It is a fantastic player to be sure.

howie

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by howiebrou

Jim,

If you are interested in one, my dealer might have a mint demo for that price. Let me know. It is a fantastic player to be sure.

howie

Thanks for the heads-up. I will keep that in mind.

Your DSP 8000 and 808.2 must be one incredible system.
Jim

[jdandy]

David.......Here is a link to Meridian CEO talking about the 808.2 CD player.

Meridian 808.2 Signature Reference CD player and DSP7200 speakers (Sound & Vision - The Bristol Show 2008)