Price Paid:  $3500.00 from local dealer

Summary:
I bought the Meridian G08 player to replace an Ayre CX7e. I auditoned the Ayre at a local dealer in a system consisting of all Ayre components and Piega monitors. In that system it was a great performer, with explosive dynamics and great low level resolution. I was sold. Now, ofcourse, like any other component, a CD player's performance is system dependent, and in my system, comprised of a Balanced Audio Technology integrated amplifier and Aerial Acoustics Model 6s floorstanders, the Ayre proved to be fatiguing. Even after 100s of hours of play, it still proved to be too bright and forward to me.

My search for a replacement led me to audition the Meridian. I also planned to audition a McIntoch player, but after listening to song after song on the Meridian, I knew my mind was made up. The Meridian was smooth, silky, dynamic, and refined, all at the same time. It offered all the detail you could want, but was utterly unfatiguing. I brought in a broad range of recordings to audition the Meridian with, from artists including Fiest, Jill Scott, Dave Brubeck, Wilco, Allison Krause and Sade. Every song I listened to was absolutely thrilling. (I am sure it didn't hurt that the system I auditioned it on included Bryston and McIntosh integrated amps and Dali Euphonia and Linn Akurate speakers)

I bought the Meridian the same day and hooked it up to my system (BAT and Aerial Acoustics). I am happy to say that it provided the same gorgeous, smooth, silky performance in my system that it had in the store. The Meridian does not highlight any frequency range above any other, offering an extremely well balanced sound. Its bass response and impactfulness continue to impress.

The unit I purchased was a store demo so it was fully broken in by the time I got it. I have owned the unit for about three weeks and in that time hardly a day has gone by that I did not play at least one or two cds on it. In fact I have had several two to three hours listening sessions with nary a hint of fatigue. Female vocals are rendered with all the breath and high frequency extension the recordings offer up, without a trace of grain or edginess. This was proved out when listening to Allison Krause on "Jacob's Dream" and Fiest throughout her "Reminder" CD. The voices of Sade and Norah Jones are presented in all their smooth, lush, rich glory. Guitars, drums cymbals, horns of all sorts, strings, you name it, are all presented with great tonal accuracy and depth. Whether playing music loud or soft, this player will bring you closer to the music.

I have auditioned players from Ayre, Rega, and Arcam, and I must say that the Meridian smoked them all in its ability to remain composed at the highest frequencies. The Meridian's bass output is every bit the equal of the Ayre, and it offers all the suave sophistication of the Arcam FMJ CD 36, but with more life and excitement. The Rega Apollo is a great CD player at its price, but it cannot begin to compete with the Meridian in resolving complex musical passages.

In sum, I have no criticisms of this player. No matter what your budget I recommend giving the Meridian an audition. The Meridian will be staying in my system for a long time.

Strengths:
Great resolution of low level detail
Tremendous bass output
Gorgeous sound on male and female vocals
Smooth and non-fatiguing sound
Great dynamics

Weaknesses:
None I can think of.

Similar Products Used:
Ayre CX7e
Arcam FMJ CD36
Rega Apollo

Price Paid:  $2500.00 from Musical Images

Summary:
At this price the Meridian G08 can hardly be considered real value for money......but you might be surprised! What this machine offers is an awful lot even for £2500, for example you have one of the most fetching looking compact disc machines in the history of CD, a CD player that sounds as impressive as any machine worldwide including those 'twice' the price, and finally a machine that is really well built....like a rolls royce car. The one thing I really like about the G08 is that it sounds REALLY powerful at low volume which means you can listen for hours on end without fatigue.

Strengths:
Looks 10/10, Build 9/10, Sound 10/10, Value for money 10/10.

Weaknesses:
There really isn't anything unless you want to be REALLY picky, a longer warranty than 2 years might be nice for a machine that should last 10!

Similar Products Used:
Hight end, top of the range compact disc players.

Price Paid:  $3500.00 from Indonesia

Summary:
I found the Meridian to have the deeper soundscape, with pinpoint location of instruments.
It`s ok accept the price

Strengths:
The Meridian G08 is a winner on all counts

Weaknesses:
The remote interfare with my goldmund preamp and The G08 worked flawlessly in response to the controls, with just one exception.

mbuc

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
3.80 of 5, 5.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
The sound of this player is hard to beat - by any player. It needs quite some time to burn-in properly but eventually it will give you everything you have been looking for. In addition to all positive attributes you can imagine when describing the sound of a cd player it will take you inside the music on an emotional level. With the G08 the music comes alive and thrills you to the bone. In comparison, other players just reproduce the music.

A little turnoff are the three wobbly buttons on the left and the simple CD-ROM transport. The tray is pretty loose on my unit and that takes away the highend look & feel. Last but not least I would expect a digital in on players in that price range. It would be so cool to be able to connect other digital sources (like computers) to it.

Strengths:
Sound. This player can compete with the best players in the world.

Weaknesses:
Wobbly buttons & tray
Missing digital in

john.sealey

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.88 of 5, 16.00 votes

Price Paid:  $2400.00 from Salisbury hifi (pric

Summary:
For me this was a leap of faith, I've followed Meridian from the 508.20 to the 588 and now the G08. The 588 is such an excellent player that it is hard to believe that there is anywhere to go. Anyway there is, it paid off, the G08 manages to improve on the 588. Main areas of improvement are clarity, spacial and tonality. You can hear deeper into the mix and now the mix is surrounding you, instruments hanging in the air. I guess the upsampling is responsible for this as the manual hints at. If you have a 508 or 588 you owe yourself a listen, there is somewhere to go and its a good place!

Strengths:
Imaging wider, deeper than 588.
Tone improvements.
Vastly improved display/menu over previous 5 series.

Weaknesses:
The coaxial digital output is only 88.2 rather than the fully upsampled 192.4 (Limitation of the interface I think)
I still listen through an attached Chord DAC64 it just sounds slightly more alive to me, but this is very marginal stuff here (and more expensive).

Meridian now have an even more expensive cd only player that might be worth investigation.

Odds on that Meridian release a Media Server soon

Similar Products Used:
588
508.20
Arcam Alpha 7