Meridian 808.3 CD/Pre

[Still-One]

I am fortunate to have on loan from Chuck (SRT-10 Viper) his Meridian 808.3 CD/Pre amp.

Last Friday Chuck stopped by to listen to my Alexandria X2 Series 2 and D'Agostino Momentum set-up. He had previously asked if I would like to audition his Meridian unit and I was very excited to give this unit that has received so many positive reviews a brief listen.

I have probably mentioned that on a few discs I seemed to miss the soundstage I would hear from my MBL's. Was it my set-up or was it just the different type of speakers that had me wondering.

Before we swapped out my MCD-1100 for the Meridian we listened to several different selections from my MS-300 and Olive 4HD. Even with unfamiliar music Chuck thought the soundstage was very wide and realistic. Now we switched over to some familiar CD's that Chuck had brought with him. Now, neither one of us is a big Country music fan but we both have some titles in our collections. He proceeded to play tracks 8 & 9 from Trace Adkins X CD. Let me tell you the chorus that comes in at the end of "'Till The Last Shot's Fired" dispelled any notion of a narrow presentation. The next track "I Can't Outrun You" ends with some of the deepest baritone vocals you are going to hear in the pop or country genre. I now have a nice test track when auditioning new components.

Our listening session was briefly interrupted (nicely I might add) when Larry from Paragon brought Jerron Marchant from Wilson Audio and David Shultz from Transparent Audio to give my system a quick listen. Jerron liked the set-up and sound and suggested that if I wanted a wider soundstage I might gain some additional "width" by moving my seating position forward about two feet. He then made the required adjustments to to X2's hardware. Talk about customer service.

After Larry, Jerron and David left, Chuck and I swapped out the MCD-1100 for the Meridian 808.3. Since I did the 808.3 could not accommodate the BNC connection I use for my Olive to MCD-1100 cable I only connected the MS-300 and SonoS units. After a brief tutorial Chuck headed off to take some photos of day 2 of Paragon's Wilson/D'Agostino event. (see his photos in that thread)

Now I would like to take all of the credit for Chuck deciding to buy a pair of Momentum's and Alexia's later that evening, but I guess the in store demo influenced him a bit to.

I have only been able to listen to the 808.3 for about 6 hours over the last few days so here are some initial thoughts. The build quality and styling is much nicer that what you assume from any photos you may have seen. The sound seems a bit smoother than what I remember hearing from the MCD-1100. (Depending on the disc that could be good or bad) I might swap some cables around to see how it handles hi rez files off the Olive 4HD. I am not sure whether Chuck has updated the software to handle 24/192 files so I will only try 24/96.

[o0OBillO0o]

Great to hear! How important is SACD to you?

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by o0OBillO0o

Great to hear! How important is SACD to you?

I am just comparing the units right now. That would be issue if I was to seriously consider the 808.3. There are not many CD players out there that both play SACD's and have a built in pre-amp. That makes the MCD-1100 a bargain.

[jdandy]

Jim.......Interesting to see this Meridian 808.3 thread tonight. I was just on the phone earlier this evening with Jerry Seh (JSCC) and we were talking about his Meridian 808.3, as well as the new Meridian 813. One of the things Jerry has always said about the 808.3 is it truly makes CD's sound analog. He is very happy with his entire Meridian system.

[gshepardbuster]

Hi Jim, I recently sold my MCD 1100 and replaced it with the 808.3. In short I have no regrets. I only used the Mac as a cdp and plan on using the Meridian as such. As a cdp the Meridian is so natural, I can listen for hours day after day without fatigue. With the Mcd 1100 after a couple hours I lost interest and would not listen the next day. With the Meridian any day, any time, any volume, any genre, it never gets old. I have owned Mcintosh for years and love their gear, but this is my second Meridian, (808.2/808.3) and much prefer the Meridian digital. I have no intentions of using the preamp as my c1000 smokes it, but this is one special cdp. I have many cds from the 90's that are bright and irritating that now sound very pleasant with the 808.3. The 808.2 also fixed bad sounding discs, and I regretted parting with it for the mcd 1100 that I recently sold. Anyhoo all I can say is the more time you spend with the 808.3 the more you'll appreciate what it does. Enjoy! Ed

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Jim.......Interesting to see this Meridian 808.3 thread tonight. I was just on the phone earlier this evening with Jerry Seh (JSCC) and we were talking about his Meridian 808.3, as well as the new Meridian 813. One of the things Jerry has always said about the 808.3 is it truly makes CD's sound analog. He is very happy with his entire Meridian system.

Dan
I can see why he is very happy with his 808.3. It is a very easy sounding CD Player. The piano black version looks good too.

What is the 813 that you were discussing?

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by gshepardbuster

Hi Jim, I recently sold my MCD 1100 and replaced it with the 808.3. In short I have no regrets. I only used the Mac as a cdp and plan on using the Meridian as such. As a cdp the Meridian is so natural, I can listen for hours day after day without fatigue. With the Mcd 1100 after a couple hours I lost interest and would not listen the next day. With the Meridian any day, any time, any volume, any genre, it never gets old. I have owned Mcintosh for years and love their gear, but this is my second Meridian, (808.2/808.3) and much prefer the Meridian digital. I have no intentions of using the preamp as my c1000 smokes it, but this is one special cdp. I have many cds from the 90's that are bright and irritating that now sound very pleasant with the 808.3. The 808.2 also fixed bad sounding discs, and I regretted parting with it for the mcd 1100 that I recently sold. Anyhoo all I can say is the more time you spend with the 808.3 the more you'll appreciate what it does. Enjoy! Ed

Ed
Until I put the MCD-1100 back into my set-up I am not going to be able to confirm your comments. At this moment I would agree with you.

Part of the issue is I am not sure how much the new seating location is impacting what I am hearing.

Is your unit upgraded to play 24/192 files?

[gshepardbuster]

Jim, No my mcd 1100 was sold before the upgrade was available. The Meridian I'm using has the updated firmware, not sure if that means anything but call me smitten!

[gshepardbuster]

I think the model Dan was referring to was the 818, not the 813. I believe its a dac/preamp.

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by gshepardbuster

Jim, No my mcd 1100 was sold before the upgrade was available. The Meridian I'm using has the updated firmware, not sure if that means anything but call me smitten!

Sorry, I meant does your Meridian play 24/192 files. I have been playing those files on my MCD-1100 since the day I purchased it and I was among the first handful to get one. It is only those who need USB that have been waiting.

I my have to connect my Olive and give the Meridian a try on 24/192.