Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems 808v6 impressions

I was told only that it's completely different. Maybe someone else knows more.

A lot of the improvements in SQ in the v6 over the v5 can be attributed to its use with SpeakerLink and various cards. Or so I'm told. I'm using non Meridian speakers and old school style amps and preamps. Simply put, I won't reap as much benefit going to the v6 in the context of my system.

That doesn't tally with my hands-on experience of upgrading from 818v2(808v5) to 818v3(808v6) and using analogue outputs extensively.

I think I even said in my initial report here that the improvement was more marked on the analogue outputs.

Fair enough. The v5 update includes shared updates with the v6 so this will not be in vain when I'm ready to go all the way.

I use the analogue balanced outputs to feed a Lehmann headphone amp and a pair of Sennheiser HD800s. I haven't listened to much with that since the v6 upgrade but what I have listened to tallies with Ludwig's observation.

The DAC in the 818v3 is considerably better than the DAC in the 818v2 on conventional material and, in my view, competes with the best DACs in the world at the moment regardless of price. My experience of the digital outputs of the 818v2 is zero (I never ran it in this mode) but I do run the 818v3 into 7200SEs and it works extremely well.

I would strongly recommend going the whole hog and upgrading to 808v6 rather than stopping at v5 - the upgrade is very significant.

I auditioned the 808v3 at my dealer and could not hear any difference for ID41 Sooloos connection compared to my 808v5.

I was led to believe the 808v6 upgrade offers improvement to CD sound and analogue inputs as well as offering MQA / DSD support. I would be interested to know in what way the Sooloos sound in the 808v6 is better than the v5?

There's tons of comment on the comparison on the forum - first post in this thread being a good example. The new DAC is much more neutral and detailed than any Meridian DAC before it. It is less laid back than previous M DACs but once your ears are used to it you will appreciate that it is simply more accurate and musical. You may not get the wow factor on a short demonstration because it does not emphasise any one characteristic, but over a longer period it is very rewarding. Everyone's mileage will vary, of course.

Bruce, our resident US dealer, was kind enough to instill my 808v3 with superpowers. It's now an 808v6 and quite frankly the best Redbook player my two German Shepards have heard.

All BS aside it's way better than I imagined it could be as it was "top shelf" already.