As an existing 800 owner, I do hope that Meridian stops at a Firmware Update, which adds Apodizing only.........and I have been "clamoring" for it thru my Dealer (and Direct with Meridian) for two-plus years now

I've told Meridian that I would not buy an 808.x, even though I know that both the 808.2 and .3 outperform my 800 as a CD Player

I cannot claim that I understood exactly why at the time, but I've been saying on here since about 2002 that Upsampling in the Source was one of the key differentiating factors in favour of the 800 player..........this in spite of the fact that many on here claimed it didn't matter, as the G68/861 performed Upsampling anyway

Do I think that Meridian could produce a better sounding Bluray player, especially if they produced a 4 by SPDIF Output for the 861???...........Yes, I do..............the reason??..........one can see the many people on here who say that their 10-year old Laserdisc players sound better than even their Oppo Bluray players for CD-replay.........this is most likely due to Source Output Jitter

IMHO, there is very little doubt that Meridian could do a better job in that respect and produce a better SOUNDING Bluray player

However, I don't believe that there is anything that they can do with the Video side of the Bluray, except match the Oppo et al for 1080p/24 output...........the only improvement I could see them making is incorporating some of the Technology from their 810 Video Processor, which Upscales to 4096 by 2400..........but then one would need a Display that can handle that resolution and the cycle continues

So, would I pay e.g. the 861v6 Upgrade cost of �6,500 to upgrade my 800 player to an 800 Bluray player???.............NO, I almost definitely would not

I'm pretty sure it would sound better than my current Oppo..........but for the Movie Bluray content that is out there, is that important enough???........would lower Jitter make the Helicopter, Bullet or Explosion sound better???.........would the Actors' Dialog sound sufficiently different???.........would the Channel Steering sound sufficiently better???..........I have my doubts

If Bluray MUSIC Content ever takes off and produces several Hundred (or more) discs with Music only content, then that might be a different story

So Meridian, if you're reading

a) Release an Apodizing Update for the 800 (charge a reasonable price for it, if that helps push it up the priority list)

b) Don't even consider an 800 Bluray Player, until Bluray Music content becomes a factor in the market...........I think your limited resources can be better spent elsewhere.........such as ID4x Cards for existing Meridian Processor owners, that can play FLAC Files from non-Sooloos Storage........now THAT would be a strong Revenue Stream IMHO


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