Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Meridian CD/DVD Players

Hello:

I have an Ultra DAC based Roon/Nucleus+ based system. Currently use a $300 Sony UDP-800 for CD and DVD. How much of an upgrade sonically and visually would a mint preowned 500 series player bring to 2/3 channel and to HT Surround sound? The 800 series is out of my price range, considering I only do CD 10% of the time, and HT likewise.

Bailyhill

Hi

I think the 596 and the 598 offer excellent value for money and I think the 598 was one of the last 500 series CD/DVD players made.

The alternative I guess, age wise, is the 588, which is considerably more expensive second hand and plays only CDs (I don't know why it so much more, as I believe it is very similar to the 598).

Hope that helps.

Cheers
Jon

Digital transports... this is war torn territory. To some digital is digital and it will not mater and to others it makes a huge difference. In your case I would argue that it will not make a difference.
I have a 800v4DAX, a formerly $20,000 DVD/CD player from Meridian. I needed to replace the drive and found out the same exact DVD_ROM drive is found in the $98 Apex DVD player ( DSL-720A ).

The magic of Meridian isn't found in the commodity of laser mechanisms but rather what happens after. Since you have an UltraDAC the processing on your DAC will be more than sufficient. The only caveat would be if there is some sort of digital reconstruction the better transports are capable of after reading the disc. In this regard I am not an expert and can offer no firm answer.

In the end, with an UltraDAC you would get no benefit of a CD player's analog output so you can hone in on the 598DP and the 500 transport in the 500 series or find a good price for a digital only 800 series player to match your UltraDAC. I have seen the used digital 800 series have been as low as $1,000 USD. If you come across a 506, 507, 508, 588, 586, or even 596 for a good price you could take advantage of their digital outputs and run them as a transport (or even re-digitize their analog output <also controversial> for the old school Meridian sound).

I went from a 500 to a 588, then onto mostly streaming with a G98 as a transport for the rare time I wanted to listen to discs. I was using DSPs with all of these, but heard a clear difference going from the 500 to the 588. I preferred the 588, but could see how others would like the 500- they were both excellent. This was all using the digital output, so there can indeed be differences among transports.

I would expect that the Ultra DAC should really work some magic on the incoming digital stream, so it may not make much difference.

Hi John,

Another consideration is a non-Meridian transport. I have seen the Cambridge Audio CXC for decent prices used. Here is a new one on Crutchfield.

For me, there are three non-800 Meridian options:

- 500 (MkII or (very rare) MkIII). As I understand it, the best player Meridian did with a regular "CD" drive. I'm not sure, but there may be operational advantages over the later DVD-ROM drive units.

- 596 (or 598). Meridian moved to using DVD-ROM drives, presumably for DVD replay, but also introduced multiple reads and triple-FIFO buffering to ensure the data was sucked off the CD correctly. Better than 500? I don't know. Operationally slower than 500? Possibly, but perhaps someone else can confirm? From a CD playback POV, the 598 is really a 596 with another board.

- G98. I wouldn't recommend this if you weren't planning to use it as a transport (switched mode power supply vs. the linear in the 500-series units). Arguably this affects the digital outputs too (apparently Bob Stuart heard a difference immediately when they first put a linear PSU in the 861...). For me, the only advantage over the other options is aesthetics. Operationally, probably very similar to 596/598.

I would probably punt on a 500 if I could find a nice example, particularly as the Ultra DAC is going to be doing a lot a re-clocking.

Meridian 598

This 598DP just came up on eBay. I have no affiliation with the listing.

Best,

NIck

I haven't auditioned any 5 series players, G98/91 was really nice sounding to my ears, clearly better than 861/ID40 but I know many here would disagree.

Hello All -- Thank you for your info.

Just out of the hospital for graft and 4 stents, so was unable to respond. Now at home and resting.
I pulled the trigger on a 598DC. My get well gift to myself.

Thanks again.
Gary

Best wishes for a speedy recovery. Let us know how the 598 and UltraDac work out.

Nick

I don't think that you'll be disappointed. Let us know if you are!!!

Wishing you a swift recovery, you should love the 598!