So, those tempting 'bargain' DVS DSL-710A drives are still available on eBay, and the 720 in my 598DP is starting to die. I, too, called DVS at their US office, and after a couple of weeks was told there were no 720s available for purchase any longer.

Since I can't find a source for the 720, and there's been quite a bit of informed speculation here about using the 710 as a plug-and-play replacement in the 598, I wonder if anyone has now tried this and can confirm whether this might be the bargain it seems. I'd like to know about any issues encountered, as with firmware, for example.

I'm ready to buy a couple of these at the price: one to install and one to hold in reserve. After all, wasn't this the great promise of the Meridian machines to begin with? No fancy DVD drives, just cheap DVD-ROM loaders (the identical ones found in older Apex machines, BTW) which could be tossed out and replaced simply when they die, with the 'heavy lifting' (and superb 'lifting' it generally is) done by Meridian's electronics and code writing expertise.

Thanks in advance,
Roger

861v8/HD621, Bluesound Node N130, Roku Ultra, Oppo UDP-205, Tosh HD-XA2, Thorens TD321/SME 3009/Shure Ultra 500/LFD Mistral, ATC SCM40As/C4CA/Active 10s/Bag End sub, AKG K872, Grace m903, Sony A1E, EquiTech balanced power supply, *extremely tolerant* SWMBO.