I think that the apparant religious nature of player vs server debate is not quite like all other debates.

With digital vs analogue, DSP vs passive speaker, etc etc you normally see folks defending the corner they've spent a whole heap of cash on.

With server music, it is interesting that all of the converts, as far as I can see on this forum, do currently (or have) owned and used at least one 5xx/Gxx/8xx/other branded very good/hi-end transport. That in itself should pre-dispose the owner to protect the credibility of their player as they have spend a lot of money on it.

The server solutions, in general, cost a fraction of what a player costs and as such shouldn't really command the same purchase/brand/ego/bragg-factor loyalty. Let's face it, there's not a lot of bragg factor to a �200 Logitech device is there?

Choosing 'preachers' is a very valid point though. As server users tend to own both methods of playback, I think they are in a very good position to comment objectively. And, with very few exceptions, server playback is found to be at least very very good, if not equal to, and sometimes better than disc player performance.

So, should you buy an 808 right now?

YES...if you want one. They are very very good players...some say the best. Will it become redundant? Not really if CD's continue to dominate for a while yet and that's your choice of playback for the foreseeable future.

If you ever went for server playback and found, as some here have done, that it might just be as good as the 808, then you may find the 808 redundant.

If you never go with server playback then it won't be redundant.

Of course this must be an issue for Meridian sales. I still find it quite surprising that they are not offering something in this space by now. Especially as they nearly stole a march on the whole server industry with the 880.

There are two camps though....those that have moved to server playback and those that haven't or won't. Of those that won't (yet) it's not actually the sound quality that makes them not. It's the effort required to rip or sometimes the above mentioned desire to protect the existing investment from such a cheap intruder wink . That's where it's not particularly objective in my view if the main objective is hi-end music reproduction.

Anyway, that's my 2p for a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Rgds,
Nick