Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems 808 vs 808.2

asked my local dealer about upgrading and received interesting response... my dealer called Meridian america and they said the only reason for 808.2 was the drives used in the 808 are no longer available... M america said the 808 and 808.2 are the same sonically... told my local dealer i had read differently and he is doing more research... will keep you posted....

What's that remark for !!!

This is A@A we're talkin' 'bout George. He's a bit of a conspiracy theorist when it comes to hi-end hi-fi.

Happy Trails!
Vince@Freewheelcycle.com

In the thread on the Bristol Show, I said that two sessions at the Meridian booth listening to the 808.2/7200 combination left me impressed, but very happy that I had not heard anything at the show to beat my 808/8000 combination.

I will need to have extended listening sessions in my own room before I can make a judgement, of course, but first impressions did not indicate to me that I must have one 'right now!'.

a@a,

2 years before eh ?....you must have felt special to get that secret shared

The rest of us knew it was dead long before (sadly!!!)

Here is a challenge to any doubters here.

Try convincing me M would release new products - 808.2 and 7200s and my recent purchases - without an improvement in the sound that is so obvious to the end user and based upon their new technology that won a new technology award for the 808.2 at CES 2008.

The bass on the 8000 must have some advantage although there is an improved bass in the 7200s compared to the 7000.

From the data sheet:

808.2 Technology
The 808 was the best CD player we had ever made - until the 808.2. The new model features an improved analogue board, a new clocking system, a new buffering system and a new CPU plus new DSP capability with a remarkable new digital audio filter system that is significantly improved over traditional designs, overall offering even higher quality and lower jitter than before. Also new is the RJ45-based interfacing system, allowing a direct single-cable link from the 808.2 to Meridian DSP speakers via convenient, easily-installed CAT 5 cabling.

Utter nonsense from Atlanta.

Having read the review of the 808.2 in Hifi News, and seen the video presentation by Bob from the Bristol show, it's clear that there are significant differences between the 808 and its .2 iteration. I have to conclude that either Meridian America are misinformed or are misinforming Wints1's dealer, or Wints1's dealer is misinforming Wints1.

FWIW the Hifi News review mentions the 808.2's architecture favours upgradeability; I don't know if the original 808 is similar in this regard.

Mark S

Would like to know who the dealer is so I can figure out who (if anyone really did) speak to him to educate them.

The 808.2 is completely different from the spinner to the output stage, that is why we have decided not to offer an upgrade to the .2, it would not be possible without changing all the insides...

Marc

Mark - the dealer is great and told him i had heard differently about 808.2 (we will see what comes back)... it sounds like the spinner was the reason for the change (the 808 spinner not available) so the 808.2 has a different spinner... also was told that there might be a Meridian offered 50% change i.e. the output stage can be upgraded but the spinner can not... we will see..

I hope Meridian sent them an allready "Burnt-in " unite since they only had it playing for 3 days before the review!

PerS

I'm genuinely curious to find out what there is to "burn-in" in a CD player (apart from your ears, of course).