808.2
Signature Reference Compact Disc Player
Why the 808?
Meridian decided to introduce the 808
Signature Reference Compact Disc Player
for several reasons. We have been both
surprised and pleased by increasing
levels of interest in our popular G Series
CD players: this tells us that there is a
strong element of listeners who do not
want pictures or complications attached
to their music enjoyment, and wish to take
advantage of the extensive selection that is
available on no medium, to date, other than
Compact Disc.
Thus the 808.2 is offered as an exquisite
CD-only player, embodying the very best of
our art and technology. And the 808.2 is a
‘signature’ model – each one hand-signed
by Meridian’s founders, Robert Stuart and
Allen Boothroyd.
Meridian’s 808.2 is the latest in a series of
optical disc players that use a specially-
selected ROM drive for reading. The
ROM drive allows multiple passes to be
made, ensuring that the correct data are
recovered from the disc and improving
Compact Disc’s error-correction a
hundredfold. It also allows complete
buffering of the recovered data.
To ensure the lowest possible jitter, 808.2
incorporates an entirely new clocking
regime and employs three buffers, two of
which are used as FIFOs in a completely
redesigned buffering environment.
By the time the data is passed to the DACs
or the digital output, the jitter is incredibly
low – in fact 808.2 has the lowest jitter
we have ever measured on a CD player:
even better than the original 808’s 90
picoseconds, with the jitter spectrum held
below 0.1Hz.
The signal path includes proprietary error
correction and concealment, and Meridian’s
acclaimed ‘Resolution Enhancement’
DSP, in which the original 44.1kHz, 16-bit
audio is upsampled to 176.4kHz, 24-bit in
a new 150MIPs processor operating with
48-bit internal precision. This is ‘true’ DSP
upsampling, completely redesigned for the
808.2 and unlike anything else available in
the marketplace. This upsampling allows
conversion-related filtering to take place
far above the limits of human hearing, so
there are no artefacts added to the sound –
simply the pure music.
The 808.2 employs the latest, exquisite
multi-bit over-sampled delta-sigma D/A
converters, combined with a matching
proprietary analogue output stage of the
highest quality, completely redesigned for
the 808.2.
Delivering the promise of CD
The new model includes many other
new features, including the RJ45-based
SpeakerLink interfacing system, allowing
a direct single-cable link from the 808.2
to Meridian DSP speakers via convenient,
easily-installed CAT-5 cabling. But the
most significant is the new, proprietary
digital filter system developed by Meridian
and included for the first time in the new
808.2.
High-resolution audio prefers sample rates
and bit depths higher than the 44.1kHz 16-
bit CD format. For this reason our top-end
CD players have incorporated resolution
enhancement that includes upsampling.
808.2 perfectly upscales its outputs
to 176.4kHz and 24 bits, significantly
improving the sound.
But upsampling alone cannot improve on
one aspect of CD: the original sampling
rate of the recording. Digital audio captures
sound up to half the sample rate and
you have to filter out any meaningless
information above that frequency (22kHz in
the case of CD).
Traditionally, the steep filters required to
do this job have audibly degraded the
sound. The earliest analogue filters caused
enormous phase shifts at high frequencies,
and with digital linear-phase filters a big
issue was the introduction of pre-echoes.
The press on Meridian’s CD players…
Meridian CD Player
“…a breakthrough for CD players. …[Soundstage] is
where the Meridian renders the competition irrelevant
and worthless.”
—The Absolute Sound, Winter 1985
Meridian Pro-MCD
“I suspect that [the Meridian Pro-MCD] will be the first
CD player to be regarded as a ‘classic’!”
—Hi-Fi News & Record Review, Feb 1986
Meridian 207
“The original Pro-MCD set the benchmark in its day,
but the 207-Pro was the radical step, placing Meridian
for all time in the CD player hall of fame.”
—Hi-Fi Choice, June 1990
“There is nothing else on the market remotely like the
Meridian 207… It is…one of the finest-sounding CD
players on the market.”
—Sydney Morning Herald, Aug 1988
Meridian 602/606
“In Meridian we might be looking at a company that
has a real contribution to make towards raising CD
performance.”
—Audiophile, June 1991
“…the 602 [via the 606] was damn near impossible to
fault… Its resolution of the subtlest treble details was
intricate to the point of being exquisite… the 602/606
turned out to be a very ‘special’ combination.”
—Hi-Fi Choice, July 1991
Meridian 508
“…the Meridian 508.24…the world’s best single-box
player and used as a reference machine by renowned
US publication Stereophile… brings out aspects of
music that most players can merely hint at…”
—Audio & Video Lifestyle, 1999
“…the 508.24’s measured performance reveals that
Bob Stuart and his talented digital design team have
done a fabulous job.”
—Stereophile, May 1998
Meridian 800
“…the 800 is perhaps the finest overall CD player I’ve
ever laid ears on. When you consider that there are
some CD-only players round that demand this outlay,
the price tag doesn’t seem all that eye-watering…
Takes audio to another level…. Without doubt the
finest optical disc playing system we’ve encountered.”
—HiFi World, December 2002
“…I found that the Meridian… was clearly superior…
not just to my reference components, but to any other
CD front ends that I’ve auditioned or reviewed.…
The performance of Meridian’s 800/861 with CDs is
superior to the performance you get with the great
majority of SACDs
and DVD-As through any player.”
—Absolute Sound, December 2003
Meridian 808
“The 808 is worth every penny asked for it. …this deck
is head and shoulders above almost everything else
I have ever heard. It’s beautiful, well built and sounds
wonderful… After listening to this player for the last
three months at least six (sometimes 10-12) hours a
day, I’m still as infatuated with it as the day it arrived.
The main thing is that the Meridian 808 is an extremely
musical player that gets it right on all levels.”
—Tone Audio, Issue 8, 2007
Each 808.2 unit is individually hand-signed by the founders of Meridian,
Bob Stuart and Allen Boothroyd.
