Meridian 808 Reference CD Player - SWEET

The Meridian 808 couldn’t be more perfect for someone like me (or you), who has no need for a player with video capabilities and two decades worth of compact discs sardined into every nook and cranny of her house. I jumped on the SACD bandwagon early when the Sony SCD-1 was first introduced, only to be sorely disappointed a year or two later when there were still only a few hundred SACD titles available. 

At present, with SACD as well as DVD-Audio nearly defunct, the 808’s only mission in life is to extract every last bit of information possible from the millions of titles that are available now—and for many years to come—on CD. 

Celebrating its 20th anniversary as the inventor of the very first audiophile-quality CD player, Meridian has marketed the limited edition as the finest CD playback it presently has to offer. Every component of this precision-built dream-machine has been handpicked for its sonic merits, right down to the last capacitor and resistor.

Condition is very good with just a few minor quibbles. The play and pause icon exhibit a bit of wear (see photo) and the panel that opens up by pressing the top edge to expose some of the controls is a little wobbly on the left hinge. It opens and closes fine, but the left mechanism is just a bit loose. This may be a very simple fix, but I never open the panel so it doesn't matter to me. In addition, there are a few very light marks randomly dispersed on the player...nothing big enough to photo. Thus the 8/10 rating. This player looks great, sounds incredible and operates flawlessly.

Complete with remote, manuals, power cord, and original box.