Meridian Audio 808.2 manual Meridian CD Innovator

1984

Meridian MCD and Pro-MCD

Meridian’s first CD player, the MCD, based on a Philips chassis with completely custom analogue circuitry, was the world’s first audiophile CD Player. Its successor, the Pro-MCD shown here, included a separate custom-designed power supply, DAC and oscillator, mounted underneath the transport.

1985

Meridian invents the CD Transport

The idea of separating the transport from the rest of the player – to minimise jitter and other distortion from the mechanism

–was developed to produce the world’s first separate Transport/DAC product – the critically-acclaimed 200/203 shown here.

1989

Meridian 208 CD Player

The highly successful 200 Series included several CD players. Using different DACs as the technology developed, the 208 was a landmark in Meridian’s CD player development, with up to 20-bit conversion capability and preamplifier functionality.

1991

Meridian 602 Transport and 601 DSP Preamplifier

The 600 Series was highly regarded by reviewers and owners alike, especially the 602 transport and its companion 601 DSP Preamplifier, 603 Digital Control Unit or 606 DAC.

1993

508 – Compact Disc Classic

The 500 Series, launched in 1993, developed into a full range of audio/video products, including Meridian’s first DVD player, the 596, in 1997. Meanwhile, from 1994 onwards, the 508 set the standard for CD until the advent of the G08 in 2003.

2004

Meridian 800 Reference Series

Originally a superb DVD player, the Meridian 800 has developed to become one of the most highly-specified optical disc players in the world. From its impeccable pedigree came the original 808 Signature Reference CD player, and now the 808.2 – the highest quality Compact Disc player Meridian has ever built.

808.2

Signature Reference Compact Disc Player

Meridian: CD Innovator

Of all manufacturers, Meridian has the longest history of high-performance CD players. Meridian’s first CD player, MCD, was introduced almost a quarter of a century ago. MCD sounded radically better than anything else available, and still stands comparison with many so-called audiophile designs of today.

In the intervening years, Meridian has relentlessly pursued the path of making better and better CD players, introducing more than 25 models – each one better than the one before. Every model has received critical acclaim, and we have gathered more than 50 awards for our CD players.

Over the years we have researched, pioneered and ultimately mastered the art of refinement of every aspect of CD playback. We showed how jitter was a major challenge to audio quality – indeed, Meridian was the first company to isolate jitter, as far back as 1984.

Our technologies include advanced servo implementations, unique power supply designs, significant innovations in the digital arena and, of course, peerless analogue sections. Meridian also pioneered the idea that special disc navigation could improve the playback quality on difficult discs (such as those with fingerprints, scratches or manufacturing defects). Our players also benefited from digital output capabilities.

 

Meridian was also the first company to offer a 2-box solution (utilising an outboard DAC), and has developed special phase-locked loops and FIFO buffers to produce the very best result in such systems – including of course our preferred system, a CD player directly connected to a pair of Meridian DSP loudspeakers.

 

Meridian has also offered its technologies for the mastering of Compact Discs. Some of the highest quality recordings have been made using our 607 A/D converter, while even more have used the 618 Mastering Processor to maximise the dynamic range on disc. Top recording studios tend to use a Meridian player for checking, and over the years a Meridian CD player has become synonymous with the best sound, and ‘a reference’. This is a reputation we cherish, and one which we aim to defend by making each player better than the one before.