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Czilla9000 was recently considering the Arcam FMJ-23 as CD player in the $2,000 price range. I have a newly acquired alternative candidate. It is a Meridian 588 CD player I recently purchased as second-hand product. I use it with a Corda PreHead, Outlaw interconnects, and stock Sennheiser HD600 and below is a list of my highly subjective impressions.
Well, I have unfortunately not heard the Arcam FMJ-23 so I can't make comparisons. However, I did compare the Arcam CD-62T to CD-92T, to Rega Planet 2000, to Myriad MCD600. For the comparisons, I was using the clones of the same recording, 1 per machine (comparing 3 machines at a time). The 3 CDP would be hooked up to the Corda headphone amp/pre-amp. Then, I could switch between sources that were spinning the disc synchronously. That is a nice test because you don't relie on your memory at all.
My conclusions were:
- Myriad MCD600 ($2,000?): out. I might even prefer the CD62. The bass was just not articulate and the soundstage a little of a joke.
- Arcam CD62T ($600?): a little thin, quite bright, loosing clarity with large ensembles. It was just like a sales guy yelling at you in hope hope you get the message better...
- Arcam CD92T ($1,800): a whole different story. Bass much more firm than 62. Highs not harsh sounding. Much more micro-detail. The voice now sounded soo real, warm, with lots of body.
- Rega Planet 2000 ($1,000?): don't know what to say. I loved it's laid back behavior. Never at fault really. He was just not bragging like the other players. To compare to the sales guy again: this one had cought a cold I think. I was really not impressed with the resolution. I loved the bass though, maybe even more than Arcams. The soundstage was quite good too I think. But overall, this sounded too coloured with my rig, and just not detailed enough. Too polite!
At that end of these comparisons, two things. Well, one, my ears were fried. Two, I was considering an Arcam FMJ-23 (used for $1,500, new for $2,500?), based on the improvement noticed from CD-62T to CD-92T models. I had also read here that the FMJ-23 was way better than the lower end Arcam players.
Then, I saw this ad on Audiogon for a Meridian 588. This guy retails for $4,000 new, but I could get it for $2,100. I was not going to buy something I never heard, so I took the opportunity to drive to the seller since it was manageable. And, well, although I could not compare to the previous bunch of CD players tested a week before, I had no trouble to convince myself this was not the same league...
I bought the Meridian 588 for $2,100 very recently. Since then, I have been say, quite happy... What I mean there is that this this machine, although it looks really cool, is not an eye-catcher (shall I say ear-catcher). It won't blow you off unless you listen to an hyper dynamic classical recording. For such test, I've got the Symphonie no5 from Malher (conductor is Chailly - Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra) that is very tough test for the electronics (and transducers actually). Typically, everything falls apart during the fortissimo. However, if you've read my post on the Prehead, you may remember that this headphone amp does not lack juice when you ask him to reproduce a full bloom orchestra. And the Meridian did not make it easy for the Corda... The source is no less authoritative than the amp!!! Anyway, apart for this kind of special recordings where the Meridian is simply doing what one is asking, i.e waking you up, the general trend is a very subtil, fluid, non-agressive while very detailed sound.
You can guess that the Meridian manages to read every tiny bit of info on the CD because the spatial and reverberation clues as well as instruments timbre are soo stunning. It's like the whole atmosphere is palpable, you hear every last bit of reverberation, and instrument harmonics. I already had such impressions when testing the Corda-Prehead / Sennheiser HD600 combo with a crap CD player. But now, this is just palpable, life-like. The piano sounds like it is in my bedroom!!! Of course the bass is now much more firm and detailed, which is the least you could expect at that price
.
One thing I like is that you can spatially pinpoint any instrument you like (left /right as well as depth which is something I did not experience much in the past), and focus without any effort on it's share in the overall picture. But my most common reaction is to fall in the chair (well, on the bed actually cause I ain't got no good listening chair in my bedroom yet!), fix the ceiling (I am laying down
), and just forget about audio... Music is all that matters then. Isn't that the audiophile dream? Well, to me it is!!!
To conclude on the Meridian 588, I would say that, for my quite revealing rig (PreHead with the HD600), this is an absolute winner. There is enough detail to make you dig into each recording for ever. But there is no sign at all of digital harshness. This is the player that will make you forget about any high resolution format for years to come I believe...
Arnaud.
Well, I have unfortunately not heard the Arcam FMJ-23 so I can't make comparisons. However, I did compare the Arcam CD-62T to CD-92T, to Rega Planet 2000, to Myriad MCD600. For the comparisons, I was using the clones of the same recording, 1 per machine (comparing 3 machines at a time). The 3 CDP would be hooked up to the Corda headphone amp/pre-amp. Then, I could switch between sources that were spinning the disc synchronously. That is a nice test because you don't relie on your memory at all.
My conclusions were:
- Myriad MCD600 ($2,000?): out. I might even prefer the CD62. The bass was just not articulate and the soundstage a little of a joke.
- Arcam CD62T ($600?): a little thin, quite bright, loosing clarity with large ensembles. It was just like a sales guy yelling at you in hope hope you get the message better...
- Arcam CD92T ($1,800): a whole different story. Bass much more firm than 62. Highs not harsh sounding. Much more micro-detail. The voice now sounded soo real, warm, with lots of body.
- Rega Planet 2000 ($1,000?): don't know what to say. I loved it's laid back behavior. Never at fault really. He was just not bragging like the other players. To compare to the sales guy again: this one had cought a cold I think. I was really not impressed with the resolution. I loved the bass though, maybe even more than Arcams. The soundstage was quite good too I think. But overall, this sounded too coloured with my rig, and just not detailed enough. Too polite!
At that end of these comparisons, two things. Well, one, my ears were fried. Two, I was considering an Arcam FMJ-23 (used for $1,500, new for $2,500?), based on the improvement noticed from CD-62T to CD-92T models. I had also read here that the FMJ-23 was way better than the lower end Arcam players.
Then, I saw this ad on Audiogon for a Meridian 588. This guy retails for $4,000 new, but I could get it for $2,100. I was not going to buy something I never heard, so I took the opportunity to drive to the seller since it was manageable. And, well, although I could not compare to the previous bunch of CD players tested a week before, I had no trouble to convince myself this was not the same league...
I bought the Meridian 588 for $2,100 very recently. Since then, I have been say, quite happy... What I mean there is that this this machine, although it looks really cool, is not an eye-catcher (shall I say ear-catcher). It won't blow you off unless you listen to an hyper dynamic classical recording. For such test, I've got the Symphonie no5 from Malher (conductor is Chailly - Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra) that is very tough test for the electronics (and transducers actually). Typically, everything falls apart during the fortissimo. However, if you've read my post on the Prehead, you may remember that this headphone amp does not lack juice when you ask him to reproduce a full bloom orchestra. And the Meridian did not make it easy for the Corda... The source is no less authoritative than the amp!!! Anyway, apart for this kind of special recordings where the Meridian is simply doing what one is asking, i.e waking you up, the general trend is a very subtil, fluid, non-agressive while very detailed sound.
You can guess that the Meridian manages to read every tiny bit of info on the CD because the spatial and reverberation clues as well as instruments timbre are soo stunning. It's like the whole atmosphere is palpable, you hear every last bit of reverberation, and instrument harmonics. I already had such impressions when testing the Corda-Prehead / Sennheiser HD600 combo with a crap CD player. But now, this is just palpable, life-like. The piano sounds like it is in my bedroom!!! Of course the bass is now much more firm and detailed, which is the least you could expect at that price
One thing I like is that you can spatially pinpoint any instrument you like (left /right as well as depth which is something I did not experience much in the past), and focus without any effort on it's share in the overall picture. But my most common reaction is to fall in the chair (well, on the bed actually cause I ain't got no good listening chair in my bedroom yet!), fix the ceiling (I am laying down
To conclude on the Meridian 588, I would say that, for my quite revealing rig (PreHead with the HD600), this is an absolute winner. There is enough detail to make you dig into each recording for ever. But there is no sign at all of digital harshness. This is the player that will make you forget about any high resolution format for years to come I believe...
Arnaud.
