I am no longer a source virgin: The Meridian G07 has landed...

[DanG]

Thanks for the link -- needless to say, I was surprised to find that two and a half years ago I posted a response to that article. Must have read it in my last search, too! Might be why I cooled a bit to the idea of picking up a 507.

I'm afraid I won't end up settling for anything less than a 508.20. Maybe I should give one of the non-upsampling options a try.

 

[recstar24]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanG Thanks for the link -- needless to say, I was surprised to find that two and a half years ago I posted a response to that article. Must have read it in my last search, too! Might be why I cooled a bit to the idea of picking up a 507. I'm afraid I won't end up settling for anything less than a 508.20. Maybe I should give one of the non-upsampling options a try.

I think that would be a great and wise decision on your end. CPW speaks very highly of his 508.20's, and the 508.24 has been such a standard in redbook playback for such a long time, especially within the meridian line-up.

 

[RHMMMM]

Quote:

I think that would be a great and wise decision on your end. CPW speaks very highly of his 508.20's, and the 508.24 has been such a standard in redbook playback for such a long time, especially within the meridian line-up.

I heart my 588

. It's hard to go wrong with a Meridian.

 

[seankonnery]

Oh my, I can't believe what I did. I ordered the GO7. I sent back the Benchmark DAC1 and ordered the Meridian GO7!

My justification:

I needed a better transport anyway.
I would have bought a better amp for home use anyway.
My upgraditis will stop finally now because I will be so impressed with the sound of my new Meridian for home, (and my new UE 10 Pro for portable).

What did I do? I am shaking. My wife is surely going to hold this against me for a long time...But I really don't care. I NEED it the SQ for my relaxation. I know what decent sound is. I grew up with music all around me. My life is so stressful right now I could write a novel about it that would make your hair stand up!

Can anyone relate?

Wish me luck.

 

[recstar24]

Quote:

Originally Posted by seankonnery Oh my, I can't believe what I did. I ordered the GO7. I sent back the Benchmark DAC1 and ordered the Meridian GO7! My justification: I needed a better transport anyway. I would have bought a better amp for home use anyway. My upgraditis will stop finally now because I will be so impressed with the sound of my new Meridian for home, (and my new UE 10 Pro for portable). What did I do? I am shaking. My wife is surely going to hold this against me for a long time...But I really don't care. I NEED it the SQ for my relaxation. I know what decent sound is. I grew up with music all around me. My life is so stressful right now I could write a novel about it that would make your hair stand up! Can anyone relate? Wish me luck.

IMO you will NOT be disappointed - the upgrade-itis is definitely over and subsided in me in terms of source, its simply a reassuring feeling knowing you have a source that you simply wont replace, when your front end is top notch a lot of SQ things take care of themselves, congrats!

 

[tyrion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by seankonnery Oh my, I can't believe what I did. I ordered the GO7. I sent back the Benchmark DAC1 and ordered the Meridian GO7! My justification: I needed a better transport anyway. I would have bought a better amp for home use anyway. My upgraditis will stop finally now because I will be so impressed with the sound of my new Meridian for home, (and my new UE 10 Pro for portable). What did I do? I am shaking. My wife is surely going to hold this against me for a long time...But I really don't care. I NEED it the SQ for my relaxation. I know what decent sound is. I grew up with music all around me. My life is so stressful right now I could write a novel about it that would make your hair stand up! Can anyone relate? Wish me luck.

Congrats on the new source. Buying a new source was the best upgrade I've made to my system.

 

[GoRedwings19]

Quote:

Originally Posted by recstar24 IMO you will NOT be disappointed - the upgrade-itis is definitely over and subsided in me in terms of source, its simply a reassuring feeling knowing you have a source that you simply wont replace, when your front end is top notch a lot of SQ things take care of themselves, congrats!

You have a very good and valid point apart from one minor detail. What happens when you want to go higher!!!

Your cd player samples higher than mine!!! Mine is 20 bit/44.1 that's it. I don't really like the sound of upsampling players as it sounds artificial and more "digitised", IMO. But I am so glad you are happy with your new source.

 

[recstar24]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoRedwings19 You have a very good and valid point apart from one minor detail. What happens when you want to go higher!!! Your cd player samples higher than mine!!! Mine is 20 bit/44.1 that's it. I don't really like the sound of upsampling players as it sounds artificial and more "digitised", IMO. But I am so glad you are happy with your new source.

I know I pm'd you, but i was just thinking about something. Since most music is recorded at 16bit/44.1, shouldnt that sampling be more than plenty? would it actually be truer to the recording since the sampling rate on the cd would be exactly what the sampling rate of the recording was?

To me, 24bit/192 is more than plenty, and considering how much it would cost to go up to an upsampling player like a G08 that goes up to like 776, thats a little too hardcore for me and the wallet

 

[PATB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoRedwings19 I don't really like the sound of upsampling players as it sounds artificial and more "digitised", IMO.

That is also my opinion of the upsampling Musical Fidelity I auditioned (forgot the model no). But the Meridian upsampling actually makes the sound a lot less digitized. Very liquid smooth, too smooth for some though.

 

[PATB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by seankonnery Oh my, I can't believe what I did. I ordered the GO7. I sent back the Benchmark DAC1 and ordered the Meridian GO7! My justification: I needed a better transport anyway. I would have bought a better amp for home use anyway. My upgraditis will stop finally now because I will be so impressed with the sound of my new Meridian for home, (and my new UE 10 Pro for portable). What did I do? I am shaking. My wife is surely going to hold this against me for a long time...But I really don't care. I NEED it the SQ for my relaxation. I know what decent sound is. I grew up with music all around me. My life is so stressful right now I could write a novel about it that would make your hair stand up! Can anyone relate? Wish me luck.

Congrats on the new source. A year from now, when you have forgotten how much you paid for the G07, you will still be enjoying it with your favorite CDs. BTW, wait till you plug that UE10 in your Meridian!

 

[GoRedwings19]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PATB That is also my opinion of the upsampling Musical Fidelity I auditioned (forgot the model no). But the Meridian upsampling actually makes the sound a lot less digitized. Very liquid smooth, too smooth for some though.

Yes thinking back the Tri-vista sounds digitised compared to the ML. And the DCS it was so smoothed out it was dull and I do mean that in every sense of the word.

 

[seankonnery]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PATB BTW, wait till you plug that UE10 in your Meridian!

Does that mean I don't need my senn hd650 anymore? Was that overkill? Can I just use the UE for portable and home, and therefore sell the 650?

 

[philodox]

Congrats on the new source. I just ordered mine.

I am really interested in hearing my Eastsound CD-E5 as it is supposed to share some of the elements that the Meridian players have. Can't wait to have a decent home source.

 

[PATB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by seankonnery Does that mean I don't need my senn hd650 anymore? Was that overkill? Can I just use the UE for portable and home, and therefore sell the 650?

Some people use their UE10, Sensas with their home rig for isolation or just because of the sound signature. The HD650 complements an IEM, so don't sell it. The HD650 can be put ON and OFF much easier than an IEM. I say keep both.

 

[recstar24]

Well, figured I might resurrect this thread after i've spent a couple of months already with my G07.

This source rocks, plain and simple, and has been great in staving off the upgradeitus. Thought about the eastsound, the modwright 999es, a naim, nope, you ain't prying my meridian away from me, unless i hear a source 1st hand that clearly bests the G07 at a meet or whatever, this babdoy is staying.

Some highlights that I've observed about the G07 the past couple of months:

1) TONS of air - I love hearing air between the notes and feeling the recording venue, its simply wonderful. Its like there is no restriction to the soundstage, and the meridian allows notes to simply rise and fall accordingly and at times they appear to image totally out there. The cd images very well and places sounds right on.

2) Warm, yet detailed - I love the warm but detailed sound signature, and have synergized my whole rig around this simple concept. I believe that you can have all the detail in the world, with complete and utter transparency and neutrality, but that it doesnt need to be shoved down your throat, while at the same time standing just a tad over on the warm side of the fence of neutrality. The G07 lets everything shine through, but its relaxed and smooth, such a nice sound to me.

3) Nothing really jumps out at you in terms of the frequency response. Its just a solid player, great bass, mids, and highs, and not one of them is better or more worse than each other.

4) This player can rock - im using the grados right now, rs-1 and hp2, and to me my rig rocks plenty, nice impact and great attack, prat seems right on as well. But it handles tons of stuff i throw at it - hard rock, metal, indie rock, jazz, afro-cuban, latin, hip hop

5) its one smooth operator - meridians are known for their smooth sound and the G07 doesnt dissappoint.

The meridian is kind of like a sennheiser 650 of sources- its smooth, relatively linear and balanced response, handles lots of music very well, relaxed and slightly warm presentation, i can see why people like it and why people dont like it as well. With the sennheiser 650's and G07, that's a little bit too much of a good thing for me personally, but i feel the grados like the rs-1 and hp2 give the sound just the right amount of kick, drive, and prat that it could use for rockier music. HP2's in particular are getting much more love than my poor rs-1's, sorry buds you simply can't compete with these beasts of burden.