[drarthurwells]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Icarium /img/forum/go_quote.gif Uh, I don't think any of those people remotely said anything close to suggesting that they feel the Saturn sounds good.

That's right - they are saying the Saturn sounds better.

The people who I have consulted with in the past, and who know both well, say the Saturn sounds better than the G08.

That is also what many people have said on this forum and this thread.

Too many people are blinded by the halo effect - a more expensive model must sound better than its less expensive rival.

I find that rule broken all the time when I actually do extended listening to both, and go beyond their price tags in my sonic evaluations. So many can't get past the price tags.

 

[Icarium]

That post was referring to the guy who was laughing because he thought two people were making the suggestion that the G08 needed $9,000 dollar cables to equal the Saturn when in reality they were not saying anything about the Saturn only remarking about their experiences with the G08.

 

[tourmaline]

While you need some decent money for good sound, you don't need huge amounts of money to get really good sound.

If you listen and compare alot, you know what's worth the money or what isn't. Higher pricetag doesn't guarantee better sound per se. Some people with money need bling, expensive rigs, not put together that well and can sound worse then much less expensive, better matched systems. Wouldn't be the first time i heard it.

I heard some really great very expensive rigs though. But if it would that much less good if you would spend half the money, i doubt it. Matching cables and carefully matching components is most important. Amp and source are really important. Crap in is still crap out. 2000 dollars will buy you a very good transport or cdplayer. I have no doubt a 10.000 dollar player could be a little better; nowhere near accordance the higher price. But we all know that the last 5% will cost you dearly in the audio industry.

Most players still have a digital signature, the rega has not a digital sound signature and people need to adjust to that. Over the past 25 years we have become adjusted to the harsh sound of digital equipment, we need to train the ears again for natural sound.

 

[NMyTree]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Icarium /img/forum/go_quote.gif That post was referring to the guy who was laughing because he thought two people were making the suggestion that the G08 needed $9,000 dollar cables to equal the Saturn when in reality they were not saying anything about the Saturn only remarking about their experiences with the G08.

I knew exactly what was being said.

My point was that a $4,000.00 player requires $9,000.00 worth of cables to satisfy that guy's sound goal or to reach it's "best ".

I threw in that quip about the Saturn, just to make a point.

Seems rather silly to deminsh or denegrate a $2,500.00 player, when comparing it to a $4,000.00 player. Then for someone to come along and say it required an additional $9,000.00 worth of cabling and quite some to time to "warm to that player's sound", makes it that much more silly; within the context of trying to slam the Rega Saturn.

When comparing apples to apples, it really does come off as snobbery and it does come off as foolish. If someone is proud to have paid 4 grand for a player, then spend an additional 9 grand on cables to get the sound they desire; then, good for them. Within this context, I would argue that they probably made the wrong choice in buying the Merdian G08, in the first place.

But hey, that's just me

 

[bhd812]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daltonlanny /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi Icarium and BHD812, I would also like to know in what ways the Saturn is so inferior to the Meridian or other players, or "mid-fi". Fill me in, give me details! The lowly Rega Apollo that I owned competed very favorably with my best friends Esoteric DV-50 in several areas, believe it or not. Sure the DV-50 was overall slightly superior in some areas, but only by a gnats a#$. Oh well, Even if the unit is "mid-fi", I cannot complain... I got a great deal on a brand new unit that is well below the retail price.

ok let me explain my reason little more into detail, i usually give the quick one liners cause i care not to give to involved...sorry.

First off youll be happy with the Saturn as i said before its a great player. i never tried or attempted to say the Saturn blows balls or anything..no

the reason why i said its in another League is because Rega the brand to start off is really a mid-fi brand. they are along the lines of NAD, Arcam, Music hall, Naim, Rotel, etc. while Meridian (either know they market their products to the "out of the box setup themselves" crowd.) are along the lines of Esoteric, Cary, Wadia, Mark Levinson, Classe, Accuphase, Ayre Acoustics, etc. I remember walking into a Watch store one Day and checking out a $7,000.00 plus Baume et mercier Watch. the dealer told me how many would consider the brand still "pseudo luxury" and even at its price and performance level its still in a different league as a Panerai or some other luxury watch. Regardless of the price or performance of one or two of the companies products the brand Baume et mercier is still not a looked to be a true luxury piece...never will be neither.

does this matter to your ears? after all your ears don't care about brand levels do they?

I am going to answer this with an interesting comparison I did while back of two Meridian products. one of the my best friend in Audio i ever had and i used to argue back and forth about the sonic percentage of how better the Meridian 808 can be over the G08. we were both G08 owners at the time and neither of us actually heard the the 808 but instead we heard everyone saying the 808 is this % better then the G08. fast forward some time I finally got to do a direct comparison using gear i know and own in the entire line. i sat down and listened to the g08 to make sure its what i know from home, then i listened to the 808 using the same exact gear in the rest of the line.
after i compare the two players from the same company i walked away knowing the 808 is in an entirely different league as the g08, its in a different ball park instead of how much % better one is to the other.

before we go further understand i am saying the G08 VS 808 is on different levels in performance but i am not saying one sounds bad nor one sounds great to the other. just like the Saturn as i said it is a great player but not in the same league.

did i explain it better now?

 

[daltonlanny]

bhd812,
Sure, I understand your point and what you are saying very clearly, but...on the other hand, many folks will totally disagree with you when you state that the Meridian G08 is in "a different league" than the Saturn, or that the Saturn is "mid-fi" compared to the G08.
As you have read on this thread there are several people who have stated that they actually PREFER the Saturn to the $1,600.00 [at least] more expensive G08.
Since that is true, I would have to disagree with you that the G08 is in a higher class or in "a different league" than the Saturn.
The right thing to say would have been that the Saturn and the G08 are "basically in the same class, just different".
I also personally know several people who actually prefer the Saturn to either the Ayre CX-7e, or the Esoteric DV-50, among others.
There are also several people who would disagree with you when you state that the top Arcam or Naim players are "mid-fi" as well.
I still feel that the Saturn is a so called "mid-fi" bargain, especially considering what I paid for a brand new unit, compared to all the exotic "hi-fi" players you mentioned.
Furthermore, I still think the lowly Rega Apollo is "hi-fi" compared to most all players in its price class and even above. I would not call it "mid-fi" at all.
And I feel that calling players that are ranked very highly by their reputation, owners, and reviewers for that matter, "mid-fi", is unfair and rather snobbish.
Again, as I said before, to each his own.

 

[tom hankins]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhd812 /img/forum/go_quote.gif ok let me explain my reason little more into detail, i usually give the quick one liners cause i care not to give to involved...sorry. First off youll be happy with the Saturn as i said before its a great player. i never tried or attempted to say the Saturn blows balls or anything..no the reason why i said its in another League is because Rega the brand to start off is really a mid-fi brand. they are along the lines of NAD, Arcam, Music hall, Naim, Rotel, etc. while Meridian (either know they market their products to the "out of the box setup themselves" crowd.) are along the lines of Esoteric, Cary, Wadia, Mark Levinson, Classe, Accuphase, Ayre Acoustics, etc. I remember walking into a Watch store one Day and checking out a $7,000.00 plus Baume et mercier Watch. the dealer told me how many would consider the brand still "pseudo luxury" and even at its price and performance level its still in a different league as a Panerai or some other luxury watch. Regardless of the price or performance of one or two of the companies products the brand Baume et mercier is still not a looked to be a true luxury piece...never will be neither. does this matter to your ears? after all your ears don't care about brand levels do they? I am going to answer this with an interesting comparison I did while back of two Meridian products. one of the my best friend in Audio i ever had and i used to argue back and forth about the sonic percentage of how better the Meridian 808 can be over the G08. we were both G08 owners at the time and neither of us actually heard the the 808 but instead we heard everyone saying the 808 is this % better then the G08. fast forward some time I finally got to do a direct comparison using gear i know and own in the entire line. i sat down and listened to the g08 to make sure its what i know from home, then i listened to the 808 using the same exact gear in the rest of the line. after i compare the two players from the same company i walked away knowing the 808 is in an entirely different league as the g08, its in a different ball park instead of how much % better one is to the other. before we go further understand i am saying the G08 VS 808 is on different levels in performance but i am not saying one sounds bad nor one sounds great to the other. just like the Saturn as i said it is a great player but not in the same league. did i explain it better now?

Personally I think rega is a cut above most on your list as far as refinment and overall sound quality in general. But that would be my opinion. Price wise I guess they would be competing with the other companies you mentioned. However....
Naim MID-FI?!?!
NAP500 amp$22K. NAC552 preamp $22K, NAC52 w/ps $11.5K, CD52 $11.5K, CD53 w/ps $15.5K CD555 $28K, DBL speakers $30K, SL2 speakers $12K. They have always had super high dollar products, and catered to the high-end.

 

[tourmaline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daltonlanny /img/forum/go_quote.gif bhd812, Sure, I understand your point and what you are saying very clearly, but...on the other hand, many folks will totally disagree with you when you state that the Meridian G08 is in "a different league" than the Saturn, or that the Saturn is "mid-fi" compared to the G08. As you have read on this thread there are several people who have stated that they actually PREFER the Saturn to the $1,600.00 [at least] more expensive G08. Since that is true, I would have to disagree with you that the G08 is in a higher class or in "a different league" than the Saturn. The right thing to say would have been that the Saturn and the G08 are "basically in the same class, just different". I also personally know several people who actually prefer the Saturn to either the Ayre CX-7e, or the Esoteric DV-50, among others. There are also several people who would disagree with you when you state that the top Arcam or Naim players are "mid-fi" as well. I still feel that the Saturn is a so called "mid-fi" bargain, especially considering what I paid for a brand new unit, compared to all the exotic "hi-fi" players you mentioned. Furthermore, I still think the lowly Rega Apollo is "hi-fi" compared to most all players in its price class and even above. I would not call it "mid-fi" at all. And I feel that calling players that are ranked very highly by their reputation, owners, and reviewers for that matter, "mid-fi", is unfair and rather snobbish. Again, as I said before, to each his own.

The people that like the g08 are still used to electronic sound. The rega is analoguesounding and therefor persieved less detailed it's not.

After 25 years we need to train the ears again for analogue, non harsh sound.

 

[bhd812]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tourmaline /img/forum/go_quote.gif The people that like the g08 are still used to electronic sound. The rega is analoguesounding and therefor persieved less detailed it's not. After 25 years we need to train the ears again for analogue, non harsh sound.

i thought the g08 sounded closer to a vinyl sound and the Rega sounded to digital...


think its time i get me a Saturn for an in home demo..

 

[bhd812]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tom hankins /img/forum/go_quote.gif Personally I think rega is a cut above most on your list as far as refinment and overall sound quality in general. But that would be my opinion. Price wise I guess they would be competing with the other companies you mentioned. However.... Naim MID-FI?!?! NAP500 amp$22K. NAC552 preamp $22K, NAC52 w/ps $11.5K, CD52 $11.5K, CD53 w/ps $15.5K CD555 $28K, DBL speakers $30K, SL2 speakers $12K. They have always had super high dollar products, and catered to the high-end.

escue me on the misstake dear Tom..you get my point

 

[drarthurwells]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daltonlanny /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hello all, To all who have owned both, or compared them head-to-head: I was just wondering what the sonic differences are between the Rega Saturn and the Meridian G08? Thanks!

I don't trust anyone who has only just auditioned a component - even if for hours - head-to-head or not.

AB testing, unless the periods of A and B or a week or more each, can be very misleading. Sure, if you briefly audition with AB switching you will reliably detect big differences - but not many subtle (and critical) differences.

Extensive listening over weeks is needed - in the same home system - to detect subtle differences.

Be careful of opinions from those who have not done extensive listening to the component they are evaluating.

 

[fishski13]

Quote:

Originally Posted by drarthurwells /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't trust anyone who has only just auditioned a component - even if for hours - head-to-head or not. AB testing, unless the periods of A and B or a week or more each, can be very misleading. Sure, if you briefly audition with AB switching you will reliably detect big differences - but not many subtle (and critical) differences. Extensive listening over weeks is needed - in the same home system - to detect subtle differences. Be careful of opinions from those who have not done extensive listening to the component they are evaluating.

x2.

btw, i also think that some consumers are more sensitive to image branding than others. in the end it doesn't matter - perception is reality.

PACE

 

[tourmaline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishski13 /img/forum/go_quote.gif x2. btw, i also think that some consumers are more sensitive to image branding than others. in the end it doesn't matter - perception is reality. PACE

Not the perception in sound quality, some sound simply better then others.

but you're right that most still are brand blind and purchase something with a name on it. Just buy what SOUNDS best.

 

[vcoheda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by drarthurwells /img/forum/go_quote.gif AB testing, unless the periods of A and B are a week or more each, can be very misleading. Sure, if you briefly audition with AB switching you will reliably detect big differences - but not many subtle (and critical) differences.

this is very true.

 

[wower]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tourmaline /img/forum/go_quote.gif The people that like the g08 are still used to electronic sound. The rega is analoguesounding and therefor persieved less detailed it's not.

Rega's are a bit thin in the field over here in Japan. Regardless, reading reviews, all have stated the extreme detail this player digs out of CDs, while still - I guess it could be said - retaining it's "analogue sound". If anyone would like to speak to this point I would be appreciative (as I'm sure others would too) because this player is on a short list for me when I get back.