808.2
Signature Reference Compact Disc Player
Product highlights
Highest quality CD player ever offered
by Meridian
Unique new proprietary filter with
‘apodizing’ performance realises the
promise of Compact Disc
New, improved DSP, CPU, clocking,
decoding, buffering and analogue
circuitry
SpeakerLink RJ45 single-wire audio/
control interfacing capability
808.2 Player-only version, or 808.2i
Player/Preamplifier version including
built-in stereo preamp functionality
S/PDIF coaxial and RJ45 balanced
(AES/EBU) digital outputs for
connection to Meridian DSP
Loudspeakers or controllers
Meridian is the acknowledged leader in
high-performance Compact Disc playback,
and has held that pre-eminent position since
the release of the world’s first audiophile CD
player, the MCD, in 1984. Over the last two
decades, Meridian has introduced no less
than two dozen CD player models, each one
better than the last; each one redefining the
state of the Compact Disc art.
The 808 was the best CD player we had
ever made – until the 808.2. For a quarter
of a century, Meridian has been making the
finest audiophile CD players. And now, with
the 808.2, we have made our best ever.
Balanced and unbalanced
analogue outputs, fixed or variable for
connection to preamp or power amp
Meridian has been deeply involved in
developing technologies for higher quality
sound and for higher resolution delivery.
In fact, our technology was chosen to give
the ultimate sound on DVD and blue-laser
formats.
This steady process of improving CD
performance has been recognized by more
than 50 awards and has made Meridian
absolutely synonymous with the very best in
Compact Disc.
But, for a music lover the over-riding factors
in selecting content are first the catalogue,
then quality and finally convenience.
The 808 was introduced in 2004 to
immediate acclaim. Meridian hailed it as the
best CD player they had ever made. But,
since then, developments in technology and
innovations conceived in Meridian’s own R&D
laboratories have made it possible to better
even the best.
CD has an amazing depth of catalogue,
and if you are looking for a piece of music,
chances are that it’s on Compact Disc, and
that you have a choice of recordings. You
may find a download, but the quality or value
will likely be lower and no matter how fine
a new niche format may sound, if the music
you want isn’t available, then it has only
passing interest.
Meridian Audio Limited
Latham Road, Huntingdon
Cambridgeshire PE29 6YE, UK
T +44(0)1480 445678
F +44(0)1480 445686
Now, Meridian introduces the 808.2: a proud
member of the 800 Reference Series and one
specifically developed to render the ultimate
performance possible today from the CD
medium.
Meridian America Inc.
8055 Troon Circle, Suite C
Austell, GA 30168-7849, USA
T +1(404) 344 7111
All the more reason, then, to continue our
quest to make Compact Disc sound the
very best it can. 808.2 inherits Meridian’s
25-year tradition of award-winning players,
yet sets a whole new benchmark.
F +1(404) 346 7111
808.2
Signature Reference Compact Disc Player
The press on Meridian’s CD players…
Why the 808?
48-bit internal precision. This is ‘true’ DSP
upsampling, completely redesigned for the
808.2 and unlike anything else available in
the marketplace. This upsampling allows
conversion-related filtering to take place
far above the limits of human hearing, so
there are no artefacts added to the sound –
simply the pure music.
Meridian decided to introduce the 808
Signature Reference Compact Disc Player
for several reasons. We have been both
surprised and pleased by increasing
levels of interest in our popular G Series
CD players: this tells us that there is a
strong element of listeners who do not
want pictures or complications attached
to their music enjoyment, and wish to take
advantage of the extensive selection that is
available on no medium, to date, other than
Compact Disc.
Meridian CD Player
“…a breakthrough for CD players. …[Soundstage] is
where the Meridian renders the competition irrelevant
and worthless.”
— The Absolute Sound, Winter 1985
Meridian Pro-MCD
“I suspect that [the Meridian Pro-MCD] will be the first
CD player to be regarded as a ‘classic’!”
—Hi-Fi News & Record Review, Feb 1986
The 808.2 employs the latest, exquisite
multi-bit over-sampled delta-sigma D/A
converters, combined with a matching
proprietary analogue output stage of the
highest quality, completely redesigned for
the 808.2.
Meridian 207
“The original Pro-MCD set the benchmark in its day,
but the 207-Pro was the radical step, placing Meridian
for all time in the CD player hall of fame.”
—Hi-Fi Choice, June 1990
Thus the 808.2 is offered as an exquisite
CD-only player, embodying the very best of
our art and technology. And the 808.2 is a
‘signature’ model – each one hand-signed
by Meridian’s founders, Robert Stuart and
Allen Boothroyd.
“There is nothing else on the market remotely like the
Meridian 207… It is…one of the finest-sounding CD
players on the market.”
Delivering the promise of CD
—Sydney Morning Herald, Aug 1988
The new model includes many other
new features, including the RJ45-based
SpeakerLink interfacing system, allowing
a direct single-cable link from the 808.2
to Meridian DSP speakers via convenient,
easily-installed CAT-5 cabling. But the
most significant is the new, proprietary
digital filter system developed by Meridian
and included for the first time in the new
808.2.
Meridian 602/606
“In Meridian we might be looking at a company that
has a real contribution to make towards raising CD
performance.”
Meridian’s 808.2 is the latest in a series of
optical disc players that use a specially-
selected ROM drive for reading. The
ROM drive allows multiple passes to be
made, ensuring that the correct data are
recovered from the disc and improving
Compact Disc’s error-correction a
hundredfold. It also allows complete
buffering of the recovered data.
—Audiophile, June 1991
“…the 602 [via the 606] was damn near impossible to
fault… Its resolution of the subtlest treble details was
intricate to the point of being exquisite… the 602/606
turned out to be a very ‘special’ combination.”
—Hi-Fi Choice, July 1991
Meridian 508
High-resolution audio prefers sample rates
and bit depths higher than the 44.1kHz 16-
bit CD format. For this reason our top-end
CD players have incorporated resolution
enhancement that includes upsampling.
808.2 perfectly upscales its outputs
to 176.4kHz and 24 bits, significantly
improving the sound.
“…the Meridian 508.24…the world’s best single-box
player and used as a reference machine by renowned
US publication Stereophile… brings out aspects of
music that most players can merely hint at…”
—Audio & Video Lifestyle, 1999
To ensure the lowest possible jitter, 808.2
incorporates an entirely new clocking
regime and employs three buffers, two of
which are used as FIFOs in a completely
redesigned buffering environment.
“…the 508.24’s measured performance reveals that
Bob Stuart and his talented digital design team have
done a fabulous job.”
—Stereophile, May 1998
By the time the data is passed to the DACs
or the digital output, the jitter is incredibly
low – in fact 808.2 has the lowest jitter
we have ever measured on a CD player:
even better than the original 808’s 90
picoseconds, with the jitter spectrum held
below 0.1Hz.
But upsampling alone cannot improve on
one aspect of CD: the original sampling
rate of the recording. Digital audio captures
sound up to half the sample rate and
you have to filter out any meaningless
information above that frequency (22kHz in
the case of CD).
Meridian 800
“…the 800 is perhaps the finest overall CD player I’ve
ever laid ears on. When you consider that there are
some CD-only players round that demand this outlay,
the price tag doesn’t seem all that eye-watering…
Takes audio to another level…. Without doubt the
finest optical disc playing system we’ve encountered.”
—HiFi World, December 2002
“…I found that the Meridian… was clearly superior…
not just to my reference components, but to any other
CD front ends that I’ve auditioned or reviewed.…
The performance of Meridian’s 800/861 with CDs is
superior to the performance you get with the great
majority of SACDs
The signal path includes proprietary error
correction and concealment, and Meridian’s
acclaimed ‘Resolution Enhancement’
DSP, in which the original 44.1kHz, 16-bit
audio is upsampled to 176.4kHz, 24-bit in
a new 150MIPs processor operating with
Traditionally, the steep filters required to
do this job have audibly degraded the
sound. The earliest analogue filters caused
enormous phase shifts at high frequencies,
and with digital linear-phase filters a big
issue was the introduction of pre-echoes.
and DVD-As through any player.”
—Absolute Sound, December 2003
Meridian 808
“The 808 is worth every penny asked for it. …this deck
is head and shoulders above almost everything else
I have ever heard. It’s beautiful, well built and sounds
wonderful… After listening to this player for the last
three months at least six (sometimes 10-12) hours a
day, I’m still as infatuated with it as the day it arrived.
The main thing is that the Meridian 808 is an extremely
musical player that gets it right on all levels.”
—Tone Audio, Issue 8, 2007
Each 808.2 unit is individually hand-signed by the founders of Meridian,
Bob Stuart and Allen Boothroyd.
808.2
Signature Reference Compact Disc Player
808.2 rear panel – the 808.2i is shown, with analogue and digital inputs
Meridian’s goal was to invent a technology
that stripped away this fundamental
limitation in the making of the CD, taking the
listener right back to the original higher-
resolution sound – no mean ambition,
nor a trivial task. But Meridian’s founder,
Bob Stuart, was sure that high-definition
sound could be achieved without excessive
sample rates – if the filters were right.
Bob authored an Audio Engineering Society
paper on high definition audio in 2004 in
which he recommended the development
of ‘apodizing’ filters – filters that were
minimum phase, with no ripple, causing no
pre-echo: and thus offering perfect timing.
He predicted they would even be able to fix
problems in the origination process itself.
Additional panel controls are accessed via the front left flap nerxt to the main controls.
Outline Specifications
Comms
• Two 5-pin 240° DIN sockets for Meridian
Comms, and RS232 full remote/configuration
interface. Three programmable 12v trigger
outputs. RJ45 for single-cable connection to
other Meridian equipment.
THD & Noise
• Better than –96dBFS
Mechanism
• Triple-beam laser, multi-speed CD/DVD-ROM
transport
Construction
• Black lacquer or satin silver finish in metal &
glass
Meridian’s research team designed an
exquisite new filter based on this research
– a filter with ‘apodizing-like’ qualities (you
can’t do a true apodizing filter for 44.1kHz
sampling) – and its first appearance is
in the 808.2. It needs significant DSP to
deliver, using much of the power of the
player’s 150MIPS main processor. This
filter system is so effective that it can even
correct errors made in the recording or
mastering stage – CDs played back on the
808.2 can sound even better than they did
in the studio!
Converters
• 192kHz-capable, 24-bit, Delta Sigma converters
operating at 4 x CD sample rate (176.4kHz)
Controls
• Front-panel keys for Open/Close, Play, Stop,
Pause, Previous, Next, On/Off. Additional
controls behind hinged front access cover
include Repeat, Fast Forward/Reverse, Display,
Mute, Volume Up/Down, Store/Clear; Source.
Full remote control via MSR+, RS232
Stereo Outputs
• Analogue: 1 unbalanced on phono, 1 balanced
on XLR-3M: 2.3V rms fixed/variable, Class A,
47Ω impedance
Digital: coax unbalanced (S/PDIF), RJ45
balanced (AES/EBU) digital interface for
single-cable connection of other Meridian
equipment. Operating at up to 2 x CD sample
rate (88.2kHz), 24-bit with MHR option.
Display
• 20-character dot matrix display with adjustable
brightness and contrast. Indicators for Phase,
Repeat and EQ (emphasis).
Stereo Inputs
• (808i only) Analogue: 6 unbalanced on phono.
Digital S/PDIF: 3 coax and 2 Toslink optical
Dimensions
• 480mm (18.9in) x 175mm (6.9in) x 411mm
(16.2in) (whd)
Bob Harley, editor of The Absolute Sound,
reported: “CDs played through the 808.2
and the new DSP7200 active DSP
loudspeaker sounded like high-resolution
recordings”. Why not listen for yourself?
Formats
• CD Audio (CD-DA), CD-R, CD-R/W
Power
• Universal power supply for 100–240Vac,
50/60Hz, 25W
808.2DS v2.0 • P88357 • 20080729 REƒ
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