I had a Meridian 861 v 4.2; with a G-98 transport; going into their HD621 switcher; which had the apodizing filter..using Bryston 28sst's monoblocks and analog speakers...found the Meridian gear very digital sounding; and it limited sending full frequency range into my analog rig..the music never seemed to sing...lack of base; no sparkle on the treble..ok; but sounded very veiled and digital.
Sold that; and got the PS audio wave transport and dac, now running into VAC tubed preamp; and also my Qsonix music 205 server thru the dac via balanced PAD cable...sound stage opened up as if by magic; much fuller frequency response, sparkling cymbals and warmth in the voices; awesome base, and the music server thru the digital input of the PSaudio dac is phenominal....so much more enjoyable; and less 'digital than when I used the Meridian...for a fraction of the cost... I have the dac only set on filter 1; the apodizing filte; have not found need to experiment with the other ones..Ilike this...of course; I did not make the investment in the meridian 808.ii or iii; i think Meridian works great in an all Meridian rig, with their speakers, etc; but lacks some magic when used with conventional analog amps and speakers...
just my two cents from living with both types of gear for a while; glad I saved the money; and got better sound...but your ears/your system, your money...all good choices...good luck.
Sold that; and got the PS audio wave transport and dac, now running into VAC tubed preamp; and also my Qsonix music 205 server thru the dac via balanced PAD cable...sound stage opened up as if by magic; much fuller frequency response, sparkling cymbals and warmth in the voices; awesome base, and the music server thru the digital input of the PSaudio dac is phenominal....so much more enjoyable; and less 'digital than when I used the Meridian...for a fraction of the cost... I have the dac only set on filter 1; the apodizing filte; have not found need to experiment with the other ones..Ilike this...of course; I did not make the investment in the meridian 808.ii or iii; i think Meridian works great in an all Meridian rig, with their speakers, etc; but lacks some magic when used with conventional analog amps and speakers...
just my two cents from living with both types of gear for a while; glad I saved the money; and got better sound...but your ears/your system, your money...all good choices...good luck.