I had the Meridian 506.20 in the house for a few weeks, and it was really nice, big deep soundstage, detailed, smooth, built like a tank, but something was bothering me. I kept jumping up to change disks, something wasn't right and I couldn't relax to enjoy the music. Finally I realized what was wrong. The bass! It had no punch, no impact! In fact after continued listening it seemed that over all, this player softened the leading edge of transients all through the range. Drums sounded as if they were being hit with cloth mallets instead of wooden drumsticks. I believe this is what was giving the impression of smoothness.
Anyhow I was pissed that I had spent almost 2 grand and had a player with problems like this, so I sent it back. (I live very far from any real dealers, so I do a lot of mail order).

Turns out the dealer had recommended the Meridian over the Theta since he used Spectral gear and it matched well with a brighter brand of electronics.
I ordered the Theta, that the dealer talked me out of in the first place, and I am hoping that this will be a better match.

I suppose if you have smaller speakers or a system that's on the bright and edgy side this player might be for you. Also, this player excells on acoustic instruments and jazz, but it dosen't like to rock and roll one bit.

I'm giving this player 3 stars due to the fact that a machine that costs this much shouldn't be this far off the mark and sutable only for certan systems.

Lets get one thing clear. This player is placed into the market competing with others like the Marantz CD 17 KIS. I have tried them both and liked them both.So why did I buy the Meridian ?

As with all HiFi equipments its down to preference.
The Marantz is punchy and much more lively than the
Meridian but I am not looking for that sort of thing.

The Meridian is an extremly smooth and above all, DETAILED player.
It deserves 5 points but I can only give 4 because its has lost
to excitement the Marantz can convey.

Looking forward to upgrading to 24bit Dac when it comes out

Detailed.

Lacks bass punch and natural timbre.

A dealer in Long Island was kind enough to lend me a 506-20 for a weekend and at first I was impressed by it's refined and detailed sound but realized after two days that it was lacking in deep bass and bass punch. My system consists of Apogee mini grands that is a full range system. Music that I knew had a lot of bass sounded thin compared to the other players I auditioned. Granted this player was less than most of the others, I was hoping to save some money. The Wadia and Sonic had more natural timbers as well. Especially with strings. The Meridian sounded polite, but not engaging enough. It's something you would probably end up upgrading in less than a year.

Similar Products Used:

Sonic Frontiers SFCD-1, Wadia 23, ARC CD-1, Cal Icon Power Boss