It's hard to beat Meridian, the 508.24 is excellent, so is the 566 DAC which I have coupled with the 200 transport (same as the 508 just 2 boxes instead of 1). I still have the discontinued 263 bitstream DAC and it is outstanding also. I will say this both DAC's IMO sound better with a Meridian transport which would now be the 500 as the 200 has been discontinued. Good luck in your choice.
Any advice on CD player upgrade?
I am looking to upgrade my CD player. My system is as follows: Bryston 3b-St Power Amp, Bryston BP20 Preamp, B&W Nautilus 805 Speakers, Arcam Alpha 7 CD Player. Cables are Kimber KCAG Balaned Interconnect (preamp-poweramp), Kimber PJB (CD to Pre), and Stealth PC Premier speaker cables. I think the CD Player is clearly the weak component, but would also consider getting a second 3b-st for bi-amping. I'm looking at the following contenders (used if I can :-)): Linn Ikemi, BAT, Sonic Frontiers SFCD, Meridian 508-24, Naim CDX, Wadia 830 or 850. Let me know if any of you have recommendations here. Thanks!! John.