Meridan 861 v4 & 800 v4 compared to Meitner or Lev


Has anyone here had a bit of experience comparing the New Meridian Reference DVD player and 861 compared to the likes of the EMM Labs Meitner gear with reference preamp from maybe Mark Levinson or Halcro? I would like to know just how good the cd playback is. Thanks for your comments.
adidadi
Indeed.

I was running the 861/800 (both v.4/v.3 respectively - the latest and greatest version with room correction, which sold) as well as the Levinson 40 (for sale now) / 30.6 / 31.5 (currently for sale) all powered with the same amps (Levinson 33's - fronts, 33H center, and 336 surround) and recently the 5 pack of 436's (for sale now).

I felt the Meridian was a touch more out in front of you, where the Levinson was more 'relaxing'. That being said, I prefer the Meridian set.

Speakers at the time were Wilson 6/7's, B&W Sig 800s, Duntech Sovereign, Aerial 20Ts, and finally the JBL K2.
I have found the magic to my room and ears ends with the JBL K2, SDP-40 (no, not a Lexicon MC-12B rebadged, much more) with the S-800's bridged per speaker (yes, JBL amplification) to be the ticket for me!

Thus, all the speakers mentioned above are gone (or going) as well as the processors/preamps/CD/DVD's.

Now, is the SDP-40 better than the Levinson or Meridian?
No, just different. But, head to head between the Meridian/Levinson, I prefer the 861/800. At times I wish I hadn't sold my set.

Dan
Thanks for the comments. I heard the Esoteric UX1 player through a Halcro DM10 into the McIntosh 501 into the JM Lab Alto Utopias and was absolutely floored. It was the best I've heard since this all began in 1988. I bought the Jm Labs, 5 Mcintosh 501 monoblocks but decided to go with the Meridian 861 v.4 and 800 v4 instead. I am hoping i did not do the wrong thing by going Meridian for that incredible 2 channel sound. I felt that since HT is very important to me, the 861/800 combo made sense. I was also told it beats the afore mentioned combo. I hope it beats the Gseries 68 & 91 Meridian rig I had before with DSp 8000's, 5500 HC, dsp 33 rears. Although it was very good, bass was not really controllable after 1 year of tinkering and I never got the sound I heard from this rig.