Meridan 861 v4 & 800 v4 compared to Meitner or Lev

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.

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