Ayre CX7e vs. Meridain G08

I can't speak about the Ayre, but I am the proud new owner of a Meridian G08. I upgraded to this unit from a Shanling CDT100. If you have read the online reviews for the Meridian then I pretty much concur. However, I do not find the player lacking in bass response at all. It is very smooth and non tiring to listen to for extended periods of time. I know the old cliche of a pane of glass wiped clean to describe increased detail in the music, but in my case it fits very well. Soundstaging is excellent with all insturments clearly defined. This may sound funny, but my toes are tapping more and my non audiophile wife actually got up and danced to some Motown on this player. Something she never did previously. Loading time for a disc is averaging 6 seconds. Not too long for me, but YMMV. I know this did not directly answer your question, but I would buy the Meridian again without hesitation.

I owned the Meridian G08 for a while and really never did warm up to it. I never liked it as much as I did my old 508-24 or the 508-20 for that matter(which has a warmer sound.) I personally think the Ayre player is better sonically. But like all things in audio, this is just my personal opinion. I owned the CX7e. It needs to be run balanced though. It is a very good player.
I was also not real impressed with the G08 build quality. It didn't seem as well built as the 508 series and the draw stuck from time to time(the little flap that covers the draw.)It had a much cheaper feeling transport.
There's some good players in the $3000 range. I would look and listen a while. You can't beat personal experience. Also, there's not THAT much difference sonically in some of the little lower priced players.

Bigtee: I have no personal experience with the Meridians you mention, but presumably the drawer mechanism felt cheaper because it was cheaper -- beginning I believe with the 588 and continuing in the G08, as far as I know Meridian switched to using OEM computer DVD-ROM drives instead of audio CD transports. Combined with their digital buffer/reclocking circuit design, these machines are said to scan disk data multiple times at faster than real-time speeds for lower average error rates and lowered sensitivity to isolation and build-quality concerns regarding the drive mechanism itself. Whether this way of doing things actually sounds better than the old way (real-time single-pass data reading, transport isolation and build quality critical factors) I don't know, but Meridian must think so.

Zaikesman, In this case, I just didn't feel, to my ears, it sounded as good. You are exactly right about the transport. A lot of manufacturers have gone this route. I always felt it was because they couldn't source a better transport at their price points and were forced to adapt. Wether this technology is better---well---I guess everyone needs to make their own decision. They sure make for a cheaper product.
I have noticed higher jitter levels with this technology. This makes me wonder if the signal is as pure.
I know Wadia's players use a much higher quality transport and sound wonderful to me. Their jitter is very low. The older Meridian 508-24 hand some of the lowest measured jitter of any player. Just makes me wonder if manufacturers have adopted something because they had to and then market other specifications to put it on even footing.