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New transport or repair CD player

I have a 508.20 series Meridian CD player being used as a transport which has trouble reading CDs ("NO DISC" message) that it had no problem with in the past. I suspect the laser is dying.  The Meridian is a very well made player but to my ears sounds better being used as a transport into my external DAC.  The repair center in Georgia wants $500 to replace the laser mechanism.  A new transport such as the well regarded Audiolab 6000T is $600.  Seems to me it is worth getting the Audiolab or something similar rather than fixing the Meridian but not sure how they would compare sonically.  Plus, due to its age the drawer mechanism on the Meridian might become problematic in the not too distant future.  I need to keep it under $1000 otherwise I'd spring for one of the better transports such as Jays for example.  I suppose I could buy a new transport and if the sound isn't as good as the Meridian I could return it.  What would you do?

jc4659
fuzztone's avatar
fuzztone
5,498 posts
 

Wha?

The CXC new is under $600 at Amazon.

The Pro-Ject includes AES-EBU out.

jafant
18,804 posts
 

jc4659

 

The Meridian 508.2 is worth the repair.

 

Happy Listening!

kingsleuy
173 posts
 

Did you ask the repair shop "how much would you charge to replace the laser in  my cd player?"  Sometime just cleaning, lubricating and maybe a belt? would fix it.

How are you in taking things apart? It doesn’t work as it is. What do you have to lose? Just be careful.

I haven’t taken apart a Maridian cd player apart but cd and dvd drives are pretty much the same,

I suggest cleaning the laser head and lubing the rails that the head moves on.

While in there you can look other loading problems that I had with drives. Message me.

lpretiring
425 posts
 

If best sound quality is your goal; one of the dedicated transports mentioned above probably is the way to go.

If budget is the priority, then find another competent repair shop. $500 seems very expensive if it truly is a laser assembly swap out.

Before any of that a little player maintenance as Kingsleuy suggested seems prudent if you were satisfied prior to the malfunction.

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
4,169 posts
 

Audiolab CDT6000 sounds very good, has IEC connector so you can upgrade power cord in the future. 

Pro-Ject DS2T is also a very good sounding unit. Advantage over CDT6000 is an extra AES/EBU output. Downside, it uses a wall wart power supply. I don’t particularly mind it but prefer linear and ability to upgrade power cord. 
I didn’t find anything major to complain about with DS2T. One thing worth noting is the bass is ever so slightly on the lean side which could be a product of the DH Labs AES/EBU cable I was using with it. 
Ultimately I ended up sending it back as I preferred streaming in my system, it sounded at least as good or better than CD and made it hard to justify adding a transport. 

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