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Minimax CD Takes On The Meridian G08

Posted by Luminator (A) on June 29, 2006 at 12:22:51

I've written in these pages about the digital gear that comes my way. One of which is the Meridian G08. While I have divulged info on my other digital pieces, I've used the G08 as a point of reference, but never put it as the main focus.

Lately, I've spilled some ink on the Minimax CD, whose $1099 price makes it much cheaper than the other digital gear I comment on. So, some (okay, four) people suggested I kill two birds with one stone by simply comparing the G08 and Minimax CD.

First of all, the Minimax CD lists for US$1099, while the Meridian G08 is $4000 or more. So it's not an apples-to-apples comparison, but interesting nevertheless. Two, the G08 is fully balanced, something that can make a huge difference in fully balanced systems. Three, the Minimax CD has 6DJ8s/6922s/7308s in its output stage, while the G08 is solid state. While the G08's sound is fixed, the Minimax CD can sound different, depending on which tubes it uses.

The Minimax CD really starts to shine when the wall outlet is an Oyaide SWO-XXX. The G08 can use the SWO-DX's more punchy and less distant perspective. The Minimax CD's sound rests on a background of silence when using Acrolink 6N powercord with Oyaide P/C-046 plugs. When fed by a Shunyata Anaconda Helix Alpha, the G08 projects bigger, more 3-D images. But when you get down to these players' fundamental sounds, they do not sound remotely alike.

Regardless of what kind of music is played, the G08 elicits these kinds of words from the crowd: "classy," "pedigree," "elegant," "clean," "refined," "accomplished," and "exquisite." Yes, even with Savatage, Sanctuary, Nevermore, Megadeth, and Alanis Morissette, the G08, for digital, is free of grit, distortion, and that ubiquitous searing noise in the upper mids.

The G08 is very accurate in playing back the music's breadth of soundstage, image placement, and image size. Guns N Roses' "Appetite For Destruction" is not about soundstaging, and indeed, the G08 presents this album as a monophonic gel. L.A. Guns' eponymous album is flat, like pinning stickers on a board. Savatage's "Gutter Ballet" has this same flattened imaging, but with the G08, you can make out one instrument from another. I used to live down the hill from San Francisco's St. Mary's Cathedral. I had my first communion there, and often went there for Mass. I know what the organ sounds like. It's kind of odd to hear the Reference Recordings album of John Balka playing that organ. As a member of the audience, I'm used to hearing that organ off to the side. On the CD, the organ's pipes are presented more in the middle. But the G08 honestly captures this. If you have recordings with big and real soundstages, the G08 presents it from just in front of the loudspeakers, and goes waaaaaaaaaaay back from there. You can enhance this ability by using Oyaide XXX outlets and 046 plugs. Are you familiar with the board game, Battleship? If a regular CD player's soundstaging is the 10x10 grid, the G08's is like a 15x15 grid.

So in an overall sense, the G08 is finely scaled. There is nothing crude, out of place, understated, pulled-back, forced, dragging, or neon-lit about its sound. While ratty-sounding systems benefit greatly from the G08's clean sound, true high-end systems have such an easy time, with a pedigreed source such as the G08 setting the tone.

The Minimax is a lot of fun, because its sound can be manipulated by changing output tubes. It sounds good with the included Electro Harmonix 6922. It sounds good with the cheap JJ 6922. It sounds good with the JAN Philips 6922, which otherwise has a bad reputation. But the exciting thing is that the qualities of other 6DJ8/6922/7308 tubes are not lost on the Minimax CD. Want to mimic the sound of a good solid state CD player, but without the grain? Use the Tungsram 6922. Want to get a clearer perspective on the music? Use the Tesla 6922. Want to swear that the music is Right There? Use the Amperex US 7308. Need the instruments to sound bigger, but not with the loss of speed or texture? Use the Mullard 7308.

While CDs were playing, a co-worker kept tapping his fingers on the Minimax CD's chassis. At least with the tubes we were using, there were no probelms with microphonics. Nor do you need to find specially -selected, low-noise tubes.

Regardless of tube, the Minimax CD is unable to map out the soundstage like the G08 can. But then again, very few others can. With the Minimax CD, the images form a stage that is bound by the speakers. But the images are not like little Lite Brite pegs. They are larger and more bulbous, which make you want to get up and dance among the musicians. Indeed, the Minimax CD is fun, becuase it does a good job at preserving the spirit and soul of the music. It can hang with Roberta Flack's slow, drawn out style, but doesn't shortchange Anthrax's sped-up surf rock riffs. The Minimax CD still makes you feel like you are swimming a few feet below the surface, when you listen to Sheena Easton's "For Your Eyes Only."

Just yesterday, we were listening to Joe Satriani's "Flying In A Blue Dream." With some of my mid-90s digital gear, it was like a scrunched up newspaper. With the Minimax CD, it was like a mural on the wall of a Mission District school. But damn, with the G08, it was like the school itself.

So sonically, the G08 is impeccable. The Minimax CD is enthusiastic, but isn't in the same class. But one could get four Minimax CDs for one G08. Though I'm not comparing the Minimax CD [the test unit belongs to a friend, not to me] to other players, I would choose it over my Creek CD43mk2, CD50, CD53; Linn Genki; Rotel RCD-971; and Simaudio Equinox.

Ah, but there's the real world usage factor. The G08's remote sucks. It's a two-handed affair, and you need to use force to engage the buttons. The Minimax CD's remote also sucks, with identically-sized little buttons, placed illogically. You have to aim it directly at the sensor, and even at that, you have to make sure you use confident clicks.

The G08 certainly does look elegant and pretty. The Minimax CD's aluminum-colored faceplate, while infinitely better than black, still looks, well, cheap, compared to the G08's smooth silver plastic and black glass.

The Minimax CD loads quickly, and is ready to go. The G08's well-known Achilles heel is its inordinately slow load time. We have taken out our Casio stopwatches, and timed how long it takes for the G08 to get ready to play a disc. It varies anywhere from 13 to 19 seconds, with 16-17 being the norm. Because of this, we got highly annoyed [I'd use stronger language, but don't want to run afoul of the censors], and simply stopped using the G08. It now collects dust in one of my rooms.

OTOH, now that I've given the Minimax CD back to my friend, I miss it. It took up little space, was quick to load, and had a fun, at-the-music's-service sonic signature. For the price of one G08, I could get the Minimax CD, a Power Wing, an Oyaide SWO-XXX, AND some CDs.

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