Consonance CD120 v. Rega Apollo

I haven't heard the Apollo, but just bought a CD120 Linear a couple months back from a fellow A'goner. This is the first CD player that I actually like listening to. It is no longer a case of CD being a necessary evil. My priorities in the presentation of the music are PRaT and tonality followed by soundstage and imaging. PRaT is first rate with this CD player. I think I enjoy this unit much more than I ever did with my entry level Naim unit. It just lets go of the notes and things flow easily. Tonality is still a bit lean for my tastes though. I think it probably images well, but my system does not so I can't really comment too much on that. I just hear things in there that lead me to believe it would image well on a system that is setup for that.

There are 2 different models of the Consonance CD120. One is an oversampling unit that I believe upsamples to 24Bit/192K sampling rate. The other is called "Linear" and is a non-oversampling unit. I have a friend that owns the Linear and he loves it. He is a classical music composer/conductor and he thinks the Linear is smooth and analog-like. Typically he goes for good tonal quality over ultimate resolution and wizz-bang audiophile attributes. If this is the sound you want, it might be a good choice.

BTW, he bought the Linear new for a very good price. If you want to try one, don't pay list. Let me know and I can try to get the Dealer's name for you.

Enjoy,

TIC