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Major upgrade from Rega Apollo: Which one?

I want to upgrade from my Rega Apollo. Have narrowed my choices down to either a Cambridge 840C; a Sony XA 5400ES, and an Arcam CD-37. Looking to improve bass, eliminate midrange glare, get smoother, cleaner highs.

Have considered an Ayre CX-7emp2, but used ones are about $2500, and to upgrade a basic CX-7( Ayre's first offering) to its latest version costs $900.00. I welcome any suggestions.

NOTE: NOT INTERESTED IN COMPUTER AUDIO, OR BUYING $1000 PLUS DAC WHICH I HAVE BEEN INFORMED WILL offer LITTLE TO NO IMPROVEMENT in sound OVER THE APOLLO'S INBOARDed DAC.
sunnyjim

Showing 2 responses by courant

courant
119 posts
 
Just to add my 2 cents...

I went from a New Rega Saturn to a used Meridian G98DH transport I found on Agon, which I coupled with a rather modest MuFi VDAC-II. Sound improvement over the Saturn was epic. Total outlay for the Meridian + MuFi was a little over $1200.00.

It's worth noting that G98DHs are transports and require a DAC. FWIW I was able to compare the G98DH with an Ayre CX-7e and a Naim CDX2. The Naim at $2700 used had the best sound, but I also thought the G98DH was superior to the Ayre Demo Unit priced at $2500. At less than half the cost of the CDX2, I was very happy with my decision to get the Meridian. As always, YMMV.
courant
119 posts
 
"Mr. Courant, please explain.Perhaps you had a defective Saturn."

Formally, it's Doctor Courant. :-) (I'm an experimental psychologist by trade)

My impression was that the G98DH had better Bass, Detail/Clarity, and Soundstage compared to the Saturn. I was running both sources through Linn Exotik/Akurate 2200 (2010) with Harbeth Compact 7es-3s. The Meridian made the Harbeths disappear. The Saturn had a warmer sound, but lacked the degree of sonic detail & soundstage compared to the G98DH. The Saturn was good, but the Meridian was AWESOME.

Again, this is a personal preference. There just seemed to be better synergy pairing the Meridian source with my Linn pre/amp setup. Again, YMMV.
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