Also- I paid $1095 for mine 18 months ago. They went up this year to $1325! Once announcement was made in July they were discontinued the price went down to $695! This is an amazing time to get a new one before they are all gone. I love everything about mine. People that complain about slow track change and startup are just impatient. I know it was the last cd player I will ever purchase.
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I bought the latest apollo player adout 18 months ago. Sounds great paired with my elex-r. Eventually got a great deal on a mint dac-r and the sound has improved dramatically. The apollo has a wolfson 8742 dac, where as the dac-r has twin wolfson 8742 dacs in parallel. The sound from a rega saturn (current) is practically identical and cost me a lot less. I now have a complete rega setup and I am really pleased withe functionality and sound quality. Rega products are made to be used together. They have a synergy. Try to find a good dac-r used and don't spend the money on a $3400 cd player dac that isn't any better.
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It is a good machine. It does have a refined sound to it, the treble is clean. I think it was a bargain at the old price (I got one new fo 900), at the new price of $1200, I'd spend a bit more and spring for a cambridge 840C. You ask about them being up for sale- there has been a steady stream of them up for sale for a long while now- there always seems to be at least a few and sometimes a dozen or more up here. Why do new machines with such lauded sound quality appear on the used market so often? It does'nt take a genius to figure out. for your information
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f7/rega-apollo-saturn-buyers-beware-323583/ |
I had the Apollo and sold it about nine months ago. It's a nice player but had a stealy quality to some guitars which I could not live with, maybe a system mismatch. To say "that there is not a better one under $5000.00" is a very big stretch although I'm glad you enjoy it. |
I just bought a new Apollo a few months ago, and have been very happy with it. I would say that mine only required about 25 hours of break-in to sound really great. I bought it because Rega tries very hard to make their players sound more like analog - less harsh than just about any other player out there, certainly at their price point. I would argue that there is not a better one under $5000, except perhaps the Saturn. But at more than twice the price, go for the Apollo. |
I agree about the 50 hours of play. After that I think you just enjoy it better. I like the burn in CD's, setting your FM tuner to pink noise and I play something like the 2007 Grammys CD that has a variety and dynamic music. My personal method of breaking in any units is to turn them off/ cool down 100% and then on again. I run them for 8 to 10 hours in a given day. No reason to know if this is better.
There are 2 power conditioner products that I think do help your system that are worth the money. Not excluding a dedicated (or 2) circuit for your audio. I have used the Richard Gray and ordered a new Furman that has more outlets. If you have not tried this. Try it. It will make your Apollo and system sound better. |
To answer your question about break in, while it is good sounding right out of the box, I found that after 50 or so hours a new Apollo really starts to sing. After that, mine kept getting better in subtle ways for some weeks. |
I bought mine new from dealer....stone cold out of box was the normal let down, but I've been down this road before. What I did was hook it up to a low power, cool running integrated amp for a 2 week period and put the Apollo on repeat with a Sheffield burn-in CD. Reversed speaker polarity and faced them at each other to somewhat cancel out the sound. After 2 weeks it went back to the main system for a listen.........great improvements heard. 300+ hours run in 2 weeks made a significant change for my ears.
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The feedback is appreciated very much. Any comments on the break in part of my question? |
Just a quick note....these things make GREAT transports!
All of the REGA cd players. I don't know if I would splurge
on a Saturn just as a transport.........but the Apollo
and all of their older cd players are the best transport with a DAC I have used. |
I have a new ( 2 weeks old ) Apollo and maybe the reason some don't talk about them is because they are not so called the new kid on the block now. Also, companies DO make changes in hardware and software on an existing product. Meaning the consumer never knows the year old unit has been upgraded. I , like you, think the Apollo is very good at it's price point. ( which by the way has gone up 200.00 ) I have the new Legacy Classics HD speakers that are VERY revealing. Which means that making changes in players and other things ARE heard! The main thing is. Do YOU like it? But I can explain why I like it. Channel separation is one. Smooth soundstage... not in your face or forward. Vocals, vocals,vocals....... male and female. One thing I don't think will change. It sounds great. Are there better players? No doubt. But at what cost and is it worth it to you? A LOT of players have been sold. So seeing ones for sale is a good sign......NOT bad! People will upgrade as long as there are "options" and exceptions to making their "system" sound better. One thing is a given. The Apollo does give you baseline to compare other players. So in the future when you buy or demo a new unit...... you know what sound you liked. |
I had one and never heard a better CDP. No glitches. You have to wait until one function finishes before going on to the next one. IMO most of the complaints are due to that. I sold mine after I went to a computer-based setup but the Apollo was one component I never had a complaint about. Like a lot of popular brands, there's a lot for sale because they sell a lot of them. It and its predecessor been category killers since the late 90s. |
Greetings Paogorman
The Rega Apollo is a fine sophisticated CD player and a great value.
The unit is very popular add in the positive reviews at its semi affordable target price and this creates curiosity and interest for some who just must have one even when they didn't need one.
Happy Listening
John |
Nice sounding player. The software can be a bit glitchy which is the only downside. |
