Rega R3 or Paradigm Studio 20 V.3 with Rega Brio 3

Reganfan:

I like the Apollo quite a bit. It is on par with, though slightly different sounding, than a Musical Fidelity A3.2 that I own (inside of a CD PRE 24). Quite frankly, I don't hear the limitations that others have ... I find it to be a very clean sounding and musical sounding player.

To Bongo's response ... be very careful with pairing Omega speakers with anything solid state. I know that Louis partners up with Red Wine, which are digital amps. But I found the Omegas to be wanting with solid state amplifiers from NAD, Musical Fidelity, and vintage Marantz. They sounded best with tubes.

Regards, Rich

Hey Bongofury,

I am looking for a Playstation SCPH-1001 now and they are creeping up in price. Wouldn't I have to have a TV to operate it and set it up? If not, then I will be on the hunt for one soon.

I will check out the speakers you mentioned. The guys I bought my vintage speakers from sell Naim, JM Labs/Focal, Tannoy, Quad, Cambridge Audio, Roksan, Linn, and other high-end brands and they swear by the Mordaunt Shorts that I have. I still can't help but wonder if I bought newer speakers... Anyway, they might have to do for a little while, but I am going to take your advice and listen to the ones you recommended.

Thanks alot

Regafan

Rich is correct on the Omegas. I heard the Omegas on a Red Wine Audio ss rig. I have not heard them on a tube amp. They sounded wonderful--good performance for their size, but Rich has first-hand owner knowledge on how they pair up.

PS: There is nothing wrong with old gear. A lot of it is wonderful. I myself have ATC, Bose, Gallo, Cambridge Audio, Blue Sky Audio, Kef and Paradigm speakers around my house. Each match a different room and mood and how loud or quiet I want to be and the music my collective family plays. I have been in the live touring business for over 25 years and have worked with everybody from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Clash, Bob Dylan and Tony Bennett. My tastes are eclectic but I am very budget minded. My Kefs are 20 years old (bought used: a gift from Pink Floyd and A & M studios) and have not degraded. The Regas I would suspect are cut from the same cloth. I keep wanting to replace them and never find anything that wins me over. They are matched up with vintage gear from that era and I kind of like the retro feel of them when I play vintage records.

I have heard $80 to 150k systems sound terrible in small room environments and $1 to 2k systems sound great. I feel that money does not connote greatness in experience. The British (Rega) and Canadian (PSB, Paradigm) companies seem to get this value equation right out of the box.

Stephen Mejias of Stereophile.com covers lot's of lower priced products within his blog and you can find some nice reviews for budgeted minded buyers. Check out his column before you go out and buy. He just profiled 5 systems for under $1k.