Rega Apollo CD Player

W WALDECKER

After reading several reviews and reading very positive comments on many Audio forums i have decided to order a Brand new Rega Apollo. unlike most of my audio purchases i will support the local economy by purchasing my Apollo from the "Listening room "which is my friendly local Brick and Mortar Authorised Rega Dealer. Due to high demand Both the Apollo and the Saturn are out of Stock and i placed a order for the Apollo last Tuesday and was told that it could take two weeks for it to arrive.i dont want to oversaturate my 2nd two channel rig which is tube powered and uses a tube preamplifier with too much of a good thing.i have a hunch that this organic sounding Solid State CD Player will work well with my Sonic Frontiers SFS 80 tube amp. if this is the case i may move up to Rega's Flagship Saturn CD Player. who on this Forum owns one or has listened to one and what are your impressions of the Apollo ? thanks....WCW III

Bill Ayotte

I have never listened to the Apollo, but I have listened to it's less expensive brother the Planet, and if I had the $$ I would already have at least one. What a sweet sounding player. If the Apollo is anything like the Planet, you are in for a treat.

Deadof_knight

The planet is freaking awesome so the Apollo must be as well.

treitz3

I own the Rega Apollo and to be honest with you, I bought it because of the sound. Got it about two months ago after listening to about 40 different CDP's. This one stood out amoungst the crowd.

What the first thing that I noticed was that the sounds that you DON'T hear, as well as the sounds that you do hear are a pleasure to listen to [to say the least]. The Planet I have never heard, but from what I understand the Apollo is a whole new breed. I have demo'd the Saturn on a 22K Mac system, and the additional 700 bucks wasn't justified in my mind. The Jupiter I have not heard either. From what I understand the Saturn and the Jupiter are just "modded" versions of the Apollo.

When I took the Apollo home it sounded great....now when she broke in....WHoooogH! Made alot of CD's sound incredible, but also made CD's that used to sound good horrible, because it reveals so much. I am embarrassed to say this, but Madonna/ Immaculate Collection is a very good example [used to sound good, but now sounds like crap].

I never knew that there was noise when there was NOT supposed to be noise, and for the first time in my rig, I noticed that when one instrument is playing and then another instument is introduced, the 2 are separate [like two different systems are playing each instrument, if you will]. When there are 13 different instruments playing, you can hear each one separate as if nothing else was playing besides the one instrument you are listening to.

She reveals alot of recording shortcomings, though...BUT without being too anylitical. Overall, it is the best CDP I have ever owned, and unless I hit the lottery, this will be the last CDP I own. OK, I just lied....I am going to get a CDP like F1nut's w/ mod's, but that's just because I like to hear certain genre's of music thru different sources.[I.E. rock/ Apollo and Jazz/ Jolida...and of course ALL SACD thru SACD]

I would recommend the Apollo. I don't think that you could find a better CDP for the end result-vs-price anywhere. IMO.

Joey_V

I remember going to one of my dealers and I saw the Apollo for the first time in person after reading glowing reviews on Stereophile and TAS... I asked John to play it for me and he did.

The Apollo is a good CDP, but I remember distinctly about 3 weeks ago, the dealer had me listen to it and then A/Bed it against the lowest end Naim for $500 more....

And the difference was so apparent, that I told him if I was seriously going to buy a CDP, I wouldn't think twice about ponying up the extra $500 because the difference was that significant. The focus with regards to vocal image was just nuts with the lowend Naim vs the Apollo. The Apollo wasn't as focused as the Naim, I felt that it was a bit too fuzzy and soft on the transients. The Naim, on the otherhand, was the better CDP both in musicality and focus.

But, the Apollo is still good.

Enjoy your new CDP, WW... let us know how you like it.

W WALDECKER

Joey_V wrote:

I remember going to one of my dealers and I saw the Apollo for the first time in person after reading glowing reviews on Stereophile and TAS... I asked John to play it for me and he did.

The Apollo is a good CDP, but I remember distinctly about 3 weeks ago, the dealer had me listen to it and then A/Bed it against the lowest end Naim for $500 more....

And the difference was so apparent, that I told him if I was seriously going to buy a CDP, I wouldn't think twice about ponying up the extra $500 because the difference was that significant. The focus with regards to vocal image was just nuts with the lowend Naim vs the Apollo. The Apollo wasn't as focused as the Naim, I felt that it was a bit too fuzzy and soft on the transients. The Naim, on the otherhand, was the better CDP both in musicality and focus.

But, the Apollo is still good.

Enjoy your new CDP, WW... let us know how you like it.

My decision to keep or upgrade from the Apollo is going to depend on the context of how well does it mesh or synergise with the rest of my system. i had considered the Naim cdp's and the funny thing is that when i googled Rega Apollo and read the professional reviews and then browsed posts from different Audio forums i eventualy wound up on a Naim forum in England and the guys there were saying how good the new Apollo sounded and that they favored it over the more expensive entry level Naim CDP.the Naim house sound generaly is known to be in your face and like a bright loudspeaker i might find the sound to be very engaging for the 1st 15 minutes or so but after several hours it may begin to get on my nerves. i want something that i can listen to for hours on end without listening fatigue. i did not listen to the Apollo demo unit at my dealers Shop because if it is not playing in your own system it just seems pointless.Wish me Luck! thanks....WCW III

Joey_V

W WALDECKER wrote:

Wish me Luck! thanks....WCW III

Good luck!:)

Midnite Mick

treitz3 wrote:

I am embarrassed to say this, but Madonna/ Immaculate Collection is a very good example [used to sound good, but now sounds like crap].

Wow that is a great cd player. Not only does it sound good but it has musical taste as well. Now if only we could find one that would just keep rejecting the tray if someone were to put a Madonna cd in it.

Good luck with your impending player WCW.

Mike

halo

Midnite Mick wrote:

Wow that is a great cd player. Not only does it sound good but it has musical taste as well. Now if only we could find one that would just keep rejecting the tray if someone were to put a Madonna cd in it.

Good luck with your impending player WCW.

Mike

+ 1

reeltrouble1

I'd hit it in a heart beat.........I guess many have......

Congrats William, Rega is one of those great audio companies, we don't talk much about them here, let us know and maybe you can start a trend. I really like my Rega TT, the company puts alot of thought into building quality components, stiff upper lip and all that mate.

RT1

cmy330go

EDIT: Post removed.

Mike is right. Sorry for the partial derail.

Comment moved to "What Are You Listening To?" thread.

Midnite Mick

deleted cause my post didn't apply

Mike

read-alot

I had to send mine back today, I hated to but the dreaded wave soldering problem took over. Mine was one of the first to be sold so maybe they have the bugs out by now. I may trade it for the Saturn.

treitz3

read-alot wrote:

I had to send mine back today, I hated to but the dreaded wave soldering problem took over. Mine was one of the first to be sold so maybe they have the bugs out by now. I may trade it for the Saturn.

What is the dreaded wave soldering problem that took over? That's a new one for me. Sorry to hear that you aren't enjoying the sounds of the Apollo yet. That sucks. Where do you live? There is a shop that can send one out tommorrow down here in NC if you are interested. They have it in stock.

read-alot

Early Apollos made it out with bad soldering.

Up I-77 about 60 miles.

I was dealing with a shop in Raleigh, so they are trying to make things right.

Thanks, I did get to listen enough to know it was a good player.

W WALDECKER

My friendly local Rega dealer told me originaly that it would take two weeks to get a new Rega Apollo CD player. i called him two weeks from the day that i ordered it and he proceded to really piss me off by telling me that it normaly takes three to four weeks from the time you order it to recieve it! Screw him, i just ordered a fully modded stage 3+ Jolida JD 100 in black from Hot Rod Audio Mods in Atlanta.they use WBT topline RCAs, DH Labs Silver teflon coated wire, Blackgate capacitors, Fairchild ultrafast soft recovery diodes. Sonicap platinum capacitors, Relcaps, Pearl 12AX7A Cryrovalves, copper clad dampening sheets to deaden vibration and shield RFI noise and what really set the hook in me is the Tent labs masterclock and the Tent labs discreet clock power supply.Guido Tent is one of the digital Gurus at the diy audio website and is a very highly respected electrical engineer who had worked for a long time for Phillips in Holland before starting his own company. these Mods Are factory authorised by Jolida and the unit carries a full eighteen month warranty.i cant wait to get my hands on it! thanks....WCW III

read-alot

I would and wish I had done the same.

Rega admitted the solder problem but it is on your dime to return it so they have them until their repair guy gets around to fixing it.

W WALDECKER

read-alot wrote:

I would and wish I had done the same.

Rega admitted the solder problem but it is on your dime to return it so they have them until their repair guy gets around to fixing it.

Hey read-alot, yours is the first i have heard of the wave solder problem/defect ,that really sucks. i feel really sorry for you man.i know that they had software issues with some of the first Apollos that were released but that was taken care of as soon as it surfaced.i think that your dealer should let you use his demo Apollo unit until yours is repaired. today i am going to call the guy that i was going to buy the Apollo from and tell him to forget it. he lied about how long it would take for me to get it and it pissed me off and i am now going in a totally different direction with the Hot Rod Audio Mods level 3+ Jolida JD100A. good luck ....WCW III

reeltrouble1

Wow, I am sorry to hear that William. I always thought of them as a quality company, I dealt with their importer once, Sound Orginasation and they really helped me out quickly, well, thanks to both of you for the heads up. I guess if it takes 3-4 weeks then it does, but the sales guy needs to be upfront. Anyway, I bet the Jolida is awesome, I love that unit, wonder why I dont own one???

RT1

read-alot

RT I tried to get Steve at Sound Org to send me another player but he told me to send mine to California for repair.
Had it not been acknowledged by the factory to have a fault then I would be ok with this process but I don't like being without my player or my 1k while they take their time fixing it. Swap out all the problematic units, fix them and sell them as refurbs.
It's going on 2 weeks now and if the B&K didn't have a decent DAC to run my cheap player I would be pissed.

treitz3

read-alot wrote:

RT I tried to get Steve at Sound Org to send me another player but he told me to send mine to California for repair.
Had it not been acknowledged by the factory to have a fault then I would be ok with this process but I don't like being without my player or my 1k while they take their time fixing it. Swap out all the problematic units, fix them and sell them as refurbs.
It's going on 2 weeks now and if the B&K didn't have a decent DAC to run my cheap player I would be pissed.

Could you not just return it to the store, get a refund and drive down to Charlotte and pick one up today? That store sucks if you ask me. Steve should review his policy IMHO. 1K on a sale should yeild exellent customer service....thaere's enough profit to make it worth their time in order to have a repeat customer. I personally would never deal with them again after the lies and the apparent complete disregard to customer service / satisfaction. Sorry to hear about your ordeal, but it will be worth the wait when you do get it.
I wish you luck, sir.

read-alot

treitz, Steve is the USA distributor for Rega, I contacted him after the dealer I bought it from acted like he had never heard of the problems.

Steve said "yes we had some failures on the first batch" just send it to our repairman in California.

Not what I expected to hear.....to say the least.

W WALDECKER

reeltrouble1 wrote:

Wow, I am sorry to hear that William. I always thought of them as a quality company, I dealt with their importer once, Sound Orginasation and they really helped me out quickly, well, thanks to both of you for the heads up. I guess if it takes 3-4 weeks then it does, but the sales guy needs to be upfront. Anyway, I bet the Jolida is awesome, I love that unit, wonder why I dont own one???

RT1

Hey RT1,i have no problem with Rega or the sound organisation, but i do have a problem with my friendly neighborhood Rega dealer for not being honest and upfront with me. if he had told me that it could take up to a month to get my hands on a black Apollo i would probably have agreed to wait. the guy lied to me because he thought it would get him a sale but that is totally unacceptable to me as i cant stand being lied to and it backfired on him. i may still buy a Rega Saturn instead of the Apollo in the near future but probably not from him.thanks....WCW III

W WALDECKER

The friendly neighborhood Rega Dealer called me today and said that he had a brand new Black Apollo sitting there and that i could come pick it up if i was still interested. i told him no and after thinking about it for ten minutes i called him back and told him that i would come on over and pick it up. after playing with it for a few hours i am really glad that i did thanks....WCW III

Midnite Mick

Am I missing something. Are going to have the Rega and Jolida?

Thanks,
Mike

sucks2beme

This has been interesting. I almost ordered one myself a month ago, but I
got de-railed by a set of speakers that had just come in on trade.
Any new impressions of this unit?

schwarcw

My friend Dan picked up a Rega Apollo last week. He ordered his in December and waited over three months. Originally he wanted a silver, but they told him that they were having quality control problems on the silver faceplate. Last week they told him they had a black one available, so he bought it.

I listened to it yesterday and I found it to be very smooth. There were several hard core blue grass songs on an Allison Krauss CD that were almost unlistenable because the electric guitar was sharp and raspy sounding. The Rega was a big improvement. We were able to listen to the songs without blood coming out of our ears. The Rega also seemed to have more bass than his previous player.

Stereophile magazine this month gave the Jupiter much higher marks than the Apollo. Supposedly a noticeable improvement over the Apollo. I thought the Apollo sounded fine. For an additional $1,000, I hope that the Jupiter would be worth it. I suggest that you should demo both if posible and your budget permits.

read-alot

You mean Saturn don't you Carl.

William, it takes forever but the sound gets better after the break in.

schwarcw

read-alot wrote:

You mean Saturn don't you Carl.

William, it takes forever but the sound gets better after the break in.

Yes I do! Thanks for pointing that out. I knew it was one of those big planets.:D

W WALDECKER

Midnite Mick wrote:

Am I missing something. Are going to have the Rega and Jolida?

Thanks,
Mike

I should be getting the black H.R.A.M JD100A Stage 3+ delivered sometime later this week.

halo

W WALDECKER wrote:

I should be getting the black H.R.A.M JD100A Stage 3+ delivered sometime later this week.

Very :cool:

Can't wait to hear your review(s)