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Rega Saturn and Apollo-How good are they??

Rebuilding my entire system and need opinions on cd players. The Regas are supposed to be superb!! Will they beat all the Arcam players, including the old CD23?? How about the Naim players?? I am not completely sold on universal players either. I suppose the Arcam, Rotel and others do a reasonably good job, but assuming dedicated music players are still superior. Then there's SA and DVD-audio, not sure if there is enough software out there that I'd like to warrant owning one or both high rez formats. I would think the finest redbook playback can equal or beat em.

I'm a long time analogue lover, but have slowly gravitated more to digital listening, it's come a long way in the last 20 years, and I'm convinced that the quality of the mastering and transfer to the disc makes or breaks digital playback. My finest discs are very close or as good as anything I've heard in analogue, and I owned a few nice tables in my life.

Any thoughts would be great.

Thanks to all!!!
128x128pluto
harneloot
7 posts
 
Thanks for the observations. I have it playing CDs all day on repeat. I'll give her another listen tonight.

Any other Saturn owners out there?
harneloot
7 posts
 
Are there any other owners who can offer their opinions?

Thanks!
cmoulton
1 posts
 
Not a saturn owner, but apollo. I found that the break-in was near 500 hours before I stopped noticing slight changes day-to-day. I think the greatest subjective marker I noticed was an overall coherence, tonally, after about 300 hours.
regafan_1972
22 posts
 
I listened to the Apollo in a showroom with a Rega Brio 3 int. amp., Rega R3's, and Chord Company interconnects and speaker cable and it sounded amazing. I just heard it again today because I am considering switching out my speakers for new ones and I was once again equally impressed. The last time I listened to the Apollo, they did an Apollo vs. Naim CD player (I think the least expensive Naim CD player, but still more than the Apollo) comparison and I actually liked the Apollo much better. I do not know if it had something to do with synergy, but it sounded stunning. I am going to get the Apollo as soon as I can afford it.
wireless200
415 posts
 
I've had somewhat similar experiences. I have an Apollo and it sounds pretty good. Great for the money. And better IMO than anything else in that price range. Far better than the several hundred dollar players and cheap universal players.

I had to get used to the start/stop and searching for tracks and not press play too soon - stuff like that. If you go back a track, it can take a while (20 seconds) to get going again. It's important to not keep pressing buttons while you're waiting. I've had it lock up a time or two but overall I'm satisfied. I've heard their amps too and they sound good. Again good for the $$$.

I've a/b'ed against Naim's least expensive player through the Rega amps. I think the Naim I heard runs a little over $2000. The Naim was clearly better but at over twice the cost. I would have purchased the Naim along with everything else Naim but nothing of theirs is in my price range. I thought about buying a used Naim CD but they are bid up quickly. The people the know Naim don't let it go cheap.

regards, David
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