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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
aball
2,018 posts
 
I have heard the Apollo in various systems, as well as Naim players. The Apollo is great - lots of body, very good layering of the soundstage, kind of "intense" sounding which some people will love and some systems will hate. It is all about synergy so until you try it in your own system, you won't really know but I like it a lot.

As for Arcam, it depends on the model. They don't all sound the same. The 192 is similar to the Apollo (I think) but the 36 is not as coherent - more matter-of-fact sounding. But you really must match the CDP to your system for best results. There is no one-size-fits-all.

Arthur
pluto's avatar
pluto OP
6 posts
 
Thanks for the reply Arthur!
shoe
204 posts
 
Rega Apollo vs. Jupiter vs. Saturn [uhttp://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.pl?forum=digital&n=122387&review=1rl][/url]
I've had the Rega Saturn here for almost a month. Excellent at revealing each individual instrument in the music. Bass notes are highly tuneful, more than any other player I have heard. PRAT is definatly one of it's strong points! I would say it betters the Arcam FMJ 33 in many areas.
harneloot
7 posts
 
I just upgraded from a Panet 2000 to a Saturn. My very first impression from listening last night was that the Saturn was brighter, faster and "harder" sounding than the Planet 2000 - non of which was an improvement IMHO. I know its suppose to sound much better, but i found myself prefering the sound of the Planet instead.

Am I just crazy or could this be correct?
manny55's avatar
manny55
21 posts
 
In their respective price both are excelent.If you have a very revealing system go for the saturn , if not the apollo will do .Be careful with system matching and if you can hear the unit in your own system before letting go of your credit card , do so . Ive always found system matching to be extremely important . What sounds great in one system might not in another one.
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