Rega Saturn and Apollo-How good are they??

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.

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

I had the good fortune of having a dealer who was willing to let me demmo a couple of cdp's in home before purchasing one. As was said earlier there is much to be said about synergy of ones system. The apollo in my system was hands down the better player when tested against the similarly priced arcam so I went back the next day and bought one. When I took it home and hooked it up I was shocked with dissapointment. It sounded worse than my dennon 3910 universal player which isnt bad but should not be able to compete with a similarly priced dedicated redbook player. The thing is that these rega players require quite a bit of break in time and should not be judged right out of the box . To make a long story short "break in, break in, break in!" Oh,yeah the rega now in full song is the best 1000 dollar player out there...

Interesting recco on the Oppo 980HD. It does sound pretty decent for what it is. But this player is not even in the league of the original Planet.

I went from the Oppo to a Planet with my Rega Cursa/Exons and there was no comparison. Then I went to a Jupiter 2000 and that will be my last dedicated CD player ever.

That said, with my old NAD 7240pe there's no advantage to the Jupiter. But even with this "vintage" piece of gear the original Planet destroys the Oppo in "smoothness" and presence.

Great posts - thanks for everyone's thoughts/experiences.

Makes me wish I had simply bought an Apollo instead of a Saturn!

I now have a Jupiter 2000 AND a Saturn and can't quite decide between them....