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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
zeekzaak
10 posts
 
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...
fatelvis
19 posts
 
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.
harneloot
7 posts
 
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....
krocdoc
55 posts
 
I just picked up a used apollo to see what the fuss is. My intent was to put it in my office system (cary sli-80, paradigm studio 20's). After listening for a few hours I moved it up to the big rig, and i've been pretty stunned. The layering is quite incredible and amzingly musical. I've been listening for several days now and have nothing but praise for the apollo. From a pure musicality standpoint it is easily one of the best player's i've heard in my rig. For point of reference I've owned the ML 36, 36S, Cary 303/200, Cary 303/300 (all sold) and I would take the apollo from an enjoyment factor over all of those.
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knownothing
1,579 posts
 
I recently listened to an all Rega system and an all Naim system and compared them through Naim, Epos, and Totem floor standing speakers. The Rega was I believe a Saturn CDP played through their Mira 3 integrated and the Naim consisted of the Nait 5i and CD 5i. The Rega system sounded polite, while Naim system made we want to get up and move around - perhaps not as accurate or precise as the Rega, but something just sounded right about it. The Naim gear was an especially good match in that room with the Totem Forest speakers. If I had $6K in my pocket, I probably would have left with the stuff.
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