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Audio Dropping Out on Rega Apollo and Saturn

I borrowed a Rega Apollo and Saturn for home audition from my local dealer.

On both CD players, I experienced audio drop outs from some of my CDs as they were playing. I noticed that these CDs did have some minor scratches, but nothing major. When I would play these same CDs on my Jolida JD100 CD player, I never experienced these problems.

Are there any Rega Apollo or Saturn owners that have experienced this problem with some of their CDs? It seems like to me that Rega does not have a very good error correction system as the laser scans the CD. So if you do happen to have some CDs with scratches, it could hinder an otherwise pleasant listening experience.

If there is no clear explanation or work-around for this, then I have no choice but to remove these players from my consideration.
wkass
fillmoor
58 posts
 
Wkass, I agree with your feeling. As you know me and doug shroeder used a total of 9 of these new Rega machines over a period of 18 months or more and all exhibited intermittent operational problems (which does not limit the bugs to just the first batch of Apollos). This is unexplainable. Both of us are fully aware to allow the track 1 dispaly reading indicating initialization is complete before pushing play, both of us are fully aware to allow a desired track to appear in display before switching from one to another. The US Rega distributer responded here and says he is the only one who truely knows how many machines get serviced, returned or exchanged. He states the defect rate was limited to 5% of only the early Apollo machines. He also states that unplugging the machine to "reset" solves the problem. All unplugging the machine does is make it usable the next time you turn it on, it does not remove the software bugs, they are still there and will reappear. It's like saying restarting your computer will fix the bugs in a program. That is why I requested for any firmware/software updates before deciding to sell my Saturn. As stated in the thread, users who play whole discs should not get these infrequent, but bothersome operational issues. For some there will be no problems, others will choose to just live with it, others won't. Again I commend the Rega distributer and my dealer for trying to rectify the problem, really they did all they could, but they do not design and manufacture the machines. However I feel the same way you do. Are me and Doug Shroeder just the unluckiest people in the world, did the Cooler stop by unbeknown to us. I leave that to the discretion of anyone who reads this thread and to consider the posters here and the post by the US Rega distributer.
bassdude
503 posts
 
I guess one must ask... why... do none of the sellers of the Apollo and Saturn disclose these issues?

My assumption is they are fairly common... and... the sellers just aren't disclosing them - I suppose justifying not doing so, by rationalizing its typcial of these players... and... therefore "normal operation."

Fortunately... we've had a few "candid" owners alert us all to the problems, before we "spring" for one of these players.
rtilden
156 posts
 
In my case, I had trouble duplicating any specific problem, which made me wonder if the problem was user error or player related. Only a CD with a healthy scratch would act up the same way twice. All told, I have experienced probably 15 different incidents in 8 months of ownership, and some of them I do think were caused by user error. For me, I was glad to know that my machine wasn't defective; the commonly experienced minor glitches were testimony that my machine was no different from the others. It may seem strange, but I find comfort in that. Below are the types of things I experienced, which I hope will clarify.

-Disc would not initialize. I would sometime raise the lid while the disc was still spinning and trying to initialize, which , I think confused the initialzation program. Yes, I was hasty in some cases and did not wait the full 12 recommended seconds. I have since learned to push stop, lift the lid, rotate the disc 1/4 turn, then continue. Since I have done this, I have experienced only 1 problem which caused me to turn the player off then on to rectify the misbehavior.

-Dirty disc skipping/repeating/stopping. After cleaning the discs, I have experienced this problem only twice. After a second cleaning, the problem disappeared.

-Scratched disc skipping. Cleaning the discs helped a bit, but the Saturn does not like scratched CDs. No fix.

I don't jockey back and forth among tracks very often, but I do it a small amount on some pop stuff. I cannot truthfully remember any time where this caused a problem, but I can certainly see how this might confuse the software or cause some of the reported problems.

I hope that this helps those looking for a more detailed accounting. In the last 3 months (since I changed my user operation), I have experienced only 1 of these minor glitches. I call them 'minor' because I'm an audiophile from the older days who has put up with soooo much in the vinyl realm that it makes the CD world seem like a breeze. I have been in the company of other CDP's which have numerous problems relating to auto slide trays, and that is one issue the Saturn will never experience. This is a great player which can be occasionally finicky, but always enjoyable. I ain't gettin' rid of her!
fillmoor
58 posts
 
Bassdude, I agree a seller should disclose to the buyer. Most but not all of the problems are experienced by users who do not play entire discs. I told my buyer of the intermiittent issues these machines have, he said he plays entire discs, so all he should get are infrequent initialization glitches. I did not become aware of the problems playing slightly marred cd's until after my sale, I myself never had this problem, all my discs played without skipping or dropping out ever. For those that dont need to access tarcks frequntly, all the used ones actually represent a bargain, because I am convinced if you buy a brand new one it will be exactly the same way. Rtilden thanks for weighing in on your experience. It is true cd players in general are not the most solid operaters, but I have never used a machine that does some of the things these new Rega players do. You can take some comfort in the fact that your user experience is not uncommon. I dont jump around all the time with my discs. I had times where after letting it load and initialize, I wanted to play a track other than the first and it would lock up. Other times I do want to go from number 5 to say number 9, and well it doesnt, it either goes to some other song or locks up. These types of things will bother some more than others, to me it is inexcusable in a 2600 dollar cd player and I doubt I am alone in that feeling.
wpm
15 posts
 
I am a recent owner of a Rega Saturn and have experienced only one of the problems mentioned. However, I was able to correct the problem very quickly. Let me explain:

If your home, like ours, is filled with numerous IR and WI-FI signals, resulting from wireless phones operating on 5.3MH, wireless computer routers, remote controlled ceiling fans, wireless keyboards, mice, X-Box 360s, etc., then it's no wonder some of these Rega's are going haywire. Think about the electromagnetic cross channeling that must be taking place inside ones household.

In my case it was the remote controlled ceiling fan being in close proximity to the Saturn. Evidentially, the signal, while small, was being constantly emitted so when I pushed a certain buttons on my Solar remote that function became interrupted.

I ended up having to disable the ceiling fans' remote function and all has been well with the Saturn ever since. I guess my point is, before you fault the operation of the player, do a quick IR and WI-FI check of your house, especially if these systems are close to your players.

Perhaps your problem is not that simple, but it may just be. If anything it is a good place to start.

I hope this helps.

WPM
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