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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
fusion10
50 posts
 
Well, I bought an Apollo, 35th Anniversary SE (couldn't resist when I found out my dealer had a couple still left), and it failed the first day I had it! I played one song, hit STOP, and it wouldn't. Opened the lid, it kept playing. When the disc finally stopped, the Apollo had trouble recognizing when the door was opened or closed, and it wouldn't initialize discs (and by extension does not play anymore - the disc doesn't even spin). It's currently in for repair.

I'll tell you this though - it sounded amazing for that half hour it worked. It seemed to really have synergy with my Audiolab 8000S and Quad 12L2 speakers. I can't wait to get it back, but whether I keep it long-term or not I don't know. It's going to have to play reliably over the next couple of years.
1kitch
19 posts
 
I agree with Cableplex, as I had the same problem on my Apollo with long disc read times, audio dropouts and No Disc read errors, until it failed to function entirely. I applied a light coat of sewing machine oil to the laser tracks utilizing a q-tip and it now reads discs as quickly as it did on day one, and no more dropouts. I was able to move the laser head by rotating the exposed gear. When I get some time, I plan to figure out how to remove the cover so I can apply a drop of oil to each gear bearing as well.
sotosound
2 posts
 
Just checked this thread to find three new responses.

The lubrication issue is interesting and worth following up.

Thanks everyone.
daffyd54
7 posts
 
FWIW, apart from the transport, another possible source of any problems is the ribbon, which may need replacing.
I previously purchased a used demo and had to have the ribbon and laser replaced by Rega's US service centre (got my money back though). My brand new one is performing flawlessly and is reading all my burned CDR's. I was also advised by the service centre to leave it turned on all the time.
stevea
3 posts
 
Thanks for the heads-up on the lubrication issue. After sitting idle for a year, my Apollo would not respond to a loaded disc. I used my thumb to exercise the laser sled back and forth and voila! Now I need to figure out how to get the cover off to carefully apply some lube.

Steve
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