I'm a huge Rega fan. My Apollo sounds perfect in my system. I bough an Apple TV to use as a music server around April/May last year. My intent was to make it sound as good or better than my Apollo. If I can acheive that, I'd be done for a long time.
When I was contemplating the idea, my dealer (who also sells Naim, Linn, and Arcam) told me Naim was developing a DAC that may or may not be entry level. Everyone thought it would be 5i level (like the Nait 5i and CD5i), but he was pretty confident it would be higher end due to his long time dealings with Naim and knowing how they operate. He was right. He said Rega was reportedly developing a DAC on the Apollo level (price wise). He thought that would be a long way off even though word on the street was it would come out around the same time as the Naim DAC. He was right again. A year and a half later, no official mention of anything from Rega.
I started a thread a few months back (under the name Stu Pitt, which is what I go by on a few other forums) on Pink Fish Media, which is pre-dominantly UK guys and several dealers. A bunch of guys said Rega plans on release a DAC in the $1k range by the end of the summer/early fall. It reminds me of what I heard last year from my dealer, almost verbatum.
While I don't think those guys are lying, I doubt it'll happen any time soon for several reasons:
The DAC market is probably the hottest segment right now. Why wouldn't they formally announce something that's a few months away?
I'm pretty sure they'd announce or show a non-working display at a show before the DAC debuts to generate a buzz.
People say Rega is very tight lipped. I doubt that - They announced the Isis and Osiris and debuted non-working prototypes that hadn't even had the visual stuff finalized about 9 months before they confirmed the release date. The Apollo was announced at least 6 months before it finally replaced the Planet 2000.
If they're as close as people think, why wouldn't Rega mention it? Do you really think they'll just ship it to dealers without anyone knowing about it?
I'm pretty confidant that they are developing one. They'd be very stupid not to. But as my dealer said - don't hold your breath. I've been waiting a year and a half. I wouldn't be surprised in the least bit if it'll be another year and a half.
Arcam is a pretty safe bet IMO. They make great stuff (I'd still rather a Rega DAC). The DAC will be $479, which isn't cheap to me, but not a huge risk either. I'm pretty sure if Rega comes out with a DAC next year that I have to have, I'll be able to sell the rDAC for not much loss. Or I can keep it around for a second system or as a second DAC improve video sound to my system if the Rega DAC doesn't have enough inputs. I think the rDAC will be too good to let go of for the money.
The Pink Fish Media thread I started is called "Anyone know if Rega has a DAC on the horizon" if you're interested.
