Any word from anyone on AudiogoN about the new Rega Apollo R CDP?

@richardfinegold

It's kind of ironic that the previous Apollo was more fussy about playing discs while the Apollo is supposed to buffer the music. Which begs the question on how well the Apollo or Apollo R are as a transport?

I was discussing DACs with a buddy of mine. He has the Wired For Sound (W4S) 2 DAC, but he also had the Cary Exciter DAC. He needed a balanced DAC so he made the switch. He has heard DACs in excess of $3,000 and he still believes the Exciter held strong against it and was better than most DAC sets that CD players under $3k have. He uses a Cambridge 650 player as a transport plus the W4S DAC. He also uses a music server that he runs into the W4S. He likes the server/W4S combo (which he though was equivalent to the Cary in SE mode) to the Cambridge player alone. That mirrors my experiences comparing my server combo with CD players under $1500.

My entire point of the thread is will the Apollo R alone be a better choice than my current front end? Is the previous Apollo, with the closeout deals, a better transport than my server? Will there be a new Saturn R with an asynchronous USB input that will be better than all of it?

You're asking questions that really can't be answered yet. I had no trouble with the Apollo and less than perfect discs. The new R Version is likely to have improvements, but it won't be a vast improvement as in digital we get very small changes/improvements at pretty much all price points.
I like the Apollo R. It stacks neatly with the Rega DAC and was certainly designed with that pairing in mind. We'll have to wait a bit to get more reviews, but only your ears really matter.
My guess is that buying a used Apollo is a safe bet. If the extra cost doesn't bother you then the new R is going to be a bit better (a guess). The Saturn costs less than that pairing, so can we assume that Rega finds it better than the Saturn?

I'm so thrilled with the Rega DAC and Mac Mini that I've fallen away from the hunt for CD transports for now.

Good luck,

Rob

Highly recommend going with the Rega DAC i/o their CD players. The DAC is pretty much the same price as the new Apollo R..but does so much more.

There's just no need for the Apollo R or Saturn. Haven't heard the new Apollo, but the DAC(with my Mac Mini) sounds as good as or better than the Saturn.

I'm wrestling with buying the Rega R to add to the Rega DAC or just abandoning the CDP altogether.

Tough decision. I must admit that the Rega with Mac is amazing sounding. I'd be sad to buy the Apollo R and find the Mac superior, but that's what a lot of people are telling me will happen. And I haven't used the Oppo in quite a while now.

The money I'd spend on the Apollo R could buy a lot of music...or 7 pairs of nice sneakers!

Rob