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Major upgrade from Rega Apollo: Which one?

I want to upgrade from my Rega Apollo. Have narrowed my choices down to either a Cambridge 840C; a Sony XA 5400ES, and an Arcam CD-37. Looking to improve bass, eliminate midrange glare, get smoother, cleaner highs.

Have considered an Ayre CX-7emp2, but used ones are about $2500, and to upgrade a basic CX-7( Ayre's first offering) to its latest version costs $900.00. I welcome any suggestions.

NOTE: NOT INTERESTED IN COMPUTER AUDIO, OR BUYING $1000 PLUS DAC WHICH I HAVE BEEN INFORMED WILL offer LITTLE TO NO IMPROVEMENT in sound OVER THE APOLLO'S INBOARDed DAC.
sunnyjim
dsper
663 posts
 
Audio Space CDP8A. Had the Apollo in my system and the Audio Space is more musical. Allows a SS or Tubed output.

Mated with W4S and Maggie 3.6's.
courant
119 posts
 
"Mr. Courant, please explain.Perhaps you had a defective Saturn."

Formally, it's Doctor Courant. :-) (I'm an experimental psychologist by trade)

My impression was that the G98DH had better Bass, Detail/Clarity, and Soundstage compared to the Saturn. I was running both sources through Linn Exotik/Akurate 2200 (2010) with Harbeth Compact 7es-3s. The Meridian made the Harbeths disappear. The Saturn had a warmer sound, but lacked the degree of sonic detail & soundstage compared to the G98DH. The Saturn was good, but the Meridian was AWESOME.

Again, this is a personal preference. There just seemed to be better synergy pairing the Meridian source with my Linn pre/amp setup. Again, YMMV.
jafant's avatar
jafant
19,912 posts
 
Sony 5400 ES.
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