Cornwalled Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Hello, Does anyone have any knowledge of the Rega Apollo's reliability? I have read some reviews stating that it is fairly prone to developing a read error problem. I would certainly hate to lay down $1000 on a CDP only to have the transport go south. This seems surprising for Rega, and below their standards. However, it is a new transport, I think from a company in China, so I guess it's possible. I'm looking at getting a new CDP in a few months, and before I discovered this, the Apollo was on my short list. Now, I'm not so sure. Plus, US dealers seem to be few and far between. Anyone else had any experience with the Apollo, or any other new CDP recommendations? Thanks, Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinerman Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 I've had an Apollo for two years now, use almost every day anywhere from 4 - 6 hours each day. Has been a great cdp with no problems.............[8-|] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornwalled Posted March 21, 2009 Author Share Posted March 21, 2009 Thanks for the post, Shinerman. I'm surprised there hasn't been more replies. Apparently not too many people have one? -Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev313 Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 I have a two year old Apollo. It has worked flawlessly. But, aside from that, it is the best sounding CDP I have owned. It isn't simply a matter of being a bit better than the others I had, it is way different (characteristically) and really might be the only one I've had that didn't sound OBVIOUSLY dreadful. I far prefer vinyl LP, but I also have thousands of CDs, so I do use the Apollo quite a bit. Here's what I really like about it: The entire treble range sounds musically believable - in the way that good analog sounds, and my other CDPs couldn't do. I don't think it delivers the deluxe, rich, interior texture and clarity of a moving coil cartridge on a great LP, but it also doesn't make you want to snap the CD in half. I can hardly fault anything about the unit, but if I had one nit to pick, I guess it would be the 15-second spin up time where the software is optimizing for each disc. Doesn't really bother me, but it might bug some people. These are top loaders, so you need a bit more room also. I would recommend this to anyone without hesitation UNLESS your budget is much larger. If you have 3 to 5 grand, there are other choices you might make. If the economy turns around, I'd love to move up to the Rega Saturn model someday based on my good experience with the Apollo. Good luck! But if yours breaks, please don't yell at me! Just kidding. My thoughts are the same on the original Planet. I hope mine never dies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornwalled Posted March 21, 2009 Author Share Posted March 21, 2009 Hey Mdeneen, Thanks for the helpful, informative post. The more I learn about this player, the more I like it. I'm still saving my pennies right now, having just bought a VTL preamp from a friend of tigerwoodkhorns. However, once I'm ready, I have a feeling this will be the way I will want to go. The only slightly annoying thing to me is they don't use the puck anymore. Don't the discs just snap in, ala sony walkman? Seems kinda cheap feeling for a $1000 CDP. Or is it different? -Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 The Planet is great. We had a showdown between it and one of my music servers with ripped CD's play through a Card Deluxe. Perfectly split decision with nobody really rabid about one or the other. If I didn't prefer the convenience of computer playback I'd go for one. However, I'd like to hear one up against an OPPO before I plunked down the extra bucks. I really don't hear any difference between it and my high end computer cards. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hifi jim Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 The only slightly annoying thing to me is they don't use the puck anymore. Don't the discs just snap in, ala sony walkman? Seems kinda cheap feeling for a $1000 CDP. That was my thought too. My complaint about the Planet 2000 was that the puck was a bit noisy during quieter passages. I'm just curious how the CD snaps in, is there a center button to release the chuck, or is just a friction chuck? That along with the top load, have me looking at the Naim possibly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev313 Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 The Planet is great. We had a showdown between it and one of my music servers with ripped CD's play through a Card Deluxe. Perfectly split decision with nobody really rabid about one or the other. If I didn't prefer the convenience of computer playback I'd go for one. However, I'd like to hear one up against an OPPO before I plunked down the extra bucks. I really don't hear any difference between it and my high end computer cards. Dave Great minds think alike today, Dave. The Planet and the Oppo are my 2 CDPs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 The Planet is great. We had a showdown between it and one of my music servers with ripped CD's play through a Card Deluxe. Perfectly split decision with nobody really rabid about one or the other. If I didn't prefer the convenience of computer playback I'd go for one. However, I'd like to hear one up against an OPPO before I plunked down the extra bucks. I really don't hear any difference between it and my high end computer cards. Dave Great minds think alike today, Dave. The Planet and the Oppo are my 2 CDPs! That means you've compared them. What's the score? Is the cost difference well worth it? Cheep audiophiles want to know... Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 The only slightly annoying thing to me is they don't use the puck anymore. Don't the discs just snap in, ala sony walkman? Seems kinda cheap feeling for a $1000 CDP. That was my thought too. My complaint about the Planet 2000 was that the puck was a bit noisy during quieter passages. I'm just curious how the CD snaps in, is there a center button to release the chuck, or is just a friction chuck? That along with the top load, have me looking at the Naim possibly. A puck? I'm afraid to ask... What the puck???? Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hifi jim Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 A puck? I'm afraid to ask... The center part of the lid on the Planet had a spinning puck that was part of the clamp that holds the cd during spinning. I agree that the Oppo 980 I have is one heck of a cd player especially for less than $200 delivered in superb packaging, plays HDCD, SACD and DVD-A and outputs DSD via the HDMI cable straight into my Yamaha to decode the DSD there... very cool. Sounds great, but I've yet to compare to anything modern other than the DACs in the Yamaha, but I think I prefer the Oppo through its analog outputs vs. the HDMI cable and the receiver decoding. And it's a heck of a DVD player, faster and easier to use than my BluRay and looks better too for DVD playback. My complaints are it's very light weight which allows it to shift around on the shelf, but placing my Apple TV on top of it seems to have worked. And its goofy front panel interface that requires multiple button taps. Aside from those minor quibbles, I love it. Solid player for the money. [Y] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IB Slammin Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 A few more bucks but..........AH! CDP with upsampler. Take a deep breath, relax, fondle the Credit Card for a while and drop NOS matched Siemens into it. [Y] If the light poundage bothers you, just open it up and fill it with odd nuts and bolts[] .Performence is that of CDP's that are much more costly. Just a fuzz over 2K with the right tubes. tc PS: Reads the disk at the speed of light! Super quick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 A puck? I'm afraid to ask... The center part of the lid on the Planet had a spinning puck that was part of the clamp that holds the cd during spinning. I agree that the Oppo 980 I have is one heck of a cd player especially for less than $200 delivered in superb packaging, plays HDCD, SACD and DVD-A and outputs DSD via the HDMI cable straight into my Yamaha to decode the DSD there... very cool. Sounds great, but I've yet to compare to anything modern other than the DACs in the Yamaha, but I think I prefer the Oppo through its analog outputs vs. the HDMI cable and the receiver decoding. And it's a heck of a DVD player, faster and easier to use than my BluRay and looks better too for DVD playback. My complaints are it's very light weight which allows it to shift around on the shelf, but placing my Apple TV on top of it seems to have worked. And its goofy front panel interface that requires multiple button taps. Aside from those minor quibbles, I love it. Solid player for the money. What was it you said in the vinyl thread? I lost you somewhere in that computer talk? [] However, I know what you are talking about the OPPO quirky interface. I still can't figure out how to enter a track above 10, and when I press "open," it never seems to open until I do it again. And when I put a disc in the tray and press ">", it just sits there until I close it and press play again. Pretty weird. Must be Microsoft influence... [] Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hifi jim Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 However, I know what you are talking about the OPPO quirky interface. I still can't figure out how to enter a track above 10, and when I press "open," it never seems to open until I do it again. And when I put a disc in the tray and press ">", it just sits there until I close it and press play again. Pretty weird. Must be Microsoft influence... Microsoft for sure. [] Mine will close and play if I press play enough times. It is surprisingly good about opening when the power is off, by just pressing the panel open button. It also automatically plays a disc once I've loaded it, even when I use the open/close button to load the disc. Sometimes I wish to load a disc, but not play it yet so the Oppo forces me to wait till it's loaded and then press stop. And it clips the first millisecond of a song at the beginning of the disc, sometimes. But the software is upgradeable and Oppo does fix many of its quirks, so for $169 or whatever it is... it's a steal. And I love that I can resume from Stop even on Cds! Sometimes I pause for very long times and I hate hearing the player sounding as if it's laboring while spinning, so the Oppo allows you to stop and then promptly pick up right where you left off. I don't even think the literature mentioned its HDCD decoding abilities, so that was an added bonus for me. I noticed my Joni Mitchells' Both Sides Now, the track A Case of You is the only song not encoded with HDCD, while the rest of the CD is, weird. Cool to have a player again that decodes it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshnich Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 Have to agree with Mark. The Apollo is a wonderful CDP. Quite remarkable. I have heard the Planet and to my ear the apollo is in another league altogether. I have the Oppo and the apollo. The Apollo is vastly superior - again to my ears. Before I bought my apollo I auditioned a number of CDPs - some costing more than twice as much and the Apollo was my favorite. I have to say that I not using the Apollo much as I have gone to an Olive music server with a benchmark DAC. Not quite to the level of the Apollo but pretty darn close ( a lot more expensive). If you are looking for a single play cdp the Apollo is hard to beat. if you need something that will also play SACDs and DVD audio, the oppo is the way to go. I personally have found that I stopped using the single play cdp once I put the Olive in my system. Josh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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