laurenc319 Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 after sitting on my duff and thinking about it for a year or two. I placed it in the living room system with the Forte I's and Cary SLI-80 and kept my Sony C701ES hooked up so I could compare them. I have two dupicate CD one of Monks and one of Miles Davis. I loaded one in each started them at the same time so they played within 1 or 2 seconds of each other and listened and flipped the selector switch between the two. I adjusted the level of the variable line out on the Sony so they played at the same loudness as measured on my Radio Shack sound pressure meter ( About 80 to 85 db). Bear in mind the Sony is about 13 years old. Did the Apollo sound good? An unqualified yes and I'm happy to have bought it. Did the Sony sound good, yes considering its age. As good as the Apollo? No. The differences were apparent quickly, but were not as large as one might suspect. The Apollo is a magnificent player considering its price. Very well balanced over the sound spectrum with very good deep bass and wonderful detailed mids and highs. The soundstage is deep and wide. The Apollo had the ability to present the music witout any harshness ( particularily in the upper registers ) that would occasionally leak from the Sony. Some high notes on a sax, trumpet or piano would sound strained and shrill and a bit painful to the ear with the Sony but completely natural on the Rega. The Apollo sounded like a good Analog system taking the info on a cd and presenting it in a very musical and eminentily listenable way. I think it's a great match to the Klipsch heritage line and highly recommend it. The old Sony while outmatched was not completely embarrassed but was outdone. Sony did things well 13 years ago and one wonders what their modern CD players sound like. good listening, Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rplace Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 Nice review and it sounds like you did your best to get a reasonably accurate A/B test. I have heard noting but good comments about that CDP. Glad you are happy with it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BS Button Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 I just bought a new (used: stored for 3 years), Sony XA20ES. It bests the Cal Audio Tercet MK III. The most amazing difference is in the speed of playback, I think the Cal had some sort of problem with timing. The newer Sony plays everything much slower, and I think it's the more accurate of the two... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckears Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 I've had my eye on the Apollo for a few months now... my old Sony 5-disc changer is beginning to show its age, but I am still happy with its sonic delivery. I tried an highly-rated Adcom a few years ago (I think it had the newest Burr-Brown DAC's), but I ended up selling it and hanging on to the Sony - the Adcom was way too bright and harsh-sounding. Recently, my Sony has had trouble reading discs when I load them up... I'm leaning towards either the Apollo, or just sitting tight and spending the money on HD-DVD. (Mmmm, 1081i...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazman Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 after sitting on my duff and thinking about it for a year or two. I placed it in the living room system with the Forte I's and Cary SLI-80 and kept my Sony C701ES hooked up so I could compare them. I have two dupicate CD one of Monks and one of Miles Davis. I loaded one in each started them at the same time so they played within 1 or 2 seconds of each other and listened and flipped the selector switch between the two. I adjusted the level of the variable line out on the Sony so they played at the same loudness as measured on my Radio Shack sound pressure meter ( About 80 to 85 db). Bear in mind the Sony is about 13 years old. Did the Apollo sound good? An unqualified yes and I'm happy to have bought it. Did the Sony sound good, yes considering its age. As good as the Apollo? No. The differences were apparent quickly, but were not as large as one might suspect. The Apollo is a magnificent player considering its price. Very well balanced over the sound spectrum with very good deep bass and wonderful detailed mids and highs. The soundstage is deep and wide. The Apollo had the ability to present the music witout any harshness ( particularily in the upper registers ) that would occasionally leak from the Sony. Some high notes on a sax, trumpet or piano would sound strained and shrill and a bit painful to the ear with the Sony but completely natural on the Rega. The Apollo sounded like a good Analog system taking the info on a cd and presenting it in a very musical and eminentily listenable way. I think it's a great match to the Klipsch heritage line and highly recommend it. The old Sony while outmatched was not completely embarrassed but was outdone. Sony did things well 13 years ago and one wonders what their modern CD players sound like. good listening, Larry Larry, Glad you like the Apollo. I think it gets better further down the playback road, and will distance itself from the Sony even more. The gap between analog playback and CD playback in my system has narrowed some with the addition of the Apollo. Analog still wins, but the Apollo is a real treat that takes THOUSANDS of dollars to better. Klipsch out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrot Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 The Apollo is a magnificent player considering its price. Very well balanced over the sound spectrum with very good deep bass and wonderful detailed mids and highs. The soundstage is deep and wide. The Apollo had the ability to present the music witout any harshness ( particularily in the upper registers ) that would occasionally leak from the Sony. Some high notes on a sax, trumpet or piano would sound strained and shrill and a bit painful to the ear with the Sony but completely natural on the Rega. The Apollo sounded like a good Analog system taking the info on a cd and presenting it in a very musical and eminentily listenable way. Interesting review. The thing I would be careful about is concluding that the Rega is the more natural because the Sony is shriller on certain recordings. This shrillness could easily be a part of the original recording, and the Sony is simply playing back what is there. A live trumpet up close is not a pleasant affair and does not sound warm and "analog"-y. There's been much discussion in the past about Rega's unorthodox frequency response. All that really needs to be done to a CD player to make it sound more "analog" is to roll off the highs a little and give a gentle boost to the bass. That's what I would suspect is going on here, although I have been known to be wrong before. There's no dispute about which one you prefer or even which one would be more pleasant to most people, maybe me included. I'm just mentioning that accuracy isn't always pleasing to the ear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrestonTom Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 The Apollo is a magnificent player considering its price. Very well balanced over the sound spectrum with very good deep bass and wonderful detailed mids and highs. The soundstage is deep and wide. The Apollo had the ability to present the music witout any harshness ( particularily in the upper registers ) that would occasionally leak from the Sony. Some high notes on a sax, trumpet or piano would sound strained and shrill and a bit painful to the ear with the Sony but completely natural on the Rega. The Apollo sounded like a good Analog system taking the info on a cd and presenting it in a very musical and eminentily listenable way. Interesting review. The thing I would be careful about is concluding that the Rega is the more natural because the Sony is shriller on certain recordings. This shrillness could easily be a part of the original recording, and the Sony is simply playing back what is there. A live trumpet up close is not a pleasant affair and does not sound warm and "analog"-y. There's been much discussion in the past about Rega's unorthodox frequency response. All that really needs to be done to a CD player to make it sound more "analog" is to roll off the highs a little and give a gentle boost to the bass. That's what I would suspect is going on here, although I have been known to be wrong before. There's no dispute about which one you prefer or even which one would be more pleasant to most people, maybe me included. I'm just mentioning that accuracy isn't always pleasing to the ear. Parrot, I think you have hit it in the head about the "analog" sound and the issue of "accuracy". These can sometimes be very different goals and have very different solutions. Good luck, -Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverSport Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 Paul, I enjoyed that observation as well...I love to look at things from a different perspective...'rounds the character don'tcha know...Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steamer Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 Sounds like you found a component that has the synergy in your system you like. If you feel the same after giving it time then great,ultimately your ears are the ones it has to please. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpm Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 Well, it didn't take long for the audiosnobs to set you straight on your new Apollo. Sucks for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev313 Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 oh come on now. How could we ever remember 'ole Mobile Homeless if it weren't for Parrot v. Rega or Parrot v. SET? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverSport Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 Hunh??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrot Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 oh come on now. How could we ever remember 'ole Mobile Homeless if it weren't for Parrot v. Rega or Parrot v. SET? Those were the days, weren't they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEAR Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 Very intersting read Larry One thing is for sure,the oldie CD players hold their own against "audiophile"grace CD players of today. Tallking about oldies I have my trusty Denon DCD3520 I ve purchased in 1990! Best of all this machine works well save for the used up door opening belt,that is dried and worn out. When I compared the DCD3520 to my newer SONY SCD1 and Pioneer DVAX10 I was very impressed how the "old" DCD3520 held up. The sound was a bit more edgy,as was pointed the newer CD players,DAC's are tuned to sound more analog and less harsh. The analog sound is in,the dryer unforgiving studio sound is out. But I have to say most if not all of the first generation CD's are very harsh and offer poor sound quality.DAC's have improved and so has sound.Digital stil has a good way to go. With the best SACD you can start to hear what high quality high rez digital can do for music. Glad you like the Rega,all of the few Rega products I heard(mostly speakers)left a cvery good and musical impression on me.They do make the music sound more analog,very pleasing sound.Non fatiguing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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