If you’ve followed my Reviews here on AudioReview.com, you know that I’m a big PC Audio fan. I, like many others in the audio world, have found that a simple home PC paired with a good Digital to Analog converter can produce some pretty amazing sound. As a result, I’ve pretty much moved to PC based playback for the majority of my listening.

So for me to review a CD Player that only plays CDs – no DVD’s, SACD’s, DVD-Audio discs, HD-DVDs – just plain old Compact Discs, is a bit counterintuitive. Shouldn’t I stay focused on the future instead of a nearly obsolete format? Sure, and vinyl is dead too, right? Yet Rega has been doing quite well with their excellent line of turntables for quite some time, thank you very much. Their CD players have always been well respected as well. Maybe they know what they’re doing?

Fit & Finish

The Rega is an attractive and light little machine. No 20 pound power supplies or gawdy aluminum faceplates here. The grey plastic faceplate sports an understated but classic design that has been carried over from their previous line of CD players and amplifiers. Fine by me. No need to spend more of your cash on a cheesy and heavy fascia that won’t necessarily stand the test of time.

In terms of accessories and specs, it’s pretty straightforward. On the back of the machine you’ll find the analog outputs, two digital outputs, and an IEC power cord inlet. In the box you’ll find a remote, manual, power cord, and not much else. The box itself has a nice plastic handle on the front, and it slightly resembles a suitcase. Very convenient for those of you who’d like to take with you on your work commute. Get a listen, and you just might want to.

Performance – or, the Reviewer Abuses Superlatives

I hooked up the Apollo to my current system du’jour, featuring a pair of Epos M12.2 loudspeakers, powered by an old but capable 80’s vintage PS Audio Elite Plus Integrated, cabled up with DH Labs cables. My source components are a Scott Nixon USB Tube DAC and a Thorens 126mkII. I don’t presently own a CD Player aside from my Denon universal DVD player.

From the first disc I played, I was amazed. The amount of detail that this machine presents is just incredible. It rips every last bit off the disc, and presents it in the most detailed and musical way I have ever heard. Yes, I went through every disc in my collection, going all the way back to age 15, hearing all my favorite albums again for the first time.

But the Apollo doesn’t just retrieve new details from your favorite recordings, it whips them around the room like a sonic fireworks show, or sprinkles them around the room like so much rainbow colored fairy dust. I’ve heard my copy of BB King & Eric Clapton’s excellent “Riding with the King” dozens of times, but the Rega made these two guitar legends sound downright psychedelic. This player would have really come in handy back in my early days at UC Santa Cruz.

This player does a great job of bridging the gap between digital and vinyl. It has the body and smooth musicality of a nice analog setup, but without any of the clicking and popping, static or dust. Not only that, but the “digital nasties” that we’ve all grown accustomed to are gone. On second thought, it really doesn’t identify itself as a “source” component at all. It just sounds like great music playing in the living room.

Comparison

For comparison, I put it up against not another CD Player, but my Scott Nixon USB Tube DAC that I love so dearly. I recently had it upgraded with the latest modifications and power supply, giving it a downright ridiculous leap forward in performance. It sounds like a totally new component. I’m even more thrilled with this unit than when I first got it.

So here I am with two very cool components, each with a very different approach to digital playback. They also gave me an easy way to test them head to head. I took a handful of CDs that I wanted to compare, and ripped them using lossless compression to my iBook. Then I loaded a CD in to the Rega. I synced up the tracks I wanted to compare on both the iBook and the Rega, and then switched between the two on the fly.

Yeah, I’m a geek. But guess what, they’re paying me for this!

Geek insecurities aside, this proved to be a fascinating test. The Rega and the USBTD sounded surprisingly similar. Both had killer dynamics, detail and musicality. Both featured a wonderful midrange and in general made outstandingly good music. I often forgot which one I was listening to. But after some critical listening, I couldn’t deny that the Rega won out in every respect. High frequencies were sweeter and more extended. The Apollo was also the champion in the lower registers, boasting thundering bass that I didn’t know my speakers were capable of producing.

With poor recordings, on the other hand, the Apollo loses out to my humble vinyl rig. I wasn’t able to go head to head with identical albums. Even lousy recordings have a touch of musical magic on vinyl. At times it seems that the Rega can convey too much information, and the results can be a bit overwhelming. The effect is that I just want to turn it down.

The Final Word

Now, it’s a pretty tough proposition for me to knock the performance of this player. But as an advocate for value conscious hi-fi consumers, I am not sure at this point in time about the long term viability of machine that plays only compact discs. Sure, its CD sound quality is incredible. But its applications are limited. Like Rega’s excellent turntables, this machine supports only a nearly irrelevant format. Granted, the Compact Disc is still THE audio standard, and all music released today and for the foreseeable future will be on the compact disc. But in this day of PC Audio, DVD’s, SACD, and dozens of other disc formats, a value conscious audio fan might want a little more flexibility from their investment. The DAC section seems to be phenomenal – maybe we could tap into that by incorporating a digital input? On the other hand, even if you do drop the $1k required to own this unit, I can guarantee that you will not be disappointed.

-Eric LoBue

Rega Apollo CD Player $995
Rega's website US Distributor
Read Consumer Reviews!