On a recent visit to an audio shop the dealer offered to sell his 9 month old Rega Planet demo unit for 30% off list as the new Apollo has replaced it. Does this sound like a decent deal?
I haven't heard the Apollo yet but did like what I heard from the older Planet (it was connected to a Rega Mira 3 playing through Dynaudio Focus 220s). This is a good hi end shop so the demo unit has been handled with care. Didn't know if I should attempt to snap up this deal or give the Apollo a listen.
I spent most of the day yesterday listening to the Apollo and to my ears it is significantly better than the Planet. But in the end it is your ears and budget that counts.
Guess I'm going to have to give the Apollo a listen then because in the end we're only talking about a few hundred in savings between the two. I've seen others comment the same concerning the Planet/Apollo comparison. The system I'm trying to put together I hope will last me for some time and the 300 in savings isn't much when spread across the years. Looks like there's no need for me to make a rash decision regarding the CDP portion of my system.
It all depends on how easy or difficult it is come come by $300. I know some people who'll make $300 before lunch on Monday (must be nice), and I know some people who won't hit the $300 mark until after lunch on Friday, which really is unfortunate. If the extra $300 isn't going to hurt you, you may want to wait to hear the Apollo.
Well I'm definately not the 'before Monday lunch' crowd. The hardest part is convincing the wife. When all this started out I was looking at the NAD C542 (pairing it up with the NAD 372 or 162/272 and Paradigm Studio 100s) but the ears can definately tell the difference between the Rega and NAD CDPs. Now the darn dealer has gone and let me listen to the Rega CDP paired up with the Rega Mira3 and Dynaudio Focus 220s and confused the whole issue cause my ears liked what they heard.
Everyone's got something 'stupid' they spend way too much money on. In our case it's audio equipment. It's stupid to everyone else, but to us it's more than worth it.
My wife spends too much money on pocketbooks and shoes. It's stupid to me, but to her it's more than worth it.
My mother buys those stupid Dept. 56 Christmas decoration houses. Again, stupid to me...
I could keep going on and on here. If your wife has something 'stupid' she spends too much money on, call her out on it (in a nice and respectable way of course).
My rationalization - My wife's honestly got more shoes and pocketbooks than she can wear in two months without wearing/using the same one twice. That's her money pit. Mine is the stereo. As long as all the bills are paid and we're within our means, what's wrong with buying a new toy? It's not like it's going to sit there and collect dust. Also, she listens to the stereo too. The pocketbooks and shoes aren't exactly benefitting both of us.
Then again, I haven't told her how much I'm looking to spend by the end of the summer. I looking at either Naim Nait 5i and CD5i or Rega Mira 3 and Apollo. We've both always had the view that as long as the bills are paid and we're happy, then it's all good. Why else do we work?
Therein lays my problem. My wife is way too logical. She's an accountant by profession and I seem to be the one always buying the new toys, the darn gal hardly ever goes out and splurges on herself. Her only real fault is the fact that she actually puts up with me. In all honesty when I've taken her along to the shops for a listen she admits how much better the sound has been then our old equipment that will be getting replaced and she knows I'm not going to be putting us into debt for our musical enjoyment.
I recently had a chance to listen to the Mira3 coupled with the older Planet CDP (shop didn't have the new Apollo yet) through a set of Dynaudio Focus 220 speakers and the setup sound very good to my ears, quite musical. Can't wait till they get an Apollo to demo. I listened to a variety of music from classical to blues to rock and the presentation was good regardless of the genre.
The Saturn will come in another 3 weeks.Wonder how this will improve on the Apollo,and more,will it be worth the extra money as we are talking here about 1300 pounds?But if the Planet suit your taste and budget,than go for it,maybe later there is an upgrade possibility if necessary
I think the Saturn is the replacement for the Jupiter. I haven't heard anything about it in a while, either official or unofficial. It probably will be coming out in the near future, seeing as how Rega doesn't have a link to the Jupiter on their web page any more.
Clarence, If it's any help, in terms of sound quality it's my opinion that the Apollo cd has considerably eclipsed the Planet 2000, and is actually competing with the Jupiter. A friend owns the Jupiter and we decided to compare the two side by side at my home. We came to the conclusion that rather than saying one is better than the other, it's more a 'horses for courses' situation. Both players were suprisingly detailed, but where the jupiter had more tonal colour and solid bass, the Apollo had a more extended treble and was more rythmically lively. Both of them though sounded very coherent, within their respective strengths. I think this illustrates what a bargain the Apollo is.
As John A. suggested in the thread on "Anyone hear the new Rega Apollo yet?", dealer demos never will sound like they do once you put the equipment to use at home. I wasn't all that impressed with the dealer demo on the Apollo, however I probably had already made up my mind from evertyhing I had read. At the shop it sounded limited compared to my existing home set up using my Rotel. At home it came to life. Why? I don't know, Power Line conditioners, different acoustical setting, karma, too many variables to consider. The best demo will always be in the setting and configuration you plan on using. One time I heard Legacy speakers through a $5K Marantz Surround Sound integrated reciever (on 2ch). I thought the Legacy's were the best bookshelf speaker ever made, until I had the dealer connect them to a ~$1K integrated amp. They suddenly became ordinary....
