I brought Rega Saturn home today. Feeding her with a brand new Nordost Shiva powercord. It is more detailed and also improvement in clarity compared to my previous Creek.
I am in the progress of upgrading my audio system and would like opinions on the following -
1. fuse - I want to replace the IEC fuse. Either with Furutech or HiFi-Tuning. Can anyone please tell me the amperage rating of the fuse in Rega Saturn? I believe Saturn uses small size fuse?
2. Within a budget of $3000 USD, which Int. Amp works best with Rega? IMO Rega makes good turntables and CDP, but not Amps and speakers.
3. Speakers ~ this is for later, but any suggestions? Now I am using B&W CM2.
4. Do you put any spikes or pads under Saturn to make it better sound?
5. How would you run-in Saturn? The sales associate suggests me to keep it playing for a continuous 100 hours. Is it possible to change CDs during the 100 hours?
Sorry for too many dumb questions. But too excited with my new toy and wanted some inputs. Thanks!
I am testing the Siltech SPX-20 power cable on my Saturn. Below was my original review:
Tested the Siltech SPX20 last nite. My summary is law of diminishing returns. A RM600 power cable on a RM3K player gives very noticeable improvements so a RM1.2K power cable will bring even larger improvements to a RM7K player right? WRONG! While the Siltech improvements was still noticeable its effect was significantly less on the excellent Saturn compared to what the Berlin did to the Apollo. The biggest audible different apart from the slightly more extended bottom end was it's ability to convey the shape and body of string instruments and the sense of acoustic space especially during complex mixes. I guess the Siltech removes a layer of sonic grunge allowing you to hear better into the acoustic space. The soundstage also gained more depth. I swapped cables about 10-20 times to establish the sonic improvements were due to the cable only and not other factors. If you just hear the Siltech on your own one would be hard pressed to immediately notice the improvements.
So would I blow big bucks on a power cable? The answer two weeks ago was "Maybe". More listening is required and comparing with other makes but regardless the law of diminishing returns hold. The stock made in Taiwan power cable is pretty excellent considering the fact it is 1200 bucks (340 USD) cheaper than the Siltech.
After about 2 weeks I swapped the mains cable back and proceeded to listen. After 30 minutes I decided I couldn't live with the stock cable only and have decided to upgrade to the Siltech. Why the differences are not jaw dropping it does improve on an already very good cd player.
The amp I am partnering the Saturn with is the Primare I30. Speakers are Proac Studio 125 floorstanders with Audioquest King Cobra interconnects and QED Silver Anniversary XT bi-wire speaker cables with QED Airloc terminations. My rack is an Usher SR-4
1. fuse - I want to replace the IEC fuse. Either with Furutech or HiFi-Tuning. Can anyone please tell me the amperage rating of the fuse in Rega Saturn? I believe Saturn uses small size fuse? Std fuse will suffice
2. Within a budget of $3000 USD, which Int. Amp works best with Rega? IMO Rega makes good turntables and CDP, but not Amps and speakers. Pls see above
3. Speakers ~ this is for later, but any suggestions? Now I am using B&W CM2. Use your ears and audition extensively. I am planning to upgrade my Studio 125s to maybe Proac Response D18 next year. The Saturn can be a tad bright at times so stay away from too bright and forward sounding speakers unless that is your cup of team
4. Do you put any spikes or pads under Saturn to make it better sound? I don't have anything under the Saturn but looking for a decent vibration isolation platform such as Townshend Audio Seismic Sink, SRA, Bright Star audio, etc..
5. How would you run-in Saturn? The sales associate suggests me to keep it playing for a continuous 100 hours. Is it possible to change CDs during the 100 hours? I just do casual listening ie. 3-4 hours daily. Will switch off if I'm not listening. The Saturn will nicely run-in after 3-4 weeks. If you want faster than of course your listening duration increases. Also bear in mind that even after run-in the Saturn does take a while after initial power up to come on song compared to an Apollo. I find the sound is best after 45 min to an hour..