Hi again. I have stacked up 3 bad cd players to be repaired, none under warranty. I called my Rega dealer in Seattle and he said that I need to send the Apollo to Portland, OR, to a branch of The Sound Organization. Their website does not tell where the Rega service center is. I also wrote to Art's friends in Eugene and am waiting to hear back from them. Is the Sound Organization my only choice? Are there other better places to get service? My NAD C515BEE is also dead. Like the Apollo, it reads 'no disc'. It started skipping within months of buying it used on Agon. At least we have a Rotel serviceman here in the sticks. That player is also down. Unfortunately, he won't work on the other brands. Am I having unusually bad luck or are these machines not durable?
I have been rebuilding a house and have not had time keep up with any other interests for 1.5 yrs now. Lucky I have a Cambridge Soundworks table CD, radio that I use for music while working. Good enough for competing with power tools.
"No Disc" is usually a sign of a failed transport. No stats but I would say that's probably the most common failure in digital players using a hard disc drive. Most of us have been through it and we have our share of dead CD players to show for it. Transports are temporary things with manufacturers swapping transports for their new models at a speedy tempo. Even more so since the number of available CD transports for a high end player has now dwindled down to a handful as DVD/BluRay transports are the bulk of what's being manufactured today. By the time the transport fails, there are seldom replacements available so the player is ditched in favor of a new machine. It's why I finally said no CD player over "X" dollars when I got tired of tossing hundreds of dollars into the recycle bin. Woe to the person who still has a S-VHS player as they are as dead as the dodo. My LaserDisc player sits unused, sneering at me whenever I walk by the back closet where it has stayed for the last 12 years - "Gotcha!" it screams as I wonder what other use I could have had for that serious amount of cash.
I would certainly begin with Sound Organization for the Rega. Better to have them recommend a repair center than to trust Joe Schmoe.
The Sound Organization says that since it is out of warranty they recommend I send it to: Mr. Nick Gowan True Sound 136 Kennedy Avenue Campbell, CA 95008-4115 408-370-7578 gowan@tsound.com
I'm staying from this site most of the time as it cause all kinds of weird stuff on my computer and it's just plain slow...
Sounds like you got the right folks. I've had more CD players go bad in the last year than I have fingers to count them and yet the old Rotel is still going. I'll play them as long as I can and when they go bad I'll get them fixed if the parts are available.
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Thanks Art. I mailed it to True Sound today, only $20 USPS + insurance. My rotel is in the local repair shop. I have been crazy busy re- building an old house that was rented out for 18yrs. Needed serious energy retrofit, re wire, re plumb, re heat, new roof, new floors, new kitchen. I waited till I retired to have time for this job.
Nick Gowan fixed the Apollo fast. I am waiting for it's return now. The problem was it "needed a new mechanism, cable and main integrated circuit. 235 + shipping, ins." Great service if the repair is good.
I am happy with the old Apollo. I read the reviews and they say that the Apollo R is significantly improved. I will keep both my non-R Apollo players until I really need a new one, and put the R on the wish list for the future.