DanielCRRE October 27, 2009 20:14
Plastic lid and front panel, very light weight - not good so far. The disc mechanism is noisy (hissing noise from middle, back area) - getting worse. Is supposed to be an upgrade from my Marantz CD6000OSE LE. There is not much between them, perhaps better separation and clearer treble on the Apollo. The new price is £475 and not £600.
Overall, not massively impressed.
RHCD August 13, 2009 12:42
This is a remarkably accomplished machine, and completely outclassed my previous player, the excellent Arcam Alpha 9 with its famous ring DAC. There are numerous reviews describing the precise, detailed, musical sound, so I'll just add one observation, which is how well it conveys any kind of drum. Any sound from a reverberating skin is reproduced with a palpable realism that is quite extraordinary - there is a real sense of the actual presence of the instrument that the poor old Arcam could not convey.
El Hefe July 27, 2009 14:47
I have waited for nearly 2 years to purchase this unit. Last year in June 2008, I contemplated between this unit and Marantz CD6002. I have always been using a CD player with my Musical Fidelity X-DAC, hence plunged into Marantz. Been using it for a year now. Although I am satisfied with the sound produced via the X-DAC, this year I decided to purchased the Rega Apollo and started to compare the sound between Marantz+MF X-DAC combo and this Rega directly hooked up to my MF X-A1 and X-A50. To my surprised, the sound from the Rega is more punchy and detailed compared to the Marantz+X-DAC combo.
All I can say is that I should have purchased it last year. It fits well with the rest of my set up. An the space aged lid is unique and certainly gives the player more style.
EvilWolf June 19, 2008 17:56
My new Rega Apollo arrived today and I love it. I had another unit on test for 2 weeks and loved the sound as soon as I put a cd into it. Prior to this, I had a Roksan Kandy MkIII Cd Player and a Musical Fidelity A3 24 Bit CD Player. The sound, in my opinion is perfectly balanced (to my ears, at least, not to mention my budget!).
It appears quite anorexic though, when compared with my two other players and when I lifted it off the box, I had serious doubts about it's ability as it was so light, as I usually like my hi-fi components to be weighty and substantial. Then I remembered - it's what inside that counts, and count it did. A fantastic cd player for the price and looks wise, the coolest!
The CD5i gets a lick of paint in the shape of the MkII (actually called the CD5 'i' with an italic slant), getting even more refinement and dynamics