Cd Players

[skeith]

I am looking at the following players:

Rega: Apollo-R

Marantz: SA8004 SACD-CD

Moon: 230

any experiences on these models or manufacturers would be appreciated.

[spinlps]

I don't have much experience with Marantz or Moon, but Rega holds a special place for me. Great gear, fairly priced, extremely musical. I can't comment on the Apollo-R specifically, but the Rega players I have heard (Saturn, Apollo) were excellent in terms of playing music. Not the most analytical gear around, but lots and lots of fun. Its a top loader, so you'll need to keep that in mind.

Have you listened to the Marantz at all? I'm looking at dipping my toe in the SACD waters and would be interested in your experiences with its SACD playback. I'd probably keep my Exposure CD Player for redbook playback.

[kh1958]

I have a Rega Apollo CD player. It has a very pleasing sound. I'm very happy with it.

[scamwb]

The Moon is $1500, Marantz $1000, Rega around $1000. If you are considering or have an SACD library get the Marantz if not why spend so much on a player that will be obsolete in a few years. Get a less expensive player and use an outboard DAC which is upgradeable like the Shiit or replaceable like many others. I read a review of the Sound of the Rega specifically related to the chips used being somewhat bright sounding but they liked it overall though. My friend has a Rega CD player with Rotel Electronics and high end B&W speakers it was the model before the current one and I thought the sound was a bit bright for my taste but that could have been the electronics room acoustics or the speakers.

Edited July 9, 2012 by scamwb

[jazzbo]

I don't have much experience with Marantz or Moon, but Rega holds a special place for me. Great gear, fairly priced, extremely musical. I can't comment on the Apollo-R specifically, but the Rega players I have heard (Saturn, Apollo) were excellent in terms of playing music. Not the most analytical gear around, but lots and lots of fun. Its a top loader, so you'll need to keep that in mind.

Have you listened to the Marantz at all? I'm looking at dipping my toe in the SACD waters and would be interested in your experiences with its SACD playback. I'd probably keep my Exposure CD Player for redbook playback.

If you're considering an SACD player, I'd recommend looking into the availability of the 2010 "100th Anniversary" SACD player from Denon, the DCD-A100. I got one for the discounted price of 1400 dollars (2500 list). This is an amazing machine with great DACs that you can use with other components via a coax and optical digital input.