[Mikey01]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 909 Do you mean best Redbook player I have heard unmodified? Or is the Apollo better at Redbooks than your modified Denon?

The Apollo is now a hair or two better at redbook than the modified Denon3910. However, I was refering to Redbook only players.

 

[JayGee]

I still think the Apollo is a nice CD player for the money. I'm holding on to my Planet 2000 for now because of the bass and because of a more analog quality overall.

I think there will be systems where the bass of the Apollo works out OK. I'm a little concerned about the treble which seems a bit toppy but again it depends on the system it's going in.

Jaygee

 

[Mikey01]

Behold! The modded Apollo.

 

[tyrion]

Very cool! Now explain what you did and what effect it's had, if any.

 

[Mikey01]

Uhhhhh Errrrr! Well I added two 25 volt 4700uf caps in parallel and ran that parallel to the existing 25 volt 4700uf cap. This, in theory, should do sumthin,maybe.
Actually I tripled the power supply researve. It basically beefs up your power supply. If call upon, by heavy bass transiants, for extra power; it will now be there instead of being non existant and hearing weak bass.

......................................Or, smoke and mirrors in parts count.

 

[909]

Nice Mod Mikey! Do you make house calls?

Tyrion spends one weekend in the big apple gets a flashy new avatar and prestigious title. It must have been one great trip that I should not have missed. (note to self: Tyrion is now an authority figure

)

The black Rega Apollo ships tomorrow!

 

[tyrion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 909 Tyrion spends one weekend in the big apple gets a flashy new avatar and prestigious title. It must have been one great trip that I should not have missed. (note to self: Tyrion is now an authority figure )

Do I have to edit this thread to keep it on topic?

Mikey, burn those caps and let us know how it sounds.

 

[Clarity]

Mikey I am eagerly waiting your review once it burns in.

My other room could use another source.

David its about damn time the distribution center is finally coming through. Can't wait to hear your impressions.

 

[909]

It should arrive on Saturday, but it was my option to wait on the black.

 

[909]

The Apollo arrived this morning in good working order as far as I can tell and I haven't noticed any quirks yet.

So I am going to burn this pup 24/7 for the next few weeks then report back with my findings.

 

[BrianS]

congrats

 

[Mikey01]

As some of you may know, I trippled the amount of capacitance in the main powersupply and used silver wire. As an end result, the bass has now been fortified just enough to, "not be an issue anymore", not that it ever should have been with proper break-in. I did have to go back in and relocate the new caps off the board as they interfered with the laser lens movement. So, "bottom line is" bass is up just a tad bit with just a tad bit more punch.

Sorry, nothing more earth shattering news than that. If the Apollo draws upon the powersupply for a deep breath of electric power to produce bass, the power supply now has enough reserve to follow through with the orders and not run thin. Possibly the audio output section caps could use a boost also. But it would probably be minor in effect. I would do that but the Black Apollo is a short term assignment and, as outstanding as it is, will just about be ready to go to make room for a Saturn or 840C or modded/unmodded Sony or a CD-5i. Which one....who knows.

Conclusions: The sound is somewhat analogueish with layer upon layer of detail with good extention on both ends. The bass is good with liquid midrange. Lots of air for seperation, very good blackness, and superwide sound stage also having good depth. Even stock, the Apollo remains an outstanding value with wonderful sound. With the mod it is just a tad better.

 

[909]

The Apollo has been burning in pretty much 24 hours a day for the last 8 days.

Accounting for the few down times, I would say that it has had at least 180 hours of play time while always being hooked up to a powered on amp.

Day 1 and 2:
I wasn’t overly impressed with the Apollo either on day one or two. After about 10 hours of burn-in during my first serious listening session, I felt the Apollo wasn’t balanced. The low and high end were out of control and too overpowering. On the second evening the Apollo showed negligible improvement, but nothing to write home about. I still wasn’t really pleased, but thought the Apollo had seemingly good dynamics, PRaT, and weight especially noticeable with bass and drums.

Day 3 and 4:
I noticed a nice coherent improvement in sound quality on the 4th night. The soundstage grew. There was better layering and separation of instruments and voices. The top and bottom end had more control and as a result the mids were easier to hear. The very lower level details that I know are on some of my reference tracks were still difficult to make out, though, I could hear them just not as well as I remembered I had heard them with the E5.

Day 4 and 5:
The Apollo only had minor improvements, yet noteworthy were with respect to content retrieval starting to rival the E5.

Day 6 and 7:
Things really started to come together and sound beautifully organic as a cohesive whole based on the positive things previously mentioned. I never really believed in burn-in, but I can say that I’ve noticed changes over the past few days for the better with this particular digital source. I haven’t compared the Apollo to the E5 yet since the Apollo hasn’t settled in sonically, but based on my reference tracks that I am very familiar with I believe that I can safely say the Apollo provides more weight to each note. Additionally, the Apollo seems just more musical resulting in a better articulation of the melody while at the same time not missing the details. I am happy to report that the Apollo does definitely rock, but certain electric guitar riffs that I am accustom to seem a tad less crunchy and/or harsh. At this point, I am impressed with the Apollo. And think Mikey’s assessment in the previous post pretty much nails it on the head. I’ll try and provide another update in a week.

 

[squall2072]

Great stuff! Keep us informed about the Apollo compared to the E5... I think those two are battling it out to be my next source.

Glad to hear it's working ok and that your enjoying it.

 

[Mikey01]

I am glad it is breaking in well for you. This CDP remains as a very good value. It performs well above it's price. And for people with even a lot less money, I am reading that the 640C is a very good value. It performs well above it's price range also as I had an opertunity to audition one at Ovation. Now, for people in between thoes two financial circumstances, we have the E5 which I have owned. Enough posts have been done on that one for you to know of it's sound. It two performs very well and sits pretty much smack in the middle of the other two both in sound* and cost*. Things are getting better all the time.

**: All cost comments based on new costs. Used is an even better value. The sound is based on a broken-in unit.