audioFi.net Hi-fi news, reviews and rants
  • Reviews
    • Amplifiers
    • Digital Players/Streamers
    • Digital Processors
    • Loudspeakers
    • Accessories
    • Preamplifiers, phono stages
    • Systems
    • Turntables, cartridges
    • Headphones, headfi, desktop
  • News
  • Rants ‘n Raves
  • Hot Picks
    • Amplifiers
    • Loudspeakers
    • Preamplifiers
    • Systems
    • Turntables, cartridges, etc
  • What’s Up
  • About us
  • Home
  • Q&A
  • Keeping it fresh

Keeping it fresh

June 2, 2012 Leave a Comment Written by SUJESH PAVITHRAN

Rega’s Roy Gandy takes a breather to talk to us:

The Apollo-R is the third “half-size” design from Rega in the past year, after the DAC and Brio-R? Can you tell us why Rega took this path and where the company intends to go with it?

We always like to change designs, it keeps things fresh. Advances in surface mount technology also allow us to produce physically smaller products which are very much  in fashion at the moment. We are aiming for a three tier range, the small half-width, a new full-width case design (Elicit-R and Saturn-R) and the reference range.

How does the Apollo-R differ from the Apollo technically? What did you retain from the older player – obviously it’s a new Wolfson DAC inside, but what about the transport section and other parts?

I have attached the Apollo-R launch flyer which details the changes in technology over the older Apollo, the laser being the only common part between the two players – new DAC, power supplies, case, lid, remote and re-written Rega software to name but a few!

Why did you retain the top-loading mechanism, which obviously makes it impossible to “stack” the player, unlike the DAC?
We have always preferred the top-loading design. Our research showed that the most unreliable part of any CD player is the powered drawer mechanism. By removing this component completely, it increases the reliability over all other drawer-loading players and removes the noisy drawer motor. We also like the practice of lifting the lid and placing the disc in place, which reminds us of putting on a piece of vinyl ! We are also fairly sure most people use a rack, as is recommended, instead of stacking the products.

How did you keep the price competitive?

As stated above, using surface mount technology allows us to use a smaller case, which in turn allows us to use half the material required for the case. Rega’s philosophy is always to make a product sound the best it possibly can for the price. Any unnecessary frills are left out to concentrate on the important parts of the design, such as DAC and power supplies and build quality.

Will there be a new Saturn coming out soon?

We are working on it now, we have great hopes for it to be available in the last quarter of 2012. It will be in a full-width case to match the new Elicit R amplifier. No more news available on these products at this time.

Many in the industry seem to think that the lifespan for CD is limited – do you agree?

There is a chance that the Saturn-R will be the last CD player Rega ever makes; however, we were told 15 years ago that we would not be making turntables anymore and now produce more than 1,500 units  per month!  A high-end crystal ball is required to answer this one!

You have a Rega DAC with USB; will the next step be a network player?

Rega has no current plans to make a network player or streaming device.

Q&A
Rega’s shrinking act – the Apollo-R
Audiolab 8200MB

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Categories

  • Recent
  • Rotel Michi X3 – a premium lifestyle amp
    March 5, 2021
  • DS Audio shares its optical phono cartridge tech publicly
    March 1, 2021
  • PS Audio – staying true to the high-value cause
    February 25, 2021
  • Drop’s Sennheiser HD8XX coming in November
    February 22, 2021
  • McIntosh takes retro theme to MCD85 SACD/CD player
    February 19, 2021

RSS 440Hz.my – Expanding music horizons

  • Gibson acquires Mesa/Boogie January 7, 2021 The Editor
  • The Pandemic, The Arts, and The Situation October 5, 2020 BRENDAN de CRUZ
  • Martin SC-13E… fret not over the higher notes January 17, 2020 The Editor
  • Sadowsky and Warwick announce licensing deal December 17, 2019 The Editor
  • Roland RP302… your family-friendly digital piano December 2, 2019 Sujesh Pavithran
  • The making of a Taylor guitar – a sustainable and ethical process November 28, 2019 Sujesh Pavithran
  • Godin Acoustic Series… keeping it premium November 18, 2019 Sujesh Pavithran
  • Eugene Lee – bringing ’em back to life November 11, 2019 NR Lohan
  • Fender announces the American Ultra series November 6, 2019 The Editor
  • Penang House of Music – still a mountain to climb October 28, 2019 RSMurthi

evolve theme by Theme4Press  •  Powered by WordPress