Any word from anyone on AudiogoN about the new Rega Apollo R CDP?

Thanks! It will be interesting. If it's an improvement over the previous Apollo, will that mean it will cannibalize the Saturn sales? Is it worth waiting for the new Apollo R to ship or pick up a good deal on the remaining Apollos?

Thanks Taylor. I suppose I'm trying to figure out if the new Apollo R could be a worthy alternative to my music server and external Cary Xciter DAC? Which competes very well against other Redbook players under about $1500. I'll wait until I hear more about it after it gets delivered and into the hands of 'Goners.

Ironically enough, I similarly waited for feedback on the Nuforce CDP8 about a year ago and haven't read anything about that player on here. I guess it never took off because I don't think I've seen one of those come up for sale.

@ richardfinegold. What else about the previous model of the Apollo didn't you care for?

I've owned and listened to several players and when I look at the convenience of a music server coupled with the nice performance from my DAC, I've been pleased. That said, if the Apollo R is superior to my setup then I'd be willing to give it a try.

I'll tell you what, if the Apollo R had an asynchronous USB input using it's new DAC it would be a slam dunk. I could have the best of both worlds and not have to worry about a decision.

@richardfinegold

It's kind of ironic that the previous Apollo was more fussy about playing discs while the Apollo is supposed to buffer the music. Which begs the question on how well the Apollo or Apollo R are as a transport?

I was discussing DACs with a buddy of mine. He has the Wired For Sound (W4S) 2 DAC, but he also had the Cary Exciter DAC. He needed a balanced DAC so he made the switch. He has heard DACs in excess of $3,000 and he still believes the Exciter held strong against it and was better than most DAC sets that CD players under $3k have. He uses a Cambridge 650 player as a transport plus the W4S DAC. He also uses a music server that he runs into the W4S. He likes the server/W4S combo (which he though was equivalent to the Cary in SE mode) to the Cambridge player alone. That mirrors my experiences comparing my server combo with CD players under $1500.

My entire point of the thread is will the Apollo R alone be a better choice than my current front end? Is the previous Apollo, with the closeout deals, a better transport than my server? Will there be a new Saturn R with an asynchronous USB input that will be better than all of it?