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Audio Dropping Out on Rega Apollo and Saturn

I borrowed a Rega Apollo and Saturn for home audition from my local dealer.

On both CD players, I experienced audio drop outs from some of my CDs as they were playing. I noticed that these CDs did have some minor scratches, but nothing major. When I would play these same CDs on my Jolida JD100 CD player, I never experienced these problems.

Are there any Rega Apollo or Saturn owners that have experienced this problem with some of their CDs? It seems like to me that Rega does not have a very good error correction system as the laser scans the CD. So if you do happen to have some CDs with scratches, it could hinder an otherwise pleasant listening experience.

If there is no clear explanation or work-around for this, then I have no choice but to remove these players from my consideration.
wkass
1kitch
19 posts
 
I agree with Cableplex, as I had the same problem on my Apollo with long disc read times, audio dropouts and No Disc read errors, until it failed to function entirely. I applied a light coat of sewing machine oil to the laser tracks utilizing a q-tip and it now reads discs as quickly as it did on day one, and no more dropouts. I was able to move the laser head by rotating the exposed gear. When I get some time, I plan to figure out how to remove the cover so I can apply a drop of oil to each gear bearing as well.
sotosound
2 posts
 
Just checked this thread to find three new responses.

The lubrication issue is interesting and worth following up.

Thanks everyone.
daffyd54
7 posts
 
FWIW, apart from the transport, another possible source of any problems is the ribbon, which may need replacing.
I previously purchased a used demo and had to have the ribbon and laser replaced by Rega's US service centre (got my money back though). My brand new one is performing flawlessly and is reading all my burned CDR's. I was also advised by the service centre to leave it turned on all the time.
stevea
3 posts
 
Thanks for the heads-up on the lubrication issue. After sitting idle for a year, my Apollo would not respond to a loaded disc. I used my thumb to exercise the laser sled back and forth and voila! Now I need to figure out how to get the cover off to carefully apply some lube.

Steve
djzouke
1 posts
 
I own a Saturn that I bought here. It is now starting to act up more. Initialization is slower and "disc empty" shows up more often. All cd's are factory burned. It has been very humid here in the Northeast and I thought that this may be the cause.

@1kitch
Where are the laser tracks that you lubricated? how do I identify them?

@stevea
I can see the laser sled. You just moved it and didn't lubricate it?
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