Sony XA777ES or Rega Apollo for Redbook CD's

I had the opportunity to audition the new Rega Apollo a couple of weekends ago. The setup was: Levinson ML-7, ML-3, Levinson Interconnects, some LARGE gauge speaker cables (looked like nice stuff and it wasn't Monster), and a set of ProAc Response 80 (might have been the 100s, but Im pretty sure they were the 80s).

Once I got past the raw power of the ML-3 and the high and low frequency extension of the ProAc I was really amazed at what I heard. This was the Rega RED BOOK, <$1000 CD player. No vinyl, no SACD, just Red Book. It was amazingly warm and musical. Something I did not expect. Lots and Lots of detail too. It was very clear and open, I guess a product of the Rega class A output stage. I almost forgot I was there to audition the Levinson gear (which I decided in retrospect was a VERY good thing and as soon as I scratch together the dough, Im going to be a vintage Levinson owner).

As a comparison, I had listen to the Naim flagship CD, Naim flagship pre-amp, Naim stereo amps in bi-amp config at 100w/ch, and this particular set of speakers at the particular location. I much prefered the Levinson / Rega setup.

Also, I own a Sony DVP-s9000ES but I don't feel that the rest of my system warrents true comparison. That being said, the 9000 is great on SACD, but I have noticed that CDs surffer from the typical bright and chilly.

Lucas

I had an XA-777es for around a year..."extreamly good" SACD player and only a "pretty good" CD player. Now that I'm getting back into SACD's....mostly classical and jazz, I wish I still had it.

My little Pioneer 563A SACD player falls very short of the Sony in that department.

Dave

I use the sony for sacd playback, very nice, but I use a musical fidelity 21 tri-vista dac with the sony as a transport, and the upgrade was outstanding.

Very good recomendations from Robm321 and Janseni2006. I owned a XA777Es for quite some time. The Redbook playback is definitely on the more accurate and analytical side of the fence and can come across as cold sounding.

I personally have not heard the new Rega Apollo but from everything I have read, I would definitely give one a try.

Good Luck..

Chris

I like the Sony unit too for SACDs but agree about the CD playback. Music just doesn't seem to have "soul" or "heart".

I have the XA777ES. I understand what you mean about the musicality part. It isn't sterile but is a bit analytical. The options filter helps that if you haven't tried that yet.

I enjoy listening to the Redbook of the Sony - it is far more detailed, but it is not as engaging as my Cary 308T. I use the XA777ES mainly for SACD which it does a fantastic job on.