What is the story with Rega Appolo?

Rich:
You mentioned in the review of your system that Apollo is easy on ears. More relaxed and softer top is what I’m looking for in my upgrade. How does Music Hal compare with Apollo?
Thanks.
Alex

I liked the Music Hall for the 2+ years that I owned it. I used it with a NAD C320BEE and I felt that the combination had great synergy. When I upgraded the NAD to a Prima Luna (ss to tubes), I gave the Music Hall to a friend.

The Music Hall was detailed, smooth, and rich sounding. The difference between the MH and a DVD player should be pretty big.

Regards, Rich

Toshiba SD 9200 was A rated by Stereophile in 2001. Its built quality is really impressive. I did a side by side comparison with Planet and Toshiba was a winner.
I'm running tube pre into ss amp but I'm getting tube amp.
Would Apollo be a better choice than Music Hal in this case?
Cheers,
Alex

Yes, the Apollos are finicky but mostly due to operator error. I own two of them and love what they do. No, the Apollo is not the final word in detail or dynamics. IMHO, what it is is musical and natural. I tried to upgrade to the Saturn but felt the added cost did not justify the slight improvement I heard. A couple of friends and I experimented with some DACs to see if that would provide a noticeable improvement. The DACs all had their own subtle differences but when it came down to picking out which was which in a blind test, we all failed. (The DACs used were the Benchmark, PS Audio, Bel Canto 2 and 3, and a modified Liteaudio DAC-60.) I really wanted to spend some money but could not justify the cost benefit ratio since I just couldn't pick out any improvements.

A Jupiter would make a great second choice if you find one in Canada with low hours. It has a little less detail and the bass is not as tight as the Apollo, however the midrange is very similar. I've lived with a Jupiter too.

Happy trails,
L

Operator error if they mess up that bad over all these months,just because somebody hits a button here or there and all the other times missing the first couple seconds of music,i'd be looking else where.