Rega Apollo-R CD player

Just to remove the conversation around Rega CD players from the RP3/Elys 2 thread and give the OP back his thread I decided to open this thread for a discussion around the Apollo-R.

I have been experiencing trouble with the Apollo-R such as;

1) Signal break up
2) Disc reinitializing mid playback
3) Player not reading the disc upon startup

With the latest player if I unplug the player from the mains and plug it back in then it resets and works.

I spoke to my dealer and Steve at the Sound Org and I believe we came to the conclusion that there may be some sort of incompatibility with the Apollo-R and the power in my home. I'm not technical enough to know why that is but Steve and Teri at Stereotypes are top notch folks and I have to trust what they say. Let me be clear that no one has said that this possible incompatibility issue is for certain. There may be no way to know. If it is so then that may affect quite a number of people and it may be why very few of these players make it back to the distributor and Rega.

1) I have a problem with my player.
2) Player goes back to dealer who plays it and never has a glitch...no problem. Use as demo or sell it as used.
3) Frustrated customer moves on and we never know whether they will have multiple failures

To be fair I've had 3 Apollo-R's and one of them had a well known problem with the sensor magnet and the others have been experiencing these read errors.

I decided to move on to the Rega DAC. My dealer is afraid that the same thing will happen with the DAC...Steve at the Sound Org agrees with me that there is no initializing taking place in the DAC and that I should have no problem with it. The dealer believes that I should switch to a Simaudio DAC which would cost me $200 additional dollars (on special...a really good deal I must say). I want to stick with Rega...really does suck because I really didn't want to add another box to my setup but oh well. Suck it up and move on.

 

Hi Art, sorry to hear about this. Interesting that power may be a problem. My house has bad power and I've over the years addressed this, most recently with a PS Audio power regerator. Do you have any power conditioning in your system? Have you tried another power cord with the player?

 

I have had the same issue, with my Rega Apollo R, connected via spdif cable to a Rega DAC. Both units were plugged into a PS Audio Quintet at the time I had the issue.

My problems have not returned since I unplugged it and plugged it back in, but I will keep you updated, and contact my dealer if it returns.

I've had no problems with the DAC, by itself, and it has been an absolute pleasure to have.

 

I am using a Shunyata power cord at present. No power conditioners.

 

Hi Art

Dealers would have contacted us with any reports of this issue and then not being able to verify.

Offer still stands to get your unit back directly for us to take a listen to

Best

Steve

 

I just don't see how it can be "incompatibility with your power." You're using a reputedly nice cord (I'm a PS Audio cord guy myself) and Kevin is using a Quintet. Your power needs should be met.

 

Yeah, unless there is something very, very wrong with the power coming into your house, a "power incompatibility issue" sounds like a load of rubbish to me. Were that the case, it would be causing problems with your other electronic devices, no?

 

I would still see it as a design flaw if there are a number of us out there with the same issue. It would seem that they would design the piece to work, not only in an ideal environment, but within a normal range of variation. That said I really don't know what I'm talking about so there ya have it.

 

I have to say, although the Quintet does not provide full power regeration, like the PS Audio Premier or newer P lines, the power thing does seem suspect to me. I haven't had issues with any other gear, aside from this one player. And the DAC hasn't had any hiccups. But, I guess we'll see. I believe you have a dedicated line for your gear, too, don't you, Art?

I have been running the Apollo R steady since the initial issues last week, when I contacted Art to share the bad news and he suggested unplugging and re-plugging it. That seemed to take care of the problem. I'll just have to wait and see if it returns.

As a carryover from the other thread, I want to be clear that I am not bashing Rega. I think they make wonderful products. But it is disconcerting when a player exhibits problems three months into ownership and it is not helpful to be told that the problem is "user error," especially on something as simple to use as a CD player...even one with an initialization period prior to use.

I'm confident that the problem will be addressed by my dealer, Sound Org, and Rega if it pops up again, but it bums me out knowing that Art has already been back to the well twice and is getting the same issues all over again.

 

I agree. If your player is powering on, and spinning up and 'not reading the disc upon startup', it's not your power source, it's the player.

If you're player isn't reading your disc, where is it going to get data from to feed your DAC?

 

It won't be the same player...traded in for the DAC. Other players have no problem reading discs.

 

Couldn't agree more relative to being told "user error". It's a CD player we're not initializing a nuclear launch. Do keep in mind that this is not our dealer or the distributor who says that.

Remember that one of the players was clearly a fail due to the sensor magnet. I have been assured that Rega has resolved that problem.

I have an old Rega Apollo or a new in the box CA 650C that I can use as a transport.

 

I had all sorts of issues with my Apollo the first month I had it, then it settled down and I've had no problems since. That was almost four years ago.

 

I am not sure what they were getting at with that comment. Perhaps the incompatibility is with the aftermarket power cords not fitting the AC connectors in the socket on the player properly. That does seem to be one thing both users have in common. It also seemed to address the issue with one of the units when the connection was refitted. It's also odd that the player in the other gents system works perfectly and consistently when returned to the dealer. Perhaps that is the source of their "with your power" comment.
-Bill

 

The issue happens both with an aftermarket power cord and the stock one.

I think that Rega is aware of this issue and whether it's driver error or design error I am confident that it will be sorted out. I feel that the folks at Rega care about a good customer experience and are doing their best to address whatever problems arise.

 

Oh, you're good then.

 

Admittedly, I am not knowledgeable with regard to the way electrical systems work, but the explanation from Sound Org pinpointing the power in one's home as a potential source of the issue seems less far-fetched to me after a day of considering my own circumstances.

I had the player for 3 months without any problems, using it in my living room. It operated flawlessly and sounded great. The living room is closest to the electrical panel and I have never had any sort of electrical problems in it.

2 weeks ago, I moved the Apollo R to a bedroom, thinking that I would run two audio systems in my house. It was only then that I had any problems. The electrical in the bedroom is generally OK, but a floor-lamp will dim if something like a computer printer is turned on and used, which indicates that there may be some current delivery issues.

Having since abandoned the idea of having two systems, I moved the Apollo R back to the living room this past weekend. There has not been a problem since moving it back to the living room. It may very well be that the Apollo R is more sensitive to the types of fluctuations present in the bedroom. This would still be considered something of a design flaw, but it's one that I find less problematic than the possibility of a QC issue or software glitch. Since I seem to be unaffected with the Apollo R in my living room, and the electrical is the only variable, I think Steve at Soung Org may be entirely correct about the source of the problem. I have repeatedly played the three discs which had been giving me issues in the bedroom over and over again in the living room. The three discs were new discs, with no scratches, which is why it was puzzling to have issues playing them in the first place. They played without any problems in the living room.

BTW, I have only been using the stock power cord.

 

OP has a great point. Some of the newer CD player(s) have a harddrive / software -type buffer system that could (potentially) become problematic over time. IME, we cd lovers will come to miss the simple cd players of yesterday.

 

Hilarious. Absolutely hilarious.

Hook it up to a UPS backup and see. Try it in someone else's home. Or at work.

My Saturn did something, on occasion, as you describe. I never bothered or worried with it, I'd just shut down and start over. Just attributed it to the general flakiness and personality characteristics of british made gear.

 

Interesting, Kevin.

Just spoke to a dealer with a customer who lives in the same small town that I do and guess what. They are on their 3rd Apollo-R. I am beginning to think that there may be some truth to the power (voltage or what not) fluctuation theory. That said it is still a design flaw IMO as these fluctuations are accounted for by most other manufacturers.

 

Get a UPS battery backup and see. It'll deliver the right constant voltage and current and get u off the supposedly cursed grid you are on.

And some would argue removing any of that dreaded and mystereous line noise.

 

No thanks.

 

It shall remain this mysterious "power incompatibility".

Now I have, in fact, heard everything.

 

Apollo R

Hi Art

Can you e mail the retailer with the customer who had 3 Apollo R's in the same town. Not heard anything from our dealer base re this and would like to follow up - would certainly have expected our office to get a call.

Given the large number of Apollo R 's we have sold in the USA and Rega have sold to date world wide without this issue surfacing we have something extremely perplexing going on in Oregon.

[email protected]

Cheers
Steve

 

Art, I definitely agree that it is a design flaw. Much like the buzz/hum reported by some owners on the Brio R, I can't help but imagine this issue is related to their decision to use the half width chassis and the compromises of its space constraints. With regard to the Brio R, someone on What Hi-Fi? had posted this as response from Rega:

"We are aware of the 50Hz hum, having a transformer of that VA rating so close to amplification circuits can cause a hum. Terry had the BrioR toroid designed so that it would have "lower" strength areas of the magnetic field to enable mimimum hum to be present. Therefore each Brio-R toroid is rotated and set during production with the "noisier" part of the transformers field aimed away from the sensitive circuitry making the hum acceptable at a low level."

Some will be affected/bothered by it, some won't. I imagine we'll find out that there is some similar issue at play with the Apollo R. From what I understand, the Rega DAC has a more robust analog stage and a larger power supply than the Apollo R, likely because it does not have to accomodate the optical drive and there was extra space available to devote to those sections. I imagine you will be fine with the DAC and whatever you use as a transport.

BTW, this is all speculation on my part. I'm not a designer and at a certain point, I don't care as long as I am not experiencing operational issues and it sounds good. I love the look and space savings of the half width chassis, and more importantly I love the way the components sound. Now that the most likely cause of my problems has been identified and addressed, I am back to happily enjoying the Apollo R.

If I have any issues from the living room, I will definitely report back.