Within the relatively short period of its existence, Rega's Apollo player appears to have already gained hi-fi ‘Landmark' status. Give it a listen, and it's easy to hear why. It has improved in just about every conceivable way upon the outgoing Planet which in itself was a great machine. It does this by lowering the noise floor, so notes stop and start more clearly, and you get that inky black space in between performers – normally a preserve of much more expensive machines. It also has improved treble resolution out of all proportion with what you could reasonably expect within the price range. Finally, its rhythmic abilities have been tightened up, so it boogies more.
Comments have been made in the hi-fi press regarding the Apollo's superiority to the much more expensive, but outgoing Jupiter; I don't think it's quite as cut and dried as that. The Jupiter is still a very good machine with a more sophisticated, slightly larger soundstage and deeper bass, but it doesn't quite have the bold, forward attitude of the Apollo. Rather than one being better than the other, I’d say it was swings and roundabouts (Although the Jupiter does get a severe clouting by it's replacement, the Saturn - but that's another review!)
SUMMARY: The Apollo delivers like few other players in its price range. The fact that it IS able to compete with, and is by no means disgraced by another admittedly older but much more expensive Rega machine, is testament to what a spectacular bargain the Budget Rega really is.
SACD 
Within the relatively short period of its existence, Rega's Apollo player appears to have already gained hi-fi ‘Landmark' status. Give it a listen, and it's easy to hear why. It has improved in just about every conceivable way upon the outgoing Planet which in itself was a great machine. It does this by lowering the noise floor, so notes stop and start more clearly, and you get that inky black space in between performers – normally a preserve of much more expensive machines. It also has improved treble resolution out of all proportion with what you could reasonably expect within the price range. Finally, its rhythmic abilities have been tightened up, so it boogies more.
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