The Apollo-R is the result of many years of innovation, advanced software development and elegant engineering solutions researched by our highly skilled team of engineers and designers. It took the completion of two of our multi award winning products, the flagship Isis CD player and the Rega DAC, to pave the way for a unique product we feel encapsulates everything the new Apollo-R should be.

Product details

Design history

The original Apollo CD player launched in 2005. It was a huge success selling almost 20,000 units worldwide. The Apollo was a unique player featuring Rega’s own software and control system ensuring no other manufacturers player could sound the same. This key element is carried forward and improved into Apollo-R.

Analogue & digital outputs

Development of the analogue, digital and control domains ensured direct improvements of both analogue and digital outputs making the Apollo-R a perfect partner for the Rega Brio-R amplifier and an ideal ‘CD format’ front-end for the Rega DAC. The Apollo-R internal circuitry has also been improved by tightening the PCB layout.

Compact case design

Apollo-R is a top loading design housed in a custom, compact aluminium case matching the Rega DAC and Brio-R amplifier. The Apollo-R is available in a black finish only.

Dedicated CD mini system remote control

A new dedicated CD remote handset is supplied as standard which also has the advantage of Rega amplifier functionality .

Digital to analogue conversion

The DAC and the output amplifier of the Apollo-R have been enhanced using the Wolfson WM8742 digital to analogue converter, the same integrated circuit found in the Rega DAC.

Power supplies

The ‘digital’ power supplies feeding the CD processor, optical block, laser diode amplifier and slicer have been enhanced. This is achieved by using the same high performance, low noise power supplies found in the same location within the Isis CD player. This vastly improves the playability, error correction and the ‘inner core’ processing of the digital CD ‘spinner’ part of the Apollo-R.

Output amplifier

The discrete output amplifier has been tweaked to reduce the overall THD from typically 0.005% to 0.0025%, whilst at the same time improving the overall sound quality of the output amplifier.

User interface

We have improved the user interface control by using a dedicated display micro-processor, which eases the workload on the main control processors giving an improvement in the control code stability, usability and improved speed of initialisation of the disc being played which now matches that of the Isis CD player.

Performance

Drop a disc in the Rega Apollo CD player and pleasingly, it'll be read quickly, and with an absence of noise. Every product is still handmade by skilled technicians, many of which have labored at Rega for decades.Highly non-digital-sounding, the Apollo-R excels in peeling back the layers of complex, compressed recordings without instilling harshness.The Apollo-R proves sublime in its natural tonality. Percussion is precise without being sharp; guitar licks and synth stabs are added deftly, while vocals sound appropriately emotive. Timing is impeccable, with notes starting and stopping on a sixpence, while the midrange has room to let the myriad electronic layers find their own space in the mix.

Overall, we're talking about a formidable product here. Fast and substantial when it needs to be, but deft and harmonious at the correct time, too. The Apollo does a fantastic job with the fundamentals. Pace, timing, and tonality—they are all here in great quantity for the price.The Apollo-R’s greatest forte is the nimble way it navigates tough musical passages without losing its way. The Apollo-R has a sonic brilliance—a clarity of detail and of musical line, allied with a spatially up-front presentation—that enhances musical engagement.

Specifications

• New Wolfson WM8742 DAC
• Enhanced Output amplifier circuit
• Enhanced Digital power supplies
• Improved user interface
• Redeveloped Analogue & Digital outputs
• CD remote with amplifier functionality
• Dimensions: Width 220mm x Depth 320mm x Height 90mm
• Dimensions needed to operate: Width 220mm x 350mm Depth x Height 180mm.

*Reprint from Manufacturers Website.