marantz cd63 KI or Rega Apollo

Hi
any comment between this 2 cdp ? i currently using the marantz cd63 KI , but some 1 from oversea will send a Rega Apollo , so shld i remain the marantz or apollo ?

Rega Apollo.

Ultimately you need to try it out in your system as everyone hears things differently. The Apollo is more musical. The CD63KI Sig is my 1st CD player I got in 1997. Pretty decent player with good detail but a little sterile for my taste. You will probably get more organic warmth and higher degree of musicality with the Apollo.

YMMV as always.

A word of caution on shipping stuff from overseas. You don't want to end up not getting the CD player after making payment.

Hi ryder
don't worry abt the shipping part , coz i carry in by my relative.
just worry that apollo not able to get the faster disk reading and support cd-r that running perfect in 63KI

My vote also goes to Rega Apollo. The CD63Ki is not on level ground with the Apollo.

I've brought back for home audition. It can plays whatever CDs throw at it except on rare occasion you need to re-insert the CD for it to read properly, not always though. According to Rega, it will scan all the tracks and stored in its memory so expect fraction of seconds waiting time before you can play. It shows "Initialization" on the front LCD screen. Never try "private cds" but then you do not wish to spin those inside the Apollo dont' you?

Warm, detailed and dynamic as opposed to the bright sound of Marantz. I still returned to the dealer after a week test. Reason is simple, I'm using a naim amp and nothing beats the synergy of naim source and amp. When the naim cdp being plugged in, the rhythm and tempo of the music immediately sing in highly coherent style.

But having said that, the Apollo has been an quite impressive equipment by itself. The first thing you will notice is its fast attacking sound makes you think the cd is spinning faster than normal rate. There is one used unit selling for RM2k now. I prefer the black finishing with red led at front, so sexy...

Cheers.

Keep the Marantz, if you allow me to go thru with it you won't want to sell it anymore. Once done CDPs of higher level and cost wont be able to match!!!

Believe me!!!

Rega Apollo will triumph over the CD-63KI anytime, anyday.

Given the recent price discounts, the Rega Apollo is even better.

Also check out the Rega DAC. This thing retails at £500 only and was reported to sound better than Rega Saturn which is less than RM2.5k brand new. Not too sure how much the dealer is selling this over here. There is a lot of competition in digital these days.

Having own both once upon a time I'll say the Rega Apollo for everything but the bass

llsaw wrote:Having own both once upon a time I'll say the Rega Apollo for everything but the bass

I guess you are comparing the Apollo against its bigger brother, Saturn. Anyway, I think the Apollo is already good enough to give lots of improvements over the mentioned Marantz.

the most important thing to consider is this:

the motor of the marantz 63 ki is famous for being unreliable. it'll go bust every 3-4 years. and spare parts are getting harder to get because it is not made anymore.

the rega is a newer machine and there should be sufficient spare motors around.

My old cd-63ki went kaput after 6months. repaired under warranty by Wo Kee Hong. Vowed never to own Philips based optic lens CD players again. I have another transport with Philips CDM12.4 optics, can't find a good replacement todate. Its now bricked for so long.
Always a scary thing when one own a pricy CDP and its laser optics go kaput. Makes me a lot more secure playing those old black discs with grooves OR that sub300 DVD play all and everything you throw at it for general music enjoyment. I've given up on expensive CDP's. My own 2 sen on this.

Tried both Rega Saturn & Apollo against my mod Marantz. Win both by the mile & cheaper too. Looks like there's going to be lots of CD63 Ki for lelong soon. Let me know if any for sale.

Not a fair comparison,marantz 63 Ki is not in the same league at all.

i can say any old CDM4 based philips/marantz players can sound much more effective than these 2 modern player. Regardless or read time or CD compatibility, imagine the bulky swing arm...the biggest in Philips series.

No doubt Apollo is solid..built like tank,..but looking at the transport mechanism,it doest match to its looks..

Anyway, a proper implementation and system integration can deliver an optimum result, regardless of what is being chosen... some just have to spending more time to realize this

car o scope wrote:

llsaw wrote:Having own both once upon a time I'll say the Rega Apollo for everything but the bass

I guess you are comparing the Apollo against its bigger brother, Saturn. Anyway, I think the Apollo is already good enough to give lots of improvements over the mentioned Marantz.

Nope. I meant the APollo is better than the CD63KI is most areas except the bass. The Saturn is of course better than the Apollo and the Ayon CD1S is even very the much better than the Saturn but that's another story for another day

flyfly wrote:No doubt Apollo is solid..built like tank,..but looking at the transport mechanism,it doest match to its looks..

Errr.. you sure you're referring to the Apollo? IMHO the build quality leaves much to be desired. Front plastic panel, rear panel that flexes when you push in the power cable's IEC connector, rubber feet that leaves black ring marks on your table, etc.

sflam wrote:the most important thing to consider is this:

the motor of the marantz 63 ki is famous for being unreliable. it'll go bust every 3-4 years. and spare parts are getting harder to get because it is not made anymore.

the rega is a newer machine and there should be sufficient spare motors around.

Mine was slightly better. Replaced the transport twice in 11 years of ownership so this means a lifespan of 5-6 years per transport

wow.. funny when some claimed philips mechanism that lasted 3-4 years only. if its cdm 12.1 then yes, but perhaps thats on daily basis usage. my cd 67 still has its original philips cd mechanism & lens. even better its made in malaysia

let alone my mission pcm4000, cd 50, rcd 955ax, rcd 965ax, cd 450, cd 3, yada yada bla bla bla.. all based on philips mechanism & never been changed & every each bought second hand which only GOD knows how they had been thrashed or not. my cd 63 even got a new lense thanks to mr oh.

try to run the marantz straight to your power amp without pre amp in between & judge by yourself how good it sounded. perhaps if it has solid builtlike rega than definitely apollo is out of the league

look like the Apollo win far then KI , how about the comparison between apollo and exposure 2000s cdp
is that apollo is a 24bit ?