[quote user="igglebert"]I have to say that your analysis suprises me somewhat. I thought the Apollo, Mira 3 and R5s sounded superb! Lifeless couldn't be further from what I heard. But hey, it's all down to preference. I'm not sure about Rega's amps, but I would def. rate their CDPs and speakers as very talented and musical.[/quote]
Fair play igglebert
We did'nt have R5's at hand. To cut a long story short, eventually we replaced the rega electronics with cyrus ones, namely a CD8x and 8vs2. The difference was not small. Whereas the regas (all combinations ie. apollo/saturn/mira/brio) emphasized detail with sweet subtlety (if that makes sense) to a greater or lesser extend, it was a rather reserved, polite rendition of Keb Mo. The cyrus gear brought back some life, presence and fun but of course it too can be critisized (like everything). Of the rega combinations I thought the brio offered more of a 'live in front of me' feel than the mira. You could argue the cyrus player and amp are more expensive but when you put a mira with a saturn I felt there was no comparison and the price for the combination is similar. Horses for courses and we dont all like the same thing. I might add I would'nt choose either combination if it was me that had to buy but thats another story.