Rega Saturn-R CD Player

Although British specialists Rega Research are best known for their turntables they have carved out an enviable reputation for their electronic products as well. Here we have an example of one of their digital range – the Saturn-R CD Player – although to call it a CD Player really does it an injustice as you can read about below. Anyway, it’s in good condition noting a couple of minor blemishes to the fascia and the CD lid – please refer to photographs. It comes with remote control, mains lead, manual, and original factory packaging, plus of course our standard three month warranty.
Rega Say….
The Saturn-R CD-DAC player offers complete flexibility and integration into any system. Essentially two products in one, the Saturn-R houses a high specification transport and independent DAC circuit. Both sections are fully remote controllable via the supplied Solaris remote handset.
You will find plenty of connectivity options, all at the highest possible resolution up to and including 192 kHz-24 bit. The Saturn-R has two optical inputs, two Co-Axial inputs, a fully asynchronous USB, and an added ‘direct’ digital output from the CD playback section. This ensures the Saturn-R integrates perfectly into any system and provides the perfect partner for the Rega Elicit-R integrated amplifier.
The Saturn-R uses our proven digital to analogue converter and analogue output amplifier technology coupled with a pair of Wolfson WM8742 digital to analogue converter ICs. The Saturn-R has improvements to the CD section power supply which was a result of the research & development of our reference Isis CD player along with the improved microcontroller and display drivers.
The Saturn-R uses a high stability master clock and high-capacity power supply in the CD circuitry, high performance PLL digital interface receiver, isolated digital inputs and high-performance power supply architecture in the DAC circuitry. Signal switching between the CD and DAC functions are performed in the digital to analogue converter stage. The signal path of the CD section in CD mode is kept to a minimum.
The DAC USB input has been improved with asynchronous operation at sample rates of 44.1 to 192 kHz with a bit rate of up to 24 bits. The USB input has the same galvanic isolation as used in the Rega DAC-R. The USB uses dedicated drivers in the computer, enabling full ASIO operation, thus eliminating signal degradation caused by generic windows-based drivers.
Specifications:
USB: 192 kHz – 24 bits asynchronous
DAC: Wolfson WM8742 DAC
Dimensions: 432 (W) x 325 (D) x 82 (H) mm

To read a review from Hi-Fi Choice magazine please click here