I've heard both the G08 and the Apollo in my set-up. The G08 does so much so very well. If you haven't heard the G08, the best analogy I can think of is it is similar to being Neo in the Matrix and listening to an average CD player with his ears. The presentation seems slower than normal, but the time clock moves at the right speed. You can get your ears around each and every instrument and/or voice without thinking about it. The soundstage is wide and the notes have depth, near perfect pitch and tonality and weight. On occasion, I thought my ears were getting sensitive to something in the G08 sound with the Cardas Golden Reference Cables, but that was after long listening sessions. My biggest gripe with the G08 is that the player seems to take the recording and mess with the mix. As an example, the vocals seem muted and recessed and it does so with other instruments so as I believe to balance the sound so the listener can hear as much as possible. The G08 is hyper-detail and seems to sacrifice some macro dynamics and liveliness in the process.
With respect to the Apollo, I've had it on pretty much consistently for going on three weeks and it is continuing to make improvements, yet the biggest ones were during the first 10 days. Thereafter, changes have been more subtle. The Apollo doesn't separation the instruments as well as the G08. In fact, the G08 does separation so very well it is somewhat unnatural but still beautiful just the same. Additionally, the Apollo has excellent detail retrieval yet the G08 is better and better at articulate what has been retrieved. The Apollo has got PRaT I just want to move around and get lost in the music. I can?t remember having the same experience as often with the G08. Granted, the G08 does nearly everything better than the Apollo, but the Apollo comes closer to the G08 than my E5 did. The Apollo is a very musical and analog sounding player and at under grand and can be had for less than the retail price too it is a really great deal. I had thought about getting the G08 and would need to hear it again, but at this point I am so very content with the Apollo because it does so many things right that it makes music really enjoyable and life-like. I would have a very hard time justify the G08 price tag even used. And I suppose there are so many other players in the G08 price range to consider as well, if I wanted to spend the big bucks.
