Rega Research

 

Established in 1973, the very same year as Linn and Naim,and still in the hands of one of the originators, Roy Gandy, Rega is based in Southend, Essex. It is one of the largest employers in the UK audio industry.

Rega understand the joined-up nature of audio systems by building exactly that : systems. They actually go even further by manufacturing every part of the chain. From cartridge to loudspeaker, and all the bits in-between. The fact that they make their phono cartridges in Essex (nope, not out-sourced to China) amazes us. Even with the loudspeakers, only the tweeters and cabinets are bought-in (and the veneered cabinets are manufactured in the UK).

The Rega turntables have been the mainstay of sensible analogue for so long that it is easy to forget that they are actually rather good too. Rega make the tone-arms that everyone else uses, so this part is really familiar. 

Mind you, there is constant progress, with changes in all areas, including cable. The tweaking industry might have to re-group! The amplifiers all have high quality phono stages within them, so there is always the opportunity for a neat, affordable record-playing system.

It’s the age of the turntable and, for Rega, this is a very fine state of affairs.

Revising the classic ‘Planar’ names, their three entry-level turntables are all revised (positively) for 2016. Peering out below is the Planar 3. Sure enough, it’s the most expensive of the set. Are our delusions of poshness showing?  Possibly not. The RP6, 8 and 10 all come above it, so these are all very affordable products in the scheme of things.

As it happens, all three are usually kept in stock and all are on demonstration. It’s a great time to be playing records, make the most of it!

 

Whilst Rega is generally considered to be a high value mid-priced brand, they do make some fairly esoteric equipment. The fabled cost-no-object Naiad turntable is now available for something in the region of £20,000. It remains, however, determinedly absent from the official price list.

Well and truly in production, are the Isis CD player and Osiris amplifier. Both are single box units and the CD player has a USB digital input that is compatible with the excellent Melco music Audio servers. Audio quality is certainly ‘up there’ but, with the softening of interest in CD replay, it is not on our current demonstration portfolio.

The Osiris is Rega’s only line-level amplifier. All the others in the range have in-built phono stages. The thinking here is that anyone buying at this level will want a more specialist stage, such as their Aria or the matching Ios Reference.

We could talk for days about Hi-Fi: 01394 672464 / 5 [email protected]
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