Rega IO Review (stereo amplifier)

[DanielT]

Engineering has always been the beating heart of Rega Research, a company obsessed with specialist materials, tolerances and accuracy.

A History of Rega

Find out about our history.

www.rega.co.uk

Oh well..

 

[Mart68]

never understood the hype around Rega but I did once have a listen to an all-Rega system (except the CD transport) and I could probably have lived with it,

I think it is pretty much impossible to manufacture a 'good' amplifier in the UK and sell it at a profit for £350. Costs here are just too high.

Suspect the idea behind this is to suck first timers onto the Rega upgrade ladder.

 

[zeppzeppzepp]

Little brother of Rega Brio(2×73 watts 4 ohms). Very popular brand in France, specially for vinyl playing. Brio could have been my first "audiophile" integrated amp in 2013,with Nad c326be.
Well, another one bites the dust

The Rega Brio, I got one.
not much to like.
Rega is a vinyl player company, not expert for amplifier for sure.

 

[Matias]

I would rather buy a Topping PA3s for 150 usd if I needed a small integrated amp and add external amplifier for headphones and phono preamp if needed. Cheaper and better performing.

Topping PA3s Review (Desktop Amplifier)

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Topping PA3s balanced integrated power amplifier. It was sent to me by the company. It is not announced yet and I forgot to ask how much it will cost. It is in similar form factor to PA3 which I reviewed before and that one cost $120. I think...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[holbob]

The Amir trolls will be up in arms about this one! Very popular on forums, bargain budget product, multiple award winner, etc. I'm British, but apart from Kef and possibly Quad and Cambridge Audio, i'm constantly disappointed by traditional British hi-fi companies.

I'd love for you to review a Sugden amplifier. Let's see how good class A is with the quintessential class A amplifier company.

 

[batfunk]

The Amir trolls will be up in arms about this one! Very popular on forums, bargain budget product, multiple award winner, etc. I'm British, but apart from Kef and possibly Quad and Cambridge Audio, i'm constantly disappointed by traditional British hi-fi companies.

I'd love for you to review a Sugden amplifier. Let's see how good class A is with the quintessential class A amplifier company.

Rega Brio Stereophile review(2017):

Rega Research Brio integrated amplifier Measurements

Sidebar Measurements

www.stereophile.com

And the conclusion :

"Rega's Brio is a well-sorted little amplifier, as the Brits say, and I was especially impressed by its moving-magnet phono stage. But it runs hot: after 60 minutes of driving one-third its clipping power into 8 ohms, the temperature of its side panels was 135.6°F (57.6°C).—John Atkinson"

 

[DanielT]

I'm starting to see a pattern here ..

DSJR:

If Amir has one to test, I'm girding my loins for a technical assassination frankly, as chasing top measured specs aren't really part of Rega's electronics portfolio and furthermore

Rega iO

I am curious as to how this little Brit amplifier measures. Seems astonishing value considering it is built by a reputable long standing company in Britain.

audiosciencereview.com

Edit:
DSJR comes according to its own information from
LocationSuffolk Coastal, UK, so he should probably know British HiFi, British as he is(or live there anyway).

 

[thewas]

And the conclusion :

"Rega's Brio is a well-sorted little amplifier,..."

Unfortunately as often JA trying to relativize the measured engineering mess, thank god nowadays we have non ad-founded sources like ASR which talk a more honest language...

 

[KSTR]

Suspect the idea behind this is to suck first timers onto the Rega upgrade ladder.

It's clearly intended as cheap small all-in-one integrated amplifier with all comfort (remote, display), and as such it performs... well, so so. It's unnecessarily compromised by choice of the extremely small form factor.

 

[JayGilb]

Might be a nice combo amp/heater for a small apartment.

 

[Doodski]

Might be a nice combo amp/heater for a small apartment.

With the heat that this thing produces those capacitors will not be long lived.

 

[iMickey503]

On but off topic here is the assembly line for Rega products including the IO amp.

I trust this dude. A cluttered desk translates into a person who really digs what they do. I also have that IKEA Lamp. Looks like my desk when I'm doing just about anything. The fact he wears a watch tells me he cares about the little things and fine details. It also seems organic. Not just set up for a photo shoot. IEC plug right there to do testing on stuff he works on.
Feels good this one.

I have to admit about the heat part? Brits tend to keep their temps in the 60F range, so heat may not be an issue for them. In my experience, British Audio companies do a good job with part selection and safety, so I don't see a problem with heat per say, but other markets may need to take note of it and mind where it is placed.

I have liked the Rega Turntables, and do find them nice to use on occasion, but its been a long time since I had one.

I wonder if the noise to the power supply was due to being optimized for European 230 volt power or 250v E.U. standard Power vs. American 115-125v being less optimized for this unit perhaps?

I have not heard Rega ever having poor customer service after the sale, so I would not worry to much about the reliability of the unit. Or having the unit being serviced.

Domestic production of Audio gear is going to cost more. It's just how things are. On the bright side? You are assurard at least in the E.U. , that they do tend to provide gear that meets or exceeds all safety standards put in place for gear built in the U.K. from my understanding.

I'm not in the market for something like this. But I don't think I would be hesitant to recommend this to anyone looking for a unit with its functionality. It should be easy to set up. And you should have no problem asking for help with your unit if that ever comes up:

The us Dealer is

The Sound Organisation | High Fidelity Audio Equipment | Audiophile and High End Audio

The Sound Organisation is the wholesaler and importer of record for many high end audio equipment manufacturers. Learn more about our HiFi audio brands, speakers, turntables, and more.

soundorg.com

Seems like they have a really good dealer network at least on the west coast in major ciities.

So this alone might seem to justify the higher I amentry price as you can test out gear in the showroom or come in for help if needed or parts or service. A Must for something like turntables for me.

I am a bit Biased when it comes to Hardware like physical playback devices, not so much with electronics. So the higher priced is warranted in many cases for the end user experience.


It may not be best in class. However, I'm pretty sure it won't pose any problems reliability wise. And replacement parts or service may be their ticket to customer satisfaction. Something often overlooked by others.

 

[DSJR]

I'm starting to see a pattern here ..

DSJR:

If Amir has one to test, I'm girding my loins for a technical assassination frankly, as chasing top measured specs aren't really part of Rega's electronics portfolio and furthermore

Rega iO

I am curious as to how this little Brit amplifier measures. Seems astonishing value considering it is built by a reputable long standing company in Britain.

audiosciencereview.com

Edit:
DSJR comes according to its own information from
LocationSuffolk Coastal, UK, so he should probably know British HiFi, British as he is(or live there anyway).

Ah, you beat me to it

I've been in the UK sector of this hobby since 1967 and in the UK industry since 1973, only now on the very fringes of it when I'm required to set up and update the odd turntable for a dealer pal and get to hear one or two new speakers and other products he has in... I mopped up the copies of Hi Fi Sound magazine I started buying with pocket money in '67 and rue the day I had to chuck them as they suffered in loft storage and I didn't realise how important some of these old measurement based reviews would be today.

This amp is intended to be the heart of a cheap (in UK terms) starter record playing system based on the Planar 1 deck and the newly released Kyte speakers which I sadly haven't heard as yet, the whole thing selling for around a grand in UK pound terms.

I'm increasingly convinced that many current UK audio designers and the UK audio scene in general are so far behind the pace now as set by sites like this and probably still lost in subjective opinions with little experience of placebo, that regular annihilations by the likes of Amir on stuff made here will (already has I suspect) become commonplace. I spent a morning using an Io and sonically, it's par for the Rega course, lively and 'engaging' (maybe the distortion spectrum) and not at all unpleasant. Shows as much for my hearing I suspect more than anything else. It ran barely warm by the way and I'd expect a sample to last for years and be serviceable if necessary, which is something that cannot be said for the cheap chip amps available on Amazon and the like I suspect - you chuck 'em when they fail. Looks as if my own situation is becoming more centred here as there's still so much to learn even if advanced maths concepts as used in electronics are totally beyond me.

As I said, the larger Rega dealers are all but ignoring this model as they can so easily up-sell to the Brio R at around £600, which I don't think is hugely different on the bench if the Stereophile tests are anything to go by, just more powerful mostly in a slightly fancier case?. The Brio R 'sounds' great though, into vintage Spendors and the like, but that's playing into your collective hands, isn't it?

Such a shame, but I feel that kicking their designer in the balls without so much of a second thought is a bit cruel really. I'm certain he has it in him to make a good measuring amp if he so desires, but as I said in the post commented on above, top measurements are still not part of the UK audiophile fraternity and maybe Rega's customer base either - the likes of say, a Yamaha 701 integrated are despised over here in such dealers, as it's said to 'sound grey' and 'unnvolving' - maybe the lack of distortion at audio frequencies?

P.S. Remember Schiit were like this a few years back. 'Good Enough' being the motto I'm sure Jason admitted to in his blog.

 

[Doodski]

Yamaha 701 integrated are despised over here in such dealers, as it's said to 'sound grey' and 'unnvolving'

I suspect that the dealers are slagging Yamaha because it is a mass merchandised product available in many places and therefore the dealers have no territory protection and no price control. It's common practice for some retailers to slag product where they cannot control the sale. I used to retail Mission Cyrus and the amps where very popular at the time but I could not find a sound difference between them and a Yamaha. I suspect the same will apply here although the Yamaha will most likely have more power output for the same budget.

 

[Tangband]

One thought - the inside of this Rega seems not very cheap, theres a lot of electronic components inside for the money.

If they had instead used this new tpa3255 module, cost about 25 dollars including taxes on Amazon for two channels, they would have made much better measurement results, the amp would be cooled, but Ìm not sure that the sound would be perceived as better in an all Rega setup ?

 

[DSJR]

I suspect that the dealers are slagging Yamaha because it is a mass merchandized product available in many places and therefore the dealers have no territory protection and no price control. It's common practice for some retailers to slag product where they cannot control the sale. I used to retail Mission Cyrus and the amps where very popular at the time but I could not find a sound difference between them and a Yamaha. I suspect the same will apply here although the Yamaha will most likely have more power output for the same budget.

I sold the Cyrus 1 and 2, latter later with PSX supply and found the 1 gutless and harsh-clipping when stressed (I think it got subjectively better though after they beefed up the cases but lovers of the original don't seem to rate these) and the 2 sounded a bit lightweright until the PSX came along, which gave the power amp circuit a properly sized supply as well as a kind of marketing upgrade path. I now realise that back then, I played things fairly loudly (I'm suffering for this big time now in my mid 60's) and a Cyrus 1 was probably being clipped a lot of the time I used it. I had to use these a lot in the 80's and early 90's because our sales director got a free skiing holiday if he met their sales targets. We also sold a lot of Naim Naits, another odd product that is revered now and sells for stupid money bearing in mind its feeble 20WPC max performance (it soft clips like a compressor, so 'sounds' louder than it is to lay people and the bass roll-off of the phono stage and lifted mid kHz region on said stage makes vintage bassy presence-recessed cartridges balance well)).

 

[Doodski]

I sold the Cyrus 1 and 2, latter later with PSX supply and found the 1 gutless and harsh-clipping when stressed (I think it got subjectively better though after they beefed up the cases but lovers of the original don't seem to rate these) and the 2 sounded a bit lightweright until the PSX came along, which gave the power amp circuit a properly sized supply as well as a kind of marketing upgrade path. I now realise that back then, I played things fairly loudly (I'm suffering for this big time now in my mid 60's) and a Cyrus 1 was probably being clipped a lot of the time I used it. I had to use these a lot in the 80's and early 90's because our sales director got a free skiing holiday if he met their sales targets. We also sold a lot of Naim Naits, another odd product that is revered now and sells for stupid money bearing in mind its feeble 20WPC max performance (it soft clips like a compressor, so 'sounds' louder than it is to lay people and the bass roll-off of the phono stage and lifted mid kHz region on said stage makes vintage bassy presence-recessed cartridges balance well)).

I found them weak in power output too. I never got into promoting the Mission Cyrus gear because I was also retailing Yamaha, HK and Luxman as alternatives and they had way more power for the expense. A couple of workmates bought into the Cyrus pitch but it was never for me.

 

[sarumbear]

The Amir trolls will be up in arms about this one! Very popular on forums, bargain budget product, multiple award winner, etc. I'm British, but apart from Kef and possibly Quad and Cambridge Audio, i'm constantly disappointed by traditional British hi-fi companies.

I'd love for you to review a Sugden amplifier. Let's see how good class A is with the quintessential class A amplifier company.

I am still hoping someone will send @amirm a Naim amp set.

 

[DSJR]

I am still hoping someone will send @amirm a Naim amp set.

Old ones measure very badly indeed by today's standards (check out 80's HiFi Choice measurements, IMD is dire for exampe), but the current cosmetic models I'm seen tested in Stereophile do seen 15 - 20dB better in distortion figures, albeit using different test gear of course and I think that as long as they're not driven to (hard) clipping, they seem to 'sound' clearer than they used to - oh, and some models have output networks as well - YIKES!!! ).

 

[Rottmannash]

Who voted "golfing panther"???