Rega IO Review (stereo amplifier)

[Whitecanhifi]

What? You suggested such a speaker must have 8 ohm impedance. Now that you don't know, you better assume it is 4 ohm like 99% of the speakers in the market. I base my tests on reality of actual speakers on the market. Still 8 ohm results were also shown which indicate this is a very weak amplifier.

You assume incorrectly. Your lack of thoroughness is astounding.

 

[JSmith]

Your lack of thoroughness is astounding.

Your lack of tact in your first post here is and was also astounding. I think you are lucky @amirm is even addressing your concerns after that poor start.



JSmith

 

[pma]

You assume incorrectly. Your lack of thoroughness is astounding.

He assumes correctly. Show me some speakers with impedance not falling below 8ohm. Manufacturers declare 8ohm speakers and the impedance falls normally to 4ohm in some areas of frequency. Do you know what you are speaking about??

Like this B&W 603 reviewed in Stereophile

 

[GimeDsp]

This amp would go great with Audioquest cables and conditioner.

 

[holbob]

You assume incorrectly. Your lack of thoroughness is astounding.

You better make sure you haven't got yours in an enclosed cabinet pal.

 

[pma]

Just one general remark, @amirm . I think that a technical review should include technical specifications of the product under test, to enable a comparison of declared parameters with measured parameters. This is what the manufacturer states in the owner's manual:

https://www.rega.co.uk/download/io-manual-multilingual-web.pdf

 

[ralph]

but apart from Kef and possibly Quad and Cambridge Audio, i'm constantly disappointed by traditional British hi-fi companies.

What about exposure? I own one of their integrated amps (2010 S2D) and am happy with it. Don't know how it measures though.

 

[tomtoo]

You assume incorrectly. Your lack of thoroughness is astounding.

Your lack of good discusion manners is discusting

 

[antcollinet]

Amir is an idiot for basing this review upon a 4 ohm speaker output. That’s not how this amp is intended to be used (on a regular basis). Put a pair of 8 ohm and/or 6 ohm speakers and you’ll realize that this amp holds up quite well.

Not a good look, registering and insulting your host on the same day.

 

[antcollinet]

......

But that’s just my two cents. Regarding the Kyte, I’d only assume your thoroughness would require that you’re already aware of such an impedance chart.

Don't be daft - the amp is sold as a general purpose amp. Not dedicated to any particular speaker. People need to see the data that will tell them how it works with their speaker, not some supposedly matched pair they probably will never own.

"Kyte - the speaker with looks only a mother could love"

 

[AudioSceptic]

Could it be that they intentionally deisgned it to be bad just so that their more expensive models be audibly better?
Do companies do that? Or they just can't design a solid product within a price range?

I'm starting to think it's deliberate, especially after Amir's review of the Linn Majik DSM.

Edit: it was a DS-1 (or DS-I), earlier version of the DSM.

 

[Gounsbairg]

From the io manual: "LOUDSPEAKERS The io is capable of driving all normal hi-fi loudspeakers. Rega recommends using loudspeakers with a nominal impedance of 6-8 Ω. It is possible to run speakers as low as 4 Ω, however, such units may cause the case to exceed 40 °C above the ambient temperature."

From the Brio Manual: "Loudspeakers The Brio is capable of driving all normal hi-fi loudspeakers. Rega recommends using loudspeakers with a
nominal impedance of 8Ω. It is possible to run speakers as low as 4Ω however such units may cause the case to exceed 40° C above the ambient temperature."

So, why use a 4Ω load to test the amplifier?

 

[PeteL]

No it's Amir's measurement, probably with a 4 ohm load. Class D amps without post filter feedback do have frequency responses that are a bit load dependent, but to get the the deviations @pma was mentioning, and for them to be audible, you'd have to have a very unusual load.

@amirm can you disclose the load in which are done frequency response measurments?

 

[sound_of_thunder]

Ok but did he try it with a more or less benign load (as recommended in the manual)?
Did he like the way it actually played music when paired with a more or less benign load (seems important)?
Were there any significant audible issues that made the listening experience less than satisfying (humming too loud, etc)?

I mean sure, measurements are important but we don't listen to numbers and graphs, do we?

 

[Mart68]

Ok but did he try it with a more or less benign load (as recommended in the manual)?
Did he like the way it actually played music when paired with a more or less benign load (seems important)?
Were there any significant audible issues that made the listening experience less than satisfying (humming too loud, etc)?

I mean sure, measurements are important but we don't listen to numbers and graphs, do we?

no we don't but we do listen to the results of what the numbers and graphs describe.

The graphs and numbers show that the amp will be transparent providing it is used with compatible loudspeakers - that is loudspeakers that are efficient and present an easy load.

In that case overheating will not be a problem since the amp is unlikely to output more than 1 watt continuous.

However the requirement for speaker load and sensitivity will limit the choice of loudspeakers quite dramatically since many/most modern speakers are not a sufficiently easy load and many small cheap speakers (which is what a likely customer for this amp will want to use with it) are not very efficient/sensitive.

 

[pma]

No it's Amir's measurement, probably with a 4 ohm load. Class D amps without post filter feedback do have frequency responses that are a bit load dependent, but to get the the deviations @pma was mentioning, and for them to be audible, you'd have to have a very unusual load.

I have been hesitating if to reply, as it is an off-topic in this thread. So shortly, "very unusual load" would be almost any speaker. Here is the measurement with JBL Control1 Pro

AIYIMA A07 TPA3255 Amplifier Measurements and Review - LM4562 (and OPA2134) option

AIYIMA A07 TPA3255 Amplifier Measurements LM4562 option I received my A07 yesterday, on January 6, 2021, shipped from Italy. Purchased at Amazon.de and as stated on their website, it arrived without a power supply. I am testing the A07 with 2 different power supplies. One of them is a linear...

www.audiosciencereview.com

and attached as a thumbnail measurement into 4ohm, 8ohm and my complex dummy load. I plan to make a comparison with Hypex UcD soon.

 

[sarumbear]

You assume incorrectly. Your lack of thoroughness is astounding.

Another troll...

 

[617]

Another troll...

Worse, an owner.

 

[maverickronin]

So the real question is, what is the name supposed to mean?

Input/output or the the mistress of Zeus who got a moon of (planet) Jupiter named after her?

 

[Ron Texas]

Sad as Rega has been in business a long time. Maybe someone bought the name.