Rega quietly announced a smattering of interesting new products at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show over the weekend. Front and centre is a brand new record player system, comprising a turntable, amplifier and speakers: the Rega System One, yours for £999, and due "late spring".
The System One uses one product with which we're very familiar, the Planar One turntable, and two new products, the io amplifier and a pair of Kyte speakers.
The Rega io (£379, when bought separately, due March/April) is a new integrated amplifier complete with an MM phono stage, 30 watts per channel, two line inputs and a high-quality headphone socket. This is a new line for the company, though we do remember a high-end Rega io DAC.
The Rega Kyte speakers (£429, when bought separately) are an update, in name at least, on a classic pair of Rega speakers, which date back longer than we care to remember. They've clearly had a thorough design overhaul and look very smart as a result.
Throw in a Planar 1 (£250, when bought separately), two runs of 3 metre speaker cable, and a remote control, and you're looking at a tidy plug and play vinyl system.
Also new from Rega is the Aria MK 3 MM/MC phono stage (£899, due March), which is the current Aria but in a new case design to match the Planar 10 PSU and Aethos amplifier. The Rega Aria is a What Hi-Fi? Award winner of yore, so we look forward to hearing the updated model.
Last but not least, there's a new flagship MC cartridge, the Aphelion 2 (£3149, due March). Rega tells us this new model is the same as Aphelion 1 but uses the company's latest “fine line type” diamond profile fitted to the Boron rod cantilever. This diamond profile was introduced on the Apheta 3 and Rega was so happy with the performance that it's now coming to the flagship moving coil cartridge.
We look forward to bringing you reviews of at least some of these new Rega products very soon.
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Rega's Roy Gandy: "I don’t think I’ve ever been interested in hi-fi"
