New Rega Brio for 2017

Left some impressions of my new Elex-r in the Elex-R, anyone? thread, there is lots of commentary from other posters there also.

 

Yes, I own the Elex-R as well. Since your speakers can be driven by either, take your pick. Brio is newer and less expensive........
They're more or less on par sonically IMO.
Elex-R would allow to grow with your system i.e. larger, more expensive, and more difficult to drive speakers. The decision is your friend, no matter which.
Party on and happy listening!

 

Thanks. I have decided to go with 2017 Brio. I will leave my experience with it here in few weeks time.

 

Good luck- it's a "cracking" little amplifier!

 

Thanks for all or your impressions so far on the 2017 Brio, i've got my finger on the trigger for sure. I'm hoping it will be an upgrade over the Peachtree Nova (original model) that i own now. I'll be using it with an Arcam irDac for my digital sources.

 

Yo

You're quite welcome. It should be better sounding than old Peachtree as I remember hearing those in the past.
You could achieve a magical combination depending upon choice of loudspeaker. And that doesn't necessarily have to be Rega's.

 

Excellent new review on the- ear.net by Jason Kennedy.

 

Rega Brio | The Ear

 

Would you care to comment at all on Sphinx v2 vs Brio 2017, especially as it relates to (1) phono input and (2) headphone output? I'm considering simplifying my office system (currently RP6/Manley Chinook or Gungnir MB > Ragnarok > HD800s or ELAC B5) and both of these items fit the bill.

 

Don't think you could really go wrong with either option here. The new Brio, to me, is a bit closer the to the "older" Rega house sound, versus what the -R version was/is. The -R is little more forward in sound.

I've not tried the headphone amp in the new Brio yet, so can't really say anything about it. Phono input on the new Brio seems to be quite good so far.

 

The headphone section is wonderful sounding. It drives some loads it as no business to (I know, I may sound like a broken record). One example I've plugged in are the old Senheisers HD540 II reference.

 

Thanks for this. Very interesting, since I've found the RP6/Exact combo to be slightly recessed on every system I've tried it with... not sure I'd want the "less forward" of the two options, despite the famed "all-Rega synergy" one reads about.

 

Good to know. Thanks! My main cans are Sennheiser HD800S (the newer model), which are not particularly difficult to drive but do need an amp with a complimentary sound signature to sound their best.

 

Would be great to hear your thoughts on this combination. I'm looking to make the same pairing.
I'm hoping to get a couple of pointers from the members on this thread for a hifi novice. My music sources will be spotify & vinyl - plan is to go Rega Planar 3 to rega brio to kef ls50.
Anyone know how the rega brio phono stage compares to rega fono mk 2? Likely to be similar componentry?
Connecting spotify connect from my ipad to google chromecast audio through optical to dac (project box e), connecting through RCA to rega brio - would be my budget streaming system.

Would be great to hear thoughts on this potential system?

 

As far as phono stages are concerned I can't speak for the Fono but I do have an Elex-r and the phono stage is quite good. The phono circuits of the Brio, Elex-r and the Elicit-r share certain kinship design so I would guess the brio is also quite good.

 

I think your planned combination is wonderful. I would personally consider a speaker cabling on the mellow side (analysis plus, Morrow, etc.). I feel that the LS50s can be a bit on the zingy side sometimes (at least that's my ears told when when I've own the pair). Wonderful speakers nevertheless, but a bit on the expensive side for it's displayed performance. Very cool looking.
I would also suggest looking at ELAC Unifi UB5 three way monitors at a mere $500 US retail. I feel they're better than LS50s for a fraction of price. I still own them.
They are a bit harder to drive than the average offering in its category but the Brio has the juice and does it beautifully (to these ears). Unless you have the need to headbang.
Answering your question about the phono stage sections, I feel that the newly improved phono section onboard the Brio surpassed Fono MKII s performance. I no longer have a FII on hand to compare but from what I remember it sounding it's now not up to level.
Good luck, and keep us posted!

 

I haven't heard the old or new Rega Brio but just bough the KEF LS50 wireless. I think they're freaking amazing. Rich, punchy and detailed sound. Highly recommended. No need for a separate amp (each speaker has a 200w amp).

 

Forgot to say that the KEF LS5o wireless is a good option to take the amp-speaker synergy risk off the table IMHO. This is the main reason I went for the KEF's and had to let my beloved Arcam FMJ A29 amp go.

 

nice Ivan! i bet they do sound great. do / can you drive them with a preamp? i bet a tube preamp would sound awesome if possible.

 

Thank you for the brilliant reply, great to hear reassurances on the brio's phono stage. I'll be honest and say that the first thing that draws me to the kef ls50's are the looks, I've wanted them for a good couple of years now, so want to take the plunge while I can!
Currently have the nad d3020 which has been brilliant - so weighing up the upgrade to the rega as I move into vinyl, I'm feeling like rather than buying a separate phono stage for the nad, if I make the upgrade to the rega brio, I'll be likely to get a bit more out of the kefs. And as nice as the built in dac is on the nad, the quality is only as good as the source, so I'd rather put the emphasis on getting the most out of the vinyl rather than spotify... Anyway, my dilemma - will keep you posted!

 

You're quite welcome.

 

Thanks! Really impressed with them. I suspect you can use a preamp. One of the speakers have one set of RCA inputs (as well as optical, USB and ehternet).

 

Hi all,
First time poster here, just been reading through the thread and was hoping for some connection advice please.

I'm looking to upgrade my phono amp very soon however my setup although not ideal is:

Turntable going to phono preamp, which then goes into my AV Receiver, the speakers are connected to the receiver due to room layout so cannot be connected to the preamp directly.
I've been setting the receiver to a 'pure direct' type sound setting for vinyl listening.

Can this still be done with this new Brio?

Any help much appreciated.

 

Not sure what you are asking here. If you are saying that the receiver is too far from the turntable for a direct connection, then yes, you can use the Brio with your phono preamp or you can add another 3' extension RCA cable set onto the turntable leads (never the best idea, but it can sometimes be done without much in the way of noise or response issues).

If you are assuming that the Brio is just a preamp, then it is not, it is a fully integrated amplifier with 50w per channel of nice sounding power to drive your speakers. So it'll replace the receiver in its entirety.
-Bill

 

Hi Bill,
Thanks for the reply.
I will try to explain myself a little better!
Firstly yes I had assumed the Brio was just a preamp so thanks for correcting me there.
However it will still be connected to my AV Receiver as that is what my 5.1 speakers are connected to.
I hope that makes a little more sense.