Rega Ania MC cartridge and Fono MC now available in the USA

The Rega Ania LOMC cartridge is priced at $795 and the Fono MC is $495. If you buy both together as a package, you get $50 off of the total price. Dealers do not have them yet but your local dealer can get them as fast as any of the walmarts of audio, ie catalog / warehouse sites.
-Bill

 

Would this be a good cart for modded P3-24 with groove tracer subplatter amd platter with ps audio GCPH phono pre

Time to replace exact cartridge through normal usage.

 

Nice. Is there any word on how it compares to the Exact? Any specs on it out?

 

Performance of lomc carts depends quite a bit on the phono stage used. It should offer more detail than the exact, but you will need to have good synergy with the preamp and I have not used those two together. I have heard the apheta and the apheta 2 with the aria phono stage, and those sound excellent together. The ania is a budget version of the apheta 2.
- Bill

 

http//www.rega.co.uk/cartridges.html

 

Please post when you get to hear the P6 and Ania. I have been reading your posts since 2006 and I consider you the expert on Rega and quite knowledgeable with all things audio.

 

I'm interested to know if the stylus is bonded or nude mounted.

 

Excellent question.

 

I believe that all styli are ultimately "bonded" to the cantilevers with a drop of adhesive. A nude mount stylus is a friction fit into a hole punched in the cantilever. Once positioned there, a drop of adhesive is typically added only to the top side of the diamond shaft as it penetrates the whole of the cantilever. That ensures that it stays put, even with its friction fit, it has some serious forces it will see in its future. I have seen nude mounts with glue on both sides of the cantilever also. The standard mounting procedure is by using a tiny metal bushing which is pressed into the cantilever and adhered with a drop of cement. The diamond is then adhered to the inside of the bushing. Here are photos of both types:





The nude mounts are prettier (under a microscope) but the record groove only sees the very tip of either type and so they can both be excellent. It is more common to see conical stylus on a bushing mount but they exist as nude mount as do elitical and shibata profiles on bushing mounts. Both of these images are complex diamond shapes with the first being a nude mount and the second a bushing mount.
-Bill

 

Good question. I would just assume it's nude. Asked that question on Pink Fish and haven't had a reply from anyone that knew yet.

 

I believe the common wisdom (sure someone will take objection to that phrase) is that nude is the preferred mounting type since it's fixed and glued directly to the cantilever as opposed to the bonded stylus that is the diamond glued to a piece of metal or bushing that is then glued to the stylus. The nude stylus is theoretically lighter with less vibration damping materials between the grooves of the record and the generator in the cartridge.

The nude is also more difficult to make as it requires greater precision with the drilling of the precisely sized and positioned hole in the stylus. Which leads to a great chance of error. It's easier to precisely glue the three pieces of the bonded stylus together.

 

Exactly, except you shouldn't use the words stylus and cantilever interchangibly...
-Bill

 

No one has examined one that closely yet. My guess is that it is mounted on a bushing at that price point. But I haven't seen one yet either.
-Bill

 

Looks kind of like the bushing pictures, but not sure if this is close enough to tell for sure ...

 

That may be my first MC cart.

 

Pick mine up tomorrow, rather excited about it!

 

My bad. Either way I am sure it's going to be a great cartridge. I think Benz has gone the bonded route before. In my experience it's the overall engineering and voicing that matters most. I'm still debating getting one and then a step up transformer for my Fisher. My SEP amp will have it's own phono pre as soon as I find a replacement for my iFi unit. Now if the new ttpsu will just work on my RP6 I can get a tango subplatter and the new PSU and the Ania and hold off on my turntable upgrade for awhile.

 

The new Neo PSU should serve to upgrade your RP6. I'd skip the subplatter and just go for the new cartridge and preamp / transformer. That's where you'll hear benefit.

The Ania was reviewed as being warmer and softer sounding than the Apheta 2. And also cleaner and more dynamic than the DV 20x2L. That should be the result considering the impressively clean and dynamic sound of the Apheta design. The Ania replaces the harder aluminum body with a phenolic and the cantilever /stylus seems heavier and less rigid than the Apheta build. So we should find it to have the same house sound and approaching the speed of the Apheta but with some sonic rounded edges.
-Bill

 

I have an Ania and it sounds excellent. I was surprised that it is taller than their MM card. It seems to work on the RP8 just fine. The travel from cueing to contact with the LP is very short as the needle is just off the LP by a couple of millimeters. I suppose this is the same as the Aria.

 

Picked it up earlier, removed the spacer that was on for my 2m bronze cart and set up the new one. Played out of time by R.E.M. To start with, mainly because the pressing has some issues and I wouldn't be too upset if I damaged while setting up the cart. Dropped the needle and wow sounded great. I should mention at this point that my 2m bronze has been on for 18 months of pretty heavy use, I rarely watch tv these days instead I tend to play a few records most evenings, so it might well have been past its peak. I sat back and played the whole side, the head on the door by the cure was next up as I have a great sounding German pressing. Again sounded really nice and much better than it had last night, everything sounded much tighter, I don't really know the lingo for this stuff but it felt faster some how with more detail.
Then I hit an issue... I decided to play born to die by Lana del Rey, and I'd noticed that like the previous poster, on my rp8 there is very little clearance when the arm is sat on the lift. At the end of the first side I engaged the lift and the needle was still in contact with the record... hmm. Not sure if this record is 180 or maybe more, the lift bar tapers somewhat on the rp8, so it was an issue only at the end of the side. I noticed there is a very small screw that requires a tiny Allen key to loosen (not remove) and I was able to turn the bar clockwise, more towards the arm mounting point and then tighten it back up. (Not sure if this is a user serviceable part, so do it at your own risk) anyway I now have a few mm clearance on the same record. Job done, I hope.
Played wish you were here and John Martyn is now on and sounding rather wonderful. Overall I'm very happy and the issue might just be with my rp8.
The dealer did play a couple of tracks for me an £20k pair of wilsons, with about £50k of stuff behind them, wow! I think I've been spoilt today

 

Yeah, I have the same thing as the needle gets near the lable.

 

I'm seriously considering the new Rega P6 / Ania combo. Does the Rega Fono MC approach the performance of the Aria? Considering the price difference, any idea how close it is? Do dealers generally discount when purchasing a Rega TT/Phono together?

 

To me, the new Fono MC is quite good. I would not say that it's as good as the Aria (and at 1/3 the price it really should not be)...but if you are looking for a very good MC option in the $500 range, it's hard to beat. Rega actually offers a small discount on the Fono when it's purchased with a P6/Ania.

 

Thank you for your feedback. Just getting back into vinyl & love the P&P simplicity of the Rega / 3 point Cart / captive interconnect combos. Trying to keep the initial investment in the $2K to $3K range & the Fono MC would allow me to do that.

 

Yes, the Fono MC is an excellent sounding phono stage. It is not as advanced as the Aria but it does offer a rather close sample of the performance offered there. There is special pricing available for the P6/Ania/Fono MC as a package. Please visit your local dealer to get the best service and support them and your community.
-Bill