Just ordered a Rega Fono A2D, for adding a 2nd table to my Brio-R

I've been wanting to put my restored Dual 1019 back into service, as a second table for playing beater records and 78s, and for (ahem) times when using a manual turntable might not be wise, if you get my drift.

I wanted something that would have similar character to the excellent phono stage in the Brio-R, so buying another Rega product made the most sense. (The primary cartridge on the Dual is a Grado Black2, which is also tonally similar to the Grado Signature 8MR on my primary table.)

It will be interesting to see how the performance of the Fono A2D compares to the Brio-R's phono stage.

BTW, I was able to get the Fono A2D on close-out (on Amazon); Rega recently redesigned it to visually match the rest of their product line, and the one with the plainer cosmetics (but internally identical to the newest model) are now discounted from $175 to $139.

 

A friend gifted me one awhile back. I use it on my secondary TT. It's not a bad sounding unit at all, but a little rolled off at the top end maybe. It definitely can't match some of the better preamps I've used, but I don't mind it at all.