Rega Aria Phono Preamp $1500, MM & MC: On Display!
Rega has just introduced one of the finest phono preamps available at any price. In the past Rega offered Fono and MC Fono. Both were highly respected at under $500. Aria brings phono performance into the highest echelons.
A recent perusal of The Absolute Sound’s reference phono stages shows price points of $12k, $13k, $25k. The CHEAP ones are $1900-$11k! Aria is right there with the best of them, and at nowhere near those price tags.
Aria features two (MM & MC) independent phono stages on one chassis. Aria is all analog. There is no digital control circuitry. Its full aluminum case eliminates RFI problems. I can promise you there are plenty of mucho expensive phono sections that hum and hiss due to RFI.
MC adjustments (resistive, 70-400 ohms & capacitive, 1000-4200pF) are readily accessible on the back of the Aria. Input sensitivity is adjustable as well. The options allow you to tailor its performance to get the most out of any cartridge.
Aria features multiple power supplies and high echelon grade parts to achieve gorgeous sound with a virtually invisible noise floor. Aria is a great choice, whether you’re running a fine MM cartridge like a Rega Elys 2 or Exact 2, or shooting the moon with Rega’s Apheta, a world class low output MC design.
Rega RP-8 With Apheta $4000
Rega’s top of the line turntable is the RP-8. RP-8 alone sells for $3k. We are featuring it with Rega’s new, edge of the art, low output MC cartridge, called Apheta (Ah-Feet-ah). Apheta sells for $1800. But Rega offers a package deal of $4k for the combo!
RP-8 can be used in its skeletal form as seen here. This provides the best sound quality.
You can use RP-8 with its base and dust cover if the more traditional look is what you’re after. RP-8 features Rega’s best arm ever, the new RB-808.
The Apheta cartridge with Vital stylus, is a low output MC design. Input impedance 100 ohms. Output impedance 15 ohms. Output voltage is 500uV.
Apheta eschews the traditional steel tie wire design to offer better clarity with minimized mechanical resonance. The result? Exquisite detail that competes with any cartridge at any price. Obviously Apheta gives its best performance when mated with RP-8, where Rega has full design control!
If you ask any top cartridge designer which turntable and arm their cartridge was designed for, or sounds best with, you’ll hear a political soft shoe dance that would make Fred Astair proud! The fact is, other cartridge makers have no stinking idea what you’re going to put their cartridge on! Since they don’t, there are issues of design and alignment that require much tinkering in the field to get top grade performance. With Rega, these issues are dead on- you can’t miss!
Wilhelm Furtwangler (1886-1954) & Herbert Von Karajan (1908-1989)
Jealousy among musicians?! There was a rivalry between these great conductors that would make the Packers and the Bears seem passive! In his last year Furtwangler was interviewed and said, “If that man K (he would not say Karajan!) is there, I will give them a program that they will hate!”
Furtwangler
Von Karajan