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Linn LP12 and Rega turntables on the rack with a Johnny Cash sleeve

The Rega story

Southend-on-Sea since 1973: low-mass turntables, one-piece cast tonearms and hand-built cartridges, made in England.

Founded 1973 in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, where every Rega is still built by Roy Gandy and Tony Relph · rega.co.uk

The history and technologies of Rega Research of Southend-on-Sea, England, and what Pearl Audio keeps on the floor.

Roy Gandy trained as a mechanical engineer at the Ford Motor Company and made loudspeakers in his spare time because he could not afford to buy a hi-fi; his first system used homemade speakers and a turntable he designed himself from salvaged and discounted parts. He had tinkered with machinery since the age of four, rebuilt bicycles and motorbikes and built two motorcycles from scratch, and the hand-built equipment he sold to friends led to supplying a local Southend audio shop. The shop's owner, hi-fi dealer Tony Relph, saw potential in the turntables and suggested a company; each partner put in 1,000 pounds, and Rega Research was registered on July 1, 1973, named from the first letters of RElph and GAndy. Rega's own timeline dates its first turntable, the Planet, to April 1973, with a three-spoke steel and aluminum platter and an Acos Lustre tonearm; Gandy says it sold because it looked different rather than on sound quality. The partners worked above the shop at first, then in a house Gandy gutted to make a factory.

Linn LP12 and Rega turntables on the rack in the Pearl Audio showroom with a Johnny Cash sleeve, February 2026
Rega and Linn turntables on the rack in our showroom, February 2026. Photo: Pearl Audio.

The Planar of April 1975, with an aluminum platter, ran to only 200 units. The Planar 3 of April 1976 replaced the Planet's three metal discs with a 12 mm glass platter, which Gandy called a big step forward, and was lighter than the Planet; it carried the Acos-made R200 tonearm. The Planar 2, with a 10 mm glass platter, followed in April 1977, the year Hi-Fi News and Record Review remarked of the Planar 3 that the complete unit was worth a look. Turntable production moved into a converted mill on Park Street in Westcliff-on-Sea, and 1980 brought the R100 moving-magnet cartridge and the RTX floor-standing loudspeaker. In April 1983 came the RB300, whose headshell and arm tube are one tapered aluminum casting with no joins, a tungsten-alloy counterweight and a spring for tracking force; Rega had worked with a casting company on a new method of casting so long a cored hole. The RB250 followed in 1984. Counting every variant and the OEM arms Rega has made for NAD, Rotel and about twenty other brands, the RB300 family has sold more than 400,000.

The RB100 cartridge of 1985 was designed by Rega and made with Goldring, and the Planar 78 appeared the same year. The Elys and Bias cartridges followed in 1987, and by March 1988 Rega was building them in-house, selling over 1,000 in the first month. Electronics came next: the clam-shell Elicit integrated amplifier in May 1990, the Brio and Elex in April 1991, and the hand-wound, three-point-mounted Exact cartridge in April 1992. Gandy designed a factory on the Temple Farm Industrial Estate in Southend-on-Sea to house loudspeaker and amplifier production; the Kyte bookshelf loudspeaker arrived in September 1993, the Planar 9 with a ceramic platter and external power supply and the RB900 arm in 1995, and the Planet CD player in June 1997. Rega has advertised only once and puts the money into research instead. By 2000 the range had been renamed P2 and P3 2000, and the 24 V motor board and the first TTPSU outboard supply arrived in 2001.

Aligning a cartridge on a Rega Planar 6 with a protractor at the Pearl Audio bench, January 2023
Aligning a cartridge on a Planar 6 at our bench, January 2023. Photo: Pearl Audio. The Planar 6

The P5, P7 and P9 of 2002, the latter two with ceramic platters, brought the RB700 and RB1000 arms; the Apollo and Saturn CD players arrived in 2004, the first Apheta moving-coil cartridge in March 2005 and the P1 that June, and the three-point RB301 and P3-24 in 2007. In 2009 Rega launched a reference range: the Ios phono stage in February, the Osiris integrated amplifier in May and the Isis and Isis Valve CD players in June. The RP1 of 2010 introduced the phenolic-resin platter, the RP3 and RP6 followed in 2011, and the RP3 won Stereophile's Analog Source Component of the Year for 2012. The RP8 of July 2012 brought the skeletal plinth and a three-part flywheel glass platter, the RP10 of October 2013 the skeletal plinth with a ceramic platter, and 3,000 RP40 anniversary decks marked forty years. The Apheta 2 came in 2014 and the Aphelion in 2015. Around 2013 Rega employed almost 90 people and made about 2,000 turntables a month; the Temple Farm site was expanded with a new building and mezzanine in 2014 and 2015, and the Naiad, a research project begun in 2009, was shown to visitors in 2015.

In 2016 Rega rebuilt its entry decks: the Planar 2 in May, the Planar 1 in July, the RB330 in August and in October a Planar 3 that carried over just two components from the RP3 after two years of work led by Gandy. The Neo power supply, Planar 1 Plus, Planar 6, Ania and RB220 followed in 2017, along with the Naiad, built to push Rega's philosophies to the extreme in a run of 50. The Aura phono stage, largely the work of chief electronics designer Terry Bateman, came in June 2018 and the Naiad-inspired Planar 8 that October; 2019 brought the RB880, Apheta 3, Planar 10 and Aethos; 2020 the Ania Pro, Aphelion 2 and io. Staff numbered 140 by 2020, with output of several thousand turntables a month. The Kyte returned in 2021 with the Fono MM MK5, Fono MC MK4 and Neo MK2, the Elicit MK5 and Elex MK4 arrived in 2022, and in 2023 Rega marked fifty years with a Planar 3 50th Anniversary Edition in May and, in September, the Naia, the production form of the Naiad, and the AYA loudspeaker.

The Nd3, Nd5 and Nd7 of 2024 were the first moving-magnet cartridges built on an N55 neodymium magnet, and the Planar 3 RS, RS standing for Rega Special, followed in November. On October 28, 2024, Roy Gandy gifted 100 percent of his shares to an Employee Ownership Trust, taking no financial gain; every employee became a beneficiary, the trust is barred from selling the company, and Gandy remains sole director, working in research and sales. The Brio MK7 arrived in March 2025, the Mercury preamplifier, Solis power amplifier and Nd9 in November 2025, and on November 17, 2025, What Hi-Fi? gave Gandy its Outstanding Contribution Award. The AOS MC phono stage came in February 2026, the Planar 6 RS in March and the Replay in October. Rega today employs over 150 people, designs and hand-assembles every product in custom-built facilities on one industrial estate in Southend-on-Sea totaling almost 70,000 square feet, exports to more than fifty countries and backs every product with a lifetime limited warranty against manufacturing defects. Phil Freeman is managing director, and the United States is served through The Sound Organisation in Arlington, Texas.

Milestones

  1. 1973 Rega Research registered; the Planet Ford-trained engineer Roy Gandy and Southend hi-fi dealer Tony Relph each put in 1,000 pounds and register the company on July 1, 1973, named from RElph and GAndy. The first turntable, the Planet, has a three-spoke metal platter and an Acos Lustre arm.
  2. 1976 Planar 3, then Planar 2 The Planar 3 of April 1976 introduces the 12 mm glass platter and the R200 arm, and is lighter than the Planet; the Planar 2 with a 10 mm glass platter follows in April 1977. The low-mass, high-rigidity philosophy begins here.Rega Planar 2
  3. 1983 RB300 A tonearm with headshell and tube cast as one tapered piece of aluminum, on preloaded ball bearings, with a tungsten-alloy counterweight. The RB250 follows in 1984; with OEM versions, the family sells more than 400,000.Rega RB330 Tonearm
  4. 1988 Cartridges made in-house The Elys and Bias, launched in 1987 with Rega's three-point mounting, go into in-house production in March 1988 and sell over 1,000 in the first month. The hand-wound Exact follows in 1992.
  5. 1991 Elicit, Brio and Elex After the clam-shell Elicit of 1990, the Brio and Elex integrated amplifiers of April 1991 begin the Class A/B lineage that runs to today's Brio MK7 and Elex MK4. Gandy designs a factory on the Temple Farm Industrial Estate for loudspeaker and amplifier production.Rega Brio Mk7 Integrated Amplifier
  6. 1995 Planar 9: the ceramic platter The first Rega with a ceramic platter and an external power supply, with the RB900 arm. The Kyte loudspeaker precedes it in 1993 and the Planet CD player follows in 1997.Rega Planar 10
  7. 2005 Apheta Rega's first moving-coil cartridge, with hand-wound coils on an iron micro-cross and no tie wire or damper: the design behind today's Ania, Apheta 3 and Aphelion 2.Rega Apheta 3 MC Cartridge
  8. 2009 The reference range The Ios phono stage in February, the Osiris integrated amplifier in May and the Isis and Isis Valve CD players in June. Work on the Naiad research turntable begins the same year.Rega Osiris Reference Integrated Amplifier
  9. 2013 RP8 and RP10: the skeletal plinth The RP8 of July 2012 cuts the plinth to a skeleton with a three-part flywheel glass platter; the RP10 of October 2013 adds a ceramic platter and a DSP-generated power supply. The RP3 is Stereophile's 2012 Analog Source Component of the Year.
  10. 2016 The new Planar 3 After two years of development led by Gandy, a Planar 3 carrying over just two components from the RP3: double-braced plinth, 12 mm Optiwhite glass and the new RB330. The Planar 1, Planar 2 and Brio are renewed the same year.Rega Planar 3
  11. 2017 Planar 6 and the Naiad The Planar 6 is the first Rega with a Tancast 8 foam-core plinth and the Neo power supply. The Naiad, built to push Rega's philosophies to the extreme, is limited to 50 units. The Ania moving coil and RB220 follow.Rega Planar 6
  12. 2019 Planar 10, Apheta 3 and Aethos The Planar 10 brings the ceramic platter, ceramic top brace and RB3000 to a skeletal foam-core plinth; the Planar 8 preceded it in October 2018, and the Aura phono stage in June 2018. The Aethos integrated amplifier arrives in November.Rega Planar 10
  13. 2023 Fifty years; the Naia A Planar 3 50th Anniversary Edition in May and, in September, the Naia: the production form of the Naiad, with a graphene-impregnated carbon-fiber plinth, ceramic braces and platter, a ZTA ceramic bearing and the RB Titanium.Rega Naia Reference Turntable
  14. 2024 The Nd range and employee ownership The Nd3, Nd5 and Nd7 are the first moving magnets built on an N55 neodymium magnet; the Planar 3 RS follows in November. On October 28, 2024, Roy Gandy gifts 100 percent of his shares to an Employee Ownership Trust and remains sole director.Rega Nd7 MM Cartridge
  15. 2025 Brio MK7, Mercury and Solis, Nd9 The seventh Brio in March; the Mercury preamplifier and Solis power amplifier, four years in development, in November, with the boron-cantilever Nd9. On November 17, 2025, What Hi-Fi? gives Gandy its Outstanding Contribution Award.Rega Nd9 Reference MM Cartridge
  16. 2026 AOS MC, Planar 6 RS and Replay The AOS MC phono stage, derived from the Aura, in February; the Planar 6 RS with the RB880 and Nd9 in March; the plug-and-play Replay in October. Rega employs over 150 people on one industrial estate in Southend-on-Sea.Rega Planar 6 RS Edition Turntable

Rega at Pearl Audio

Pearl Audio is an authorized Rega dealer in Portland. We carry the range from the Planar 1 to the Naia, the RB tonearms, the Nd and moving-coil cartridges, the io through Osiris amplifiers and the Mercury and Solis, the Fono, AOS and Aura phono stages, the Isis players and the Kyte, and we order factory-fitted turntable and cartridge combinations to suit the rest of your system. Our staff set up and level Rega turntables, fit and align cartridges, set tracking force, and match decks, phono stages and amplifiers to your loudspeakers and your room. We deliver and install in your home and are here for upgrades, from a Neo power supply or a new cartridge to the next deck up.

On demonstration in Portland now

All Rega at Pearl Audio

Signature technologies

The engineering behind Rega

Rega gives its technologies names because each one solves a specific problem. Here is what each does, where it came from, why it matters in a system, and what you may hear.

Mass absorbs energySince 1976

Low mass, high rigidity

Rega builds its turntables as light and as stiff as possible rather than heavy and damped. The argument, in the company's own words, is that mass absorbs energy and lost energy equals lost music: a heavy plinth stores vibration and releases it a moment later, while a light, rigid one lets energy pass through and dissipate. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

Roy Gandy trained as a mechanical engineer at Ford and describes a turntable as a vibration measuring machine. A record contains no energy of its own; the energy comes from the motor, the power supply and the mains, and the turntable's job is to manage the vibration and friction that imperfect mechanics introduce. His conclusion, reached early, was that a low-mass plinth and high rigidity were vital, because, as he puts it, the plinth feeds energy into the record. Rega also avoids damping materials, which turn movement into heat but in Gandy's view smear the sound; the preference is to minimize resonances, spread them over a wide bandwidth, and support the deck rigidly rather than isolate it. The 1976 Planar 3 was lighter than the Planet it replaced, and the principle has been pushed further at each step since: the skeletal RP8 and RP10 of 2012 and 2013, the foam-core Planar 6, 8 and 10, the carbon-fiber Naia, and the 2026 Replay, whose plinth weighs 2.2 kg. Rega's 2018 company history, by Bill Philpot, Paul Messenger and Roy Gandy, is titled A Vibration Measuring Machine.

Why it matters in a system

The plinth is where the stylus, the bearing and the motor meet, and whatever energy it stores comes back into the groove later as a smear on the music. A light, stiff plinth gives that energy nowhere to live. It is also why a Rega asks for a rigid, level shelf rather than a soft or isolating platform, and why the decks weigh so little for what they do.

What you may hear

Stereophile's Planar 10 review put it as "the more Rega charges for one of its turntables, the less you get," and warned that an over-damped turntable "can sound dull, dead, and lifeless." What listeners describe in a Rega is pace, timing and a clean start and stop to every note.

A stressed beam from tonearm to bearingSince 2011

Tancast 8 foam-core plinths and the Double Brace

From the Planar 3 up, two braces, one above and one below the plinth, tie the tonearm mount to the main bearing so the distance between stylus and bearing stays fixed. From the Planar 6 up, the plinth itself is a sandwich of aerospace Tancast 8 polyurethane foam between thin, very stiff high-pressure-laminate skins, cut away to a skeleton on the Planar 8 and Planar 10. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

Double bracing appeared on the RP3 of 2011 and was redesigned for the 2016 Planar 3, which carries a 3 mm phenolic bottom brace and a metalized-skin phenolic top brace. The Planar 6 of 2017 was the first Rega with a Tancast 8 foam core, a material developed for the aerospace industry, between high-pressure-laminate skins that Rega describes as exceptionally thin while extremely rigid, with aluminum pillars under the arm and the hub. The Planar 8 of 2018, inspired by the Naiad, cut that sandwich away to a skeleton 30 percent lighter than the RP8 it replaced, with a phenolic double brace forming what Rega calls a stressed beam. The Planar 10 of 2019 is 30 percent lighter than the RP10 and pairs a phenolic bottom brace with a ceramic top brace that took over a year to develop. The RS editions take the laminate route at lower cost: the Planar 3 RS of 2024 uses an aluminum-skin HPL plinth that Rega calls the stiffest at Planar 3 level it has made, and the Planar 6 RS of 2026 a brushed-aluminum metal-skin HPL plinth. On the Naia the skins are carbon fiber rather than HPL.

Why it matters in a system

The one dimension in a turntable that must not move is the distance from stylus to bearing; any flex between the two modulates the groove speed and smears the music. The brace carries that load in a stiff, light path, and the foam core keeps the plinth from storing energy, which is why a Planar 8 weighs 4.2 kg and sounds the way it does.

What you may hear

What Hi-Fi? wrote of the Planar 8 that "It delivers a level of clarity and insight more reminiscent of far pricier high-end turntables," and Stereophile found of the Planar 10's braces that "the added rigidity came with no downside." The audible result is stability: images that stay put and bass that is defined rather than warm.

The cost-no-object project, built in productionSince 2017

Graphene carbon fiber and ceramics: from Naiad to Naia

The Naiad was Rega's experiment in pushing its philosophy to the extreme with money no object; only 50 were made. The Naia of 2023 is its production form: a graphene-impregnated carbon-fiber skeletal plinth, two ceramic braces, a ceramic platter and a zirconia-toughened alumina bearing, the stiffest, lightest and hardest material Rega could find for each job. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

What Hi-Fi? dates the Naiad project to 2009. When The Ear saw it in March 2015 it had a monocoque carbon-fiber chassis, a ceramic platter deeper than the RP10's, a zirconium bearing running on industrial diamond with a two-micron lubrication gap, a titanium arm base and a mu-metal-shielded motor, and the arm was still not finished. Rega listed it in August 2017 as a turntable designed to push its philosophies to the extreme; the run was limited to 50 at a price capped at about 30,000 pounds, and The Absolute Sound reported that its bearing materials alone cost more than an RP10's entire build. Gandy's description: the lightest possible chassis with the stiffest possible brace, with money not being any object at all. The Naia of September 2023 is what Rega could build on the production line: a graphene-impregnated carbon-fiber skeletal plinth over a Tancast 8 core, two ceramic aluminum-oxide braces, a ZTA ceramic bearing and spindle running on an ultra-thin layer of synthetic oil, a resonance-controlled ceramic platter with a complex profile, the RB Titanium tonearm, a Reference power supply with 0.01 rpm speed steps and triple belts, all weighing 4.65 kg with its cover. Rega says the Naia can be production-assembled where the Naiad could not. The Planar 10 inherits the ceramic platter and ceramic top brace.

Why it matters in a system

The Naia is the point of reference for everything below it: the Planar 8's bottom-mounted motor, the Planar 10's ceramics and the RB880's bearing housing all came down from the Naiad program. In a system it is the deck that shows what a Rega arm, cartridge and phono stage can do when the plinth has stopped contributing anything of its own.

What you may hear

Michael Fremer called it "the turntable Rega has, for decades, been aiming for," and Jason Kennedy "the most resolute record player that any of us are likely to be able to afford." What Hi-Fi? noted it "prefers to step quietly into the background": resolution and transparency rather than a sound of its own.

From float glass to fired ceramicSince 1976

Glass and ceramic flywheel platters

Rega replaced the Planet's three metal discs with a float-glass platter on the 1976 Planar 3: flat, dense, non-resonant and cheap to make accurately. Higher models use laminated glass with the mass concentrated at the rim for a flywheel effect, or a ceramic-oxide platter that is compressed, fired and diamond-cut flat. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

Gandy called the glass platter a big step forward over the Planet's three-spoke metal platter. The Planar 3 of April 1976 carried 12 mm glass and the Planar 2 of 1977 10 mm, and those thicknesses survive today as Optiwhite float glass with a polished edge. The ceramic platter arrived on the Planar 9 in 1995, gained flywheel-effect weights on the P7 of 2002, and the laminated flywheel glass arrived with the 16 mm RP6 of 2011 and the three-part RP8 of 2012. The current range runs in order: 10 mm glass on the Planar 2; 12 mm on the Planar 3 and Planar 3 RS; a dual-layer 16 mm glass on the Planar 6 and Planar 6 RS; a three-piece laminated platter on the Planar 8 made from two Pilkington glasses with a British glass engineering company, with its mass at the rim; and on the Planar 10 and Naia a custom ceramic-oxide platter, compressed, fired and diamond-cut for flatness, the Naia's with an improved flywheel effect and a complex profile. Stereophile reported that the Planar 10's platter, about five pounds, is made by a company that also makes missile nose cones. The Planar 1, Planar 1 Plus and Planar 78 use the phenolic-resin flywheel platter that began on the RP1 of 2010.

Why it matters in a system

A platter has to be flat, so the stylus sees a constant geometry, and consistent in speed, so pitch does not wander. Glass gives flatness at low cost; mass at the rim stores rotational energy where it does the most good; ceramic adds hardness and freedom from ringing. Each step up the range buys a measurable gain in speed consistency and a quieter background.

What you may hear

What Hi-Fi? described the glass-platter Planar 2 as "balanced and authoritative with impressive scale and natural musicality." Moving up to the laminated and ceramic platters, listeners report steadier pitch on sustained piano and a lower noise floor between notes.

From the RB300 of 1983 to the RB TitaniumSince 1983

The one-piece cast RB tonearm

In 1983 Rega introduced the RB300, whose headshell and arm tube are one tapered aluminum casting with no joints, on preloaded ball-bearing gimbals. The same lineage runs through the RB110, RB220, RB330, RB880, RB3000 and RB Titanium today; the higher the model, the tighter the bearing fit and the fewer the joints. Counting OEM versions, the family has sold more than 400,000. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

The RB300 of 1983 replaced the Acos-made R200 with a tapered, one-piece cast aluminum tube running unbroken from headshell to pivot, a tungsten-alloy counterweight and a tracking-force spring; Rega worked with a casting company to develop a method for casting so long a cored hole accurately. The RB250 followed in 1984, the RB301 in 2007 and the RB303 in 2011. The current arms share one geometry, a 222 mm mounting distance, 236.5 mm effective length, 21.55 degree offset and 11 g effective mass, and differ in bearings and materials. The RB110 on the Planar 1 and the RB220 on the Planar 2 and Planar 78 use Rega's patented ultra-low-friction polymer bearings with automatic bias. The RB330 of 2016 has hand-selected ball bearings preloaded by one or two microns with no measurable free play and a tube with its mass redistributed. The RB880 of 2019 adds a stainless-steel sleeve and shaft and hand-matched bearings; the RB3000 is hand-polished, with bearings an interference fit on the spindle and no adhesive anywhere; the RB Titanium of 2023 has a one-piece titanium bearing housing and spindle and a tungsten counterweight. Gandy has said standard bearings run at about one micron of clearance after preloading and the best arms at less than one micron. Rega makes arms for about twenty other brands.

Why it matters in a system

The arm holds the cartridge still while the groove moves it, and any play in the bearings or flex at a joint is information lost. Rega's position is that such losses can never be recovered later in the chain, which is why the arm is where it spends the money, and why there is no VTA adjustment: a 2 mm spacer under the arm base does that job without a loose joint.

What you may hear

A UK retrospective called the RB300 "one of the most important tonearms of its generation, perhaps even ever." What an RB arm gives a cartridge is a stable platform, which listeners hear as secure tracking, solid images and bass that does not blur.

Bolt it down; the alignment is doneSince 1987

Three-point cartridge mounting

Rega cartridges have a third fixing hole, so on a Rega arm the cartridge bolts down in exactly the right position with overhang and alignment preset. There is nothing to adjust, which is why Rega sells most of its turntables with the cartridge already fitted at the factory. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

The third hole appeared on the Elys cartridge in 1987 and the hand-wound Exact in 1992, and Rega's arms have carried the matching third mount since the RB301 of 2007. Every current Rega cartridge except the two-screw Carbon uses it: the Nd3, Nd5, Nd7 and Nd9 moving magnets and the Ania, Ania Pro, Apheta 3 and Aphelion 2 moving coils. Rega says the method sets overhang automatically, and the Nd9 page notes it is for Rega tonearms only; on other arms the cartridges fit with the usual two screws and a protractor. The system is what makes the factory-fitted packages possible: the Planar 2 with an Nd3, the Planar 3 with an Nd3 or Nd5, the Planar 3 RS with an Nd5, the Planar 6 with an Nd5, Nd7 or Ania Pro, the Planar 6 RS with an Nd9, the Planar 8 with an Nd7, Nd9, Ania Pro or Apheta 3, and the Planar 10 with an Apheta 3 or Aphelion 2. Arm height is handled the same way: Rega does not fit VTA adjustment, which Gandy does not accept as valid or beneficial, and instead supplies 2 mm three-point spacers and shims to raise the arm base when a taller cartridge calls for it. The Atlas gauge sets tracking force.

Why it matters in a system

Alignment errors are the most common reason a good cartridge sounds poor, and a stylus that is a millimeter off its intended position distorts across the inner grooves. Three-point mounting removes the error at the source and lets the arm and cartridge be treated as one assembly, which is how Rega designs them.

What you may hear

Stereophile's review of the Planar 3 50th Anniversary observed that "The Exact's mounting is fixed in Rega's preferred alignment" and that the deck "has a real knack for allowing you to forget about audiophile affectations." The payoff is a cartridge that performs as designed from the first record.

Apheta, Ania and AphelionSince 2005

Hand-wound moving coils: iron micro-cross, no tie wire, no damper

Rega's moving-coil cartridges wind their coils by hand on a tiny iron cross at the top of the cantilever and support the cantilever on a rhomboid pivot pad, with no tie wire and no foam damper. The aim is the lowest possible moving mass and freedom from damper-related resonance; the cost is a low 350 microvolt output that needs a good MC phono stage. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

The first Apheta of March 2005 established the design, and it has gone through the Apheta 2 of 2014, the Aphelion of 2015, the Ania of 2017, the Apheta 3 of 2019 and the Ania Pro and Aphelion 2 of 2020, which Rega calls its fourth generation of handmade moving coils. The coils are wound from 0.018 mm wire, thinner than a human hair, onto a cross-shaped iron former under viewing scopes; the Apheta 3's micro-cross is 50 percent smaller than the first Apheta's. A neodymium magnet provides the field, and all four current models share the same generator figures: 350 microvolts, 10 ohms, a 100 ohm load, tracking at around 1.9 to 2 grams and weighing 6 grams. What separates them is the body, cantilever and stylus. The Ania has an elliptical diamond on an aluminum cantilever in a glass-filled PPS body; the Ania Pro adds the Vital nude profile once reserved for the Apheta 2, a tapered cantilever and stainless inserts; the Apheta 3 a fine-line nude diamond in a one-piece CNC-machined anodized aluminum body; and the Aphelion 2 a boron rod cantilever in a graded, zero-tolerance black-anodized body. The Ear saw the Aphelion 2 entering production in 2020, hand-made by a small team.

Why it matters in a system

Removing the tie wire and the damper removes two sources of coloration, but it also puts more weight on the arm and the phono stage. Rega's own MC stages, the Fono MC MK4, AOS and Aura, ship with loading that matches these cartridges by default, and the Planar 6, 8 and 10 and the Naia are offered with them factory-fitted.

What you may hear

Jason Kennedy wrote of the Aphelion 2: "This cartridge is a revelation, there's no other word for it." Hi-Fi Choice found that "The Ania delivers a huge, effortlessly three-dimensional performance," and Noel Keywood of Hi-Fi World noted the Ania Pro's "strong and steady imaging."

Moving-coil behavior at moving-magnet outputSince 2024

The Nd neodymium moving magnets

The Nd3, Nd5, Nd7 and Nd9 are the first moving-magnet cartridges built around an N55 neodymium magnet, the strongest commercial grade. The strong magnet allows very small coils, which gives low inductance and impedance, a wider high-frequency response and better channel balance, with a 5 to 6 millivolt output that any MM phono stage can use. All four share the generator and differ in stylus and cantilever. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

Rega says the Nd generator was developed over ten years. Its coils are wound from 38-micron wire with 1,275 turns, far fewer than a conventional moving magnet needs, because the N55 magnet supplies the field; the body is glass-filled PPS, tracking force 1.75 grams, and a pivot-pad design removes the mechanical joint between stylus housing and body, so instead of a user-replaceable stylus Rega offers a factory rebuild with a new cantilever, stylus and pivot pad. The Nd3 of May 2024 carries a bonded elliptical polycrystalline diamond on a titanium shank behind a red window; the Nd5 of June 2024 a nude elliptical diamond; the Nd7 of July 2024 a nude monocrystalline fine-line diamond, 3 by 30 microns, the profile of the Apheta 3 and Aphelion 2; all three on aluminum cantilevers. The Nd9 of November 2025 moves to a boron rod cantilever, joined by a connecting tube made with a watchmaker because the generator was designed around aluminum, and Rega calls it the highest-performing moving magnet it has produced. The range has replaced the Elys and Exact as Rega's factory-fitted cartridges: the Nd3 on the Planar 2 and 3, the Nd5 on the Planar 3, 3 RS and 6, the Nd7 on the Planar 6 and 8, and the Nd9 on the Planar 6 RS and 8.

Why it matters in a system

For most systems the Nd range is where a Rega turntable upgrade starts, because it works with the moving-magnet phono stage built into every Rega integrated and the Fono MM MK5, with no change of gain or loading. The Nd7 in particular is pitched by reviewers against moving coils at its price.

What you may hear

Jason Kennedy: "I would suggest that those looking for next level results with vinyl consider the Nd7 before an MC." Ed Selley of AV Forums found the Nd3 brings "some of the sheer energy that the moving coil designs deliver down a much lower price point."

The drive systemSince 2001

24 V motors, hand-tuned power supplies and EBLT belts

Every current Rega turntable uses a 24 V synchronous AC motor. The Neo MK2, P10 and Naia Reference power supplies generate its drive waveform digitally from a crystal reference, add push-button 33/45 and fine speed trim, and carry an anti-vibration circuit hand-tuned at the factory to each individual motor. Rega also makes its own belts, the EBLT range, on precision tooling from a bespoke rubber compound. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

The 24 V motor and its printed circuit board date from 2001, along with the first TTPSU outboard supply. The RP10 of 2013 introduced a DSP generator built on a high-stability crystal, and the Neo of 2017, revised as the Neo MK2 in November 2021, brought that generator down the range: it outputs a balanced 24 V AC signal with less than 0.15 percent distortion, switches 33 and 45 electronically and allows fine speed adjustment, and each motor is hand-tuned to its matched Neo to cancel its own vibration. The Neo MK2 is supplied with the Planar 6, Planar 6 RS, Planar 8 and Planar 3 RS and is an option for the Planar 1 Plus, Planar 2 and Planar 3; the Planar 10 and Naia have their own Reference supplies with 0.01 rpm steps. The Planar 8 and above mount the motor under the plinth, a layout from the Naiad. Belts are Rega's own: the Advanced EBLT on the Planar 1 through 3, the Reference EBLT on the Planar 6 and above, twin belts on the Planar 10 and the twin-drive Planar 6 RS, three on the Naia. Every deck's speed is checked with an optical encoder, and Rega sells a hand-held Strobe kit and a 24 V motor upgrade kit for earlier decks.

Why it matters in a system

A synchronous motor runs at a speed set by the frequency of its supply, so a clean, crystal-derived waveform means a stable platter and the hand-tuned anti-vibration circuit keeps the motor's own vibration out of a plinth built to transmit everything. Adding a Neo to a Planar 2 or 3 is the simplest upgrade Rega offers.

What you may hear

The Ear's 2020 factory visit described Rega tuning Planar 8 supplies to their motors to minimize vibration and checking every deck's speed with an encoder and software. In the room this shows as pitch that holds steady on long piano chords and a quieter background.

From io to Osiris, Mercury and SolisSince 1990

Class A/B amplification with Sanken outputs

Rega's amplifiers share one lineage: a Class A/B power stage on Sanken output transistors, linear toroidal power supplies, discrete FET line stages at the top of the range, and a built-in moving-magnet phono stage on the integrateds, with features kept to a minimum so nothing obstructs the signal path. Rega has publicly declined to build Class D. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

The line began with the clam-shell Elicit of 1990 and the Brio and Elex of 1991. Today it starts with the io of 2020, 30 watts into 8 ohms using the Brio's power amplifier and MM phono stage, with a headphone output fed from the power stage. The Brio MK7 of 2025, the seventh Brio, gives 50 watts, a second raw supply isolating the output stage, and the first digital inputs on a Brio. The Elex MK4 of 2022 delivers 72 watts with an isolated Wolfson DAC and a case that acts as its heatsink; the Elicit MK5 gives 105 watts with the discrete FET-based preamplifier it shares with the Aethos. The Aethos of 2019 is dual mono, 125 watts, with four 160 watt Sanken devices per channel, Class A discrete preamplifier circuitry and no phono or digital stage. The Osiris of 2009 runs a passive volume control into a single high-gain power stage with eight 200 watt Sankens and two 400 VA toroids for 162 watts. The Mercury preamplifier and Solis power amplifier of November 2025, four years in development, are fully symmetrical; the Solis gives 168 watts into 8 ohms on balanced inputs, and the Mercury adds a discrete headphone amplifier and a DAC with S/PDIF and USB inputs.

Why it matters in a system

Rega's engineers put the case plainly: none of them has heard a Class D circuit that betters a good Class A/B. The integrateds are designed around turntables, with a phono stage on board from the io up and headroom that increases step by step, so a Rega system can start at a Planar 1 and io and grow without changing character.

What you may hear

What Hi-Fi? found that "The Aethos retains all the verve of the company's established affordable integrateds" and called the Elicit MK5 "taut, punchy and clear." Ed Selley wrote that no other amplifier he had tested at the price offered "the imperious ability of the Elex Mk4."

Nothing superfluous in the signal pathSince 2018

Discrete and FET phono stages: Fono, AOS and Aura

The Aura of 2018 is a fully symmetrical, three-stage, all-Class-A moving-coil phono stage with graded Linear Systems FETs at its input, so no bias current flows through the cartridge coil. The AOS MC of 2026 is a two-stage, half-width derivative of the same circuit, the Fono MC MK4 applies the FET input in a compact box, and the Fono MM MK5 is the discrete moving-magnet stage that What Hi-Fi? has named a winner every year since 2018. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

Gandy credits the Aura largely to Rega's chief electronics designer, Terry Bateman. It uses passive RIAA equalization at high frequencies and active at low, a power supply running about 60 percent higher in voltage than typical for headroom, balanced XLR and single-ended outputs, switchable gain of 63.5 or 69.5 dB, loading from 50 to 400 ohms and 1,000 to 5,700 pF, and relays for mono and mute; it weighs 13 kg. Rega says it avoided any superfluous functions because they obstruct the signal path. The AOS MC of February 2026 takes a symmetrical complementary Class A FET first stage driving passive high-frequency RIAA and a Class A differential second stage, with no digital control circuitry, a self-adjusting thermal servo and the same loading options, in a half-width case. The Fono MC MK4 of 2021 uses the Linear Systems LSK389 FET in an all-discrete input stage with MUSES op-amps for RIAA, DIP-switch loading and a factory default that suits every Rega moving coil. The Fono MM MK5 of 2021 has a fully discrete, cascaded complementary input, two-stage RIAA, 41.4 dB of gain and 47 kilohm, 100 pF loading; its internals are unchanged from the MK4. The Fono Mini A2D MK2 of 2019 adds a USB output for recording records.

Why it matters in a system

A phono stage amplifies the smallest signal in a system by a thousand times or more, and Rega's FET inputs keep that first stage quiet and keep the cartridge coil free of DC. The MM stages match the Nd range and the MC stages are set up for the Ania, Apheta 3 and Aphelion 2 out of the box, which keeps a Rega chain simple to assemble.

What you may hear

What Hi-Fi? wrote that "The Aura's clarity is class leading, as is the way it renders the dynamic envelope of instruments"; Paul Messenger of hi-fi+ found it "more than justifies its price." Jason Kennedy said the AOS MC "has perfect timing," and What Hi-Fi? called the Fono MM MK5 "the one to beat at this level."

Isis and Valve IsisSince 1997

CD players with Rega's own servo

Rega writes its own CD control software. The servo analyzes each disc on loading and keeps the laser in optimum focus and tracking with extra error correction, and the reference Isis of 2009 feeds the result to two Burr-Brown PCM1794 converters in parallel dual mono. The Valve Isis swaps in Wolfson converters and a tube output stage. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

Rega's first CD player, the Planet, arrived in 1997, followed by the top-loading Apollo and the Saturn in 2004; the Apollo MK2 of 2017 and Saturn MK3 of 2022 continue that line. The Isis and Valve Isis of June 2009 sit at the top. The Isis runs two PCM1794 DACs in parallel dual mono, with discrete Class A op-amps and filters, a current-to-voltage stage evolved from the Ios phono preamplifier, separate 50 VA transformers for the analog and digital sections with ten regulators each, Rega's own digital servo and phase-locked loop, an isolated and double-clocked USB input, balanced XLR outputs and a CNC-machined solid aluminum case; it weighs 19 kg and was Tone Audio's Digital Product of the Year in 2009. The Valve Isis uses Wolfson WM8741 converters feeding a differential tube stage of two military-specification 5814A triodes and two ECC88s, a passive second-order Butterworth LC filter, a transformer-balanced output and three switchable digital filters. Each Valve Isis is built with three matched laser mechanisms, two of which are held at the factory for its owner, and it weighs 19.5 kg.

Why it matters in a system

Disc analysis on loading and in-house servo code are what let the Isis read worn and marginal discs cleanly, and the dual-mono layout, separate transformers and USB input make it a DAC for a whole system as well as a player. The Valve Isis offers the same transport with a different voice.

What you may hear

Jason Kennedy wrote in The Audio Beat that "This player's tonal rendering is in another league to most," that "The Valve Isis has color and dynamics, heart and soul," and advised, "Do not expect to be wowed; rather, expect to fall in love."

Rega at Pearl Audio

The Rega range we represent

All 42 Rega products
Rega Naia turntable collection tile Rega Naia Reference Turntable From $14,995 Rega Planar 1 RegaIn stock Planar 1 $595 Rega Planar 1 Plus turntable collection tile Rega Planar 1 Plus $725 Rega Planar 2 turntable collection tile RegaOn demoIn stock Planar 2 $895 Rega Planar 3 RegaOn demoIn stock Planar 3 From $1,125 Rega Planar 3 RS Edition turntable collection tile Rega Planar 3 RS Edition Turntable $1,795 Rega Planar 6 turntable collection tile RegaOn demoIn stock Planar 6 From $1,925 Rega Planar 6 RS Edition Turntable — factory product view Rega Planar 6 RS Edition Turntable $3,195 Rega Planar 8 turntable collection tile Rega Planar 8 From $3,395 Rega Planar 10 turntable collection tile Rega Planar 10 From $6,450 Rega RB220 Rega RB220 Tonearm $445 Rega RB330 Rega RB330 Tonearm $675 Rega RB880 Rega RB880 Tonearm $1,325 Rega RB3000 Rega RB3000 Reference Tonearm $2,445 Rega RB Titanium Reference Tonearm — factory product view Rega RB Titanium Reference Tonearm $6,995 rega nd5 RegaOn demoIn stock Nd5 MM Cartridge $545 rega nd7 RegaOn demoIn stock Nd7 MM Cartridge $795 rega ania RegaIn stock Ania MC Cartridge $895 rega nd9 RegaIn stock Nd9 Reference MM Cartridge $1,045 rega ania pro Rega Ania Pro MC Cartridge $1,225 rega apheta 3 Rega Apheta 3 MC Cartridge $2,245 rega aphelion 2 Rega Aphelion 2 Reference MC Cartridge $5,545 Rega Fono MM Mk5 Phono Stage — factory product view Rega Fono MM Mk5 Phono Stage $445 Rega Fono MC Mk4 Phono Stage — factory product view Rega Fono MC Mk4 Phono Stage $555
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