Thanks, I didn't realize a review was only one click away!
I mostly liked the last Brio-R, however I had a strong complaint about it's upper midrange and lower treble region. I found this area to be thin, bright, and even sharp at times. I thought that it could be the perfect amplifier at its price if the Brio-R could only be tweaked to give it a more natural sound in that region. From the WHF review it read as if it might be more refined now. I am very intertested in listening to one.
I like Rega as a company but their latest amplifiers have left me scratching my head a bit. Rega seemed to go for bright, clear, detailed, and a super vivid HD sound. Upon an intial listening test it is very impressive, but in the long haul it becomes fatiging to my ears. I have listened to the Elicit-R, and have owned both the Brio-R and Elex-R. Both I ended up selling. Like I said very exciting and fun, but ultimatley too much of a good thing. It's the opposite of cozy and relaxing. I always thought Rega amplifiers should sound like their turntables do, a nice analogue type of sound versus a digital CD one.
Anyways, this is just my own journey and my own taste. Their amplifiers get great reviews so perhaps I am in the minority? Not here to talk bad about Rega because I love most of their products and It seems most others do as well. I'll probably be getting an RP8 soon or maybe a new Planar 8, depending on the Bristol shows new Rega release(s) next month.