Rega Brio R

[Zax89swe]

My rega arrived today!, played 1hour and my first experiance will be that the sound is very revealing, much crisp and clear, the tone is neutral in highs and mids the lows digs with contrasts and fullness, timing is lightning, dynamic is very good, I can easily hear sounds position and travel in the image,one minus is that its get quite warm when playing on highter volymes but i really love the sound. like sayed in the professional review -the soundsystem itself can vanish and the music comes first.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

My rega arrived today!, played 1hour and my first experiance will be that the sound is very revealing, much crisp and clear, the tone is neutral in highs and mids the lows digs with contrasts and fullness, timing is lightning, dynamic is very good, I can easily hear sounds position and travel in the image,one minus is that its get quite warm when playing on highter volymes but i really love the sound. like sayed in the professional review -the soundsystem itself can vanish and the music comes first.

Hi Zax89swe

Nice one

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Anonymous]

What do you guys use as the transport for the rega dac?

I recently replaced my squeezebox with a laptop and it sounds a lot better. Now I need that laptop for work and can't leave it turned on.

I'm thinking of replacing the rega mira with a brio-R.

 

[Zax89swe]

To be critical to the sound id find same issue as this person that upper midrange and lower highs can on occasions shrill, is it a matter of burn-in? http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?aamps&1313131997

 

[nopiano]

To be critical to the sound id find same issue as this person that upper midrange and lower highs can on occasions shrill, is it a matter of burn-in? http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?aamps&1313131997

Quite possibly. Leave it on repeat for the day, and go out and enjoy the sunshine! Next weekend let us know how it sounds.

 

[Frank Harvey]

I'm thinking of replacing the rega mira with a brio-R.

I would arrange a demo to compare the two before parting with cash

 

[VinylRush]

Are you sure its not a bad pairing with the BX2's? When I had my BR2's I know they were known as very bright speakers due to the metal tweeters. I paired them with a Marantz amp to tame them. Are the BX2's metal tweeters too?

I'm running my Brio-R with some Rega RS3's and detect no hint of shrillness at all, even from new.

MoData - My transport to the Rega DAC is a Mac Mini/iTunes ALAC combo connected to a V-link which then connects to the DAC via coax. It sounds awesome.

Cheers.

 

[Zax89swe]

Yes bx has a metal tweeter also, the brio tames it.. The tone is very fine id just think finding brightness in the mid high in some vocals but its very possible it could be my particulary dac or material, overall im very pleased, It sounds very analogue, a serious revealing sound and it makes substance to everything. witch can easily be heared lets say hans zimmer- Time live at the inception premiere. the bx2 works well with this amplifer I wonder how it will sound with more expensive speaker such as gx100 and coming kef r300, the amp seems to like 8ohm so the few db drop in sensitivity might not be heared?

 

[matthewpiano]

The BX2 isn't a bright speaker. It is very open and doesn't have thick, boomy bass, but it certainly isn't what I would call bright. I've heard much brighter.

For an upgrade I'd try Rega RS1s with the Brio-R. Rega amp/speaker combos always work superbly well.

 

[natstick]

This thread has been a great read for me.

I will be demo'ing the Brio R and Dac on Thursday, and will be sure to post my thoughts.

I had also hoped to hear the Marantz pm7003, Audiolab 8200a and Roksan Kandy, but only the Audiolab will be available.

Speaker wise, I think its limited to MA RX1, RX2 or B&W 685 or 684, although I like the sound (the thought, not heard the sound) of the XTC 99.25/6 and Rega's own RS1/3/5 in conjunction with the Rega kit.

I'm afraid my thoughts will be along the line's of (it all sounds great) having been limited to nothing better than a micro system until now...

I'll try and be as subjective as possible and should probably leave my wallet at home for this demo

 

[natstick]

This thread has been a great read for me.

I will be demo'ing the Brio R and Dac on Thursday, and will be sure to post my thoughts.

I had also hoped to hear the Marantz pm7003, Audiolab 8200a and Roksan Kandy, but only the Audiolab will be available.

Having said that, its the Rega kit I really like the sound regards size, quality and UK design and manufacture, so if I like what I hear, I don't think i'll miss the others...

Speaker wise, I think its limited to MA RX1, RX2 or B&W 685 or 684, although I like the sound (the thought, not heard the sound) of the XTC 99.25/6 and Rega's own RS1/3/5 in conjunction with the Rega kit.

I'm afraid my thoughts will be along the line's of (it all sounds great) having been limited to nothing better than a micro system until now...

I'll try and be as subjective as possible and should probably leave my wallet at home for this demo

 

[VinylRush]

My bad about the BX2. Yes it could also be the DAC or sibilance from the recording. I know on some tunes I sometimes get a little bit of sibilance, but its very minor and I need to look out for it. It certainly isn't an issue. Some Rega RS1's would suit the Brio-R but my dealer said they are lacking in bass somewhat.

Has anyone tried a shielded power cable for the Brio-R? I have one connected to my Rega DAC, don't know if it makes much of a difference TBH.

Another thing. Even though I love my Brio-R whoever designed the inputs so close together should be shot. They are virtually impossible to take out on a hot day when your hands are sweaty. I had a serious problem taking out input 1 when input 2 was being used, I just couldn't get any grip on the metal connector.

But its such a great amp I'll let Roy Gandy off this time

 

[CnoEvil]

Has anyone tried a shielded power cable for the Brio-R? I have one connected to my Rega DAC, don't know if it makes much of a difference TBH.

Just for an experiment, why not try your existing shielded cable on the amp and see what happens.

 

[VinylRush]

I would but its a pain in the backside to change it around. My hifi unit is in the corner of the room and getting around the back is fiddly.

 

[CnoEvil]

I would but its a pain in the backside to change it around. My hifi unit is in the corner of the room and getting around the back is fiddly.

Fair enough.....but it may be worth it. I have found amps in particular, have often sounded better, with a well sorted cable. What brand do you have?

Dacs often respond to good isolation devices.

 

[Zax89swe]

Think i got a problem with my brio. I hear a big brum in one of the channels in the phono input and a little bizz in the rest inputs, its little frustrating to hear it when i have the speakers on my computerdesk, for this money It should really be a unnoisy background in the music imo.. any ideas? I can live with that very little bizz but the brum makes the phono stage annoying.

 

[chebby]

Think i got a problem with my brio. I hear a big brum in one of the channels in the phono input and a little bizz in the rest inputs, its little frustrating to hear it when i have the speakers on my computerdesk, for this money It should really be a unnoisy background in the music imo.. any ideas? I can live with that very little bizz but the brum makes the phono stage annoying.

Do you mean there is hum from the turntable input? (Phono)

Have you got a turntable plugged into it? (Only turntables should be plugged into the input marked 'Phono' and no other kind of device.)

If so, have you earthed the turntable? (The signal cable from the turntable will have a seperate earth/ground lead with a little spade connector. Connect that to the earth/ground screw-down connection on the Brio amp next to the 'Phono' input.)

 

[Zax89swe]

Its a hum from one channel in phono input with or without turntable connected with earthwire, and there is a little buzz from same speaker on rest inputs my sensitive ears can hear when i turn off volyme when i got the system at my computerdesk. The brio r handles treble nice.

 

[chebby]

... when i got the system at my computerdesk.

Does this happen when the amp is located away from the computer desk?

Do you have the amp plugged into the same mains extension as a laptop power adaptor?

Is your computer screen an old style CRT (glass tube) type or flat screen?

I am thinking some kind of interference (RF or mains) between equipment that is too close together (or stacked) on that desk.

Try and get the hifi onto it's own support (away from the desk) and plugged into a seperate mains outlet from all the computer equipment.

Your speakers should also - preferably - be on speaker stands rather a desk.

(A photo of your system could help.)

 

[oldric_naubhoff]

... when i got the system at my computerdesk.

Does this happen when the amp is located away from the computer desk?

Do you have the amp plugged into the same mains extension as a laptop power adaptor?

Is your computer screen an old style CRT (glass tube) type or flat screen?

I am thinking some kind of interference (RF or mains) between equipment that is too close together (or stacked) on that desk.

Try and get the hifi onto it's own support (away from the desk) and plugged into a seperate mains outlet from all the computer equipment.

Your speakers should also - preferably - be on speaker stands rather a desk.

(A photo of your system could help.)

good guess. but I think that if it's interference from the mains the culprit then the whole amp would be affected (hum and hiss from both speakers). I think there might be some bad solder on the speaker connection or thereabouts.

Zax, you can also swap speakers to confirm if it's not the speaker which is causing the problem (but I think it's very unlikely that the speaker is responsible).

 

[oldric_naubhoff]

double post

 

[Zax89swe]

The small buzz is no longer a problem in inputs 2-5 but the phono behaves wrong but i will take that later since i dont use it.

Will brio r be more powerful with 8ohm speakers? compare to my previous yamaha a-s500 it feels like my bx2 punch harder in the bass and when i max the sound it gives high output of the sound itself rather then harshness and its more organised and i no longer hear spark distortion from the woofers witch is quite wierd when the a-s500 is rated much more. anyone tried the brio r with bigger floorspeakers?

I find the bx2 sound nice in movie scores but for a more neutral experiance in music what would be a good pick, kef q300?

 

[Anonymous]

hi all,

has anyone ever noticed slighg metallic harshness in the high rangek?

I noticed many times, regardless the input, kinda tiring... :/

here many guys have fhe same issue

forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?aamps&1313131997&read&keyw&zzeverything+but+the+box

ric

 

[Cypher]

hi all,

has anyone ever noticed slighg metallic harshness in the high rangek?

I noticed many times, regardless the input, kinda tiring... :/

here many guys have fhe same issue

forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?aamps&1313131997&read&keyw&zzeverything+but+the+box

ric

The Brio 3 had the same problem......that's why I sold it.

 

[Anonymous]

just cannot believe none of the reviewers never noticed that... |(