Rega Elex-R Amplifier

[Vladimir]

Terry Bateman bought a stack of old Wireless World magazines from the 40's-70's and using those Rega is reviving old tube circuits in the form of solid state amps. The Elex-R is based on the Mullard EL84 5-10 amplifier (1954), says the silk screening on the PCB. I think its fair to mention this since probably this will be the main reason why these amps sound special to their owners. A drop of old school audio mojo, as they say.

Few days ago I was reading about UHC-MOS (Ultra High Current MOSFET) based circuitry invented in early 90's and implemented by Denon in their amazing POA-1 , as well as its trickled down succesors. And I was thinking nothing much has been invented in amplifier electronic design in the last 30 years. Everything is just recycling and improving of what everyone already knows. Everyone thinks Class D is the new kid on the block. Actually it is the most troubled child of electronics design, originally invented in 1954 and no one could get it right untill the 00's. Basically all inovation in Hi-Fi comes from the IT industry.

Anyways. Carry on.

 

[stevebrock]

Brio R, Elex R & Elicit R are all superb amps IMO

Much prefer the sound of Rega amps over the equivalent priced Naim units. IMO the Brio R is nicer sounding over the Nait 5si likewise the Elicit R over the Nait XS2.

Having owned 2 of said Rega amps, I loved them both especially the Elicit R and sadly my long term ownership of the Elicit R was never meant to be (well documented on this forum)

I havent listened to the Elex R, but on all accounts is very similar to the others mentioned!

Think Rega really have nailed this end of the market especially for turntable owners as the phono stage is excellent and you would be hard pressed to find a standalone unit under £500 to better it.

 

[Covenanter]

I find the Elex-R combines the transparency of the Brio-R with a new breadth of vision; a mature tolerance even - a new musicality to match the increased detail. The Elex-R, just like the Brio-R and the LS50 speakers responds with brutal honestly to changes in the equipment it lives with. Equipment that lives happily with the Brio-R also lives happily with the Elex-R. The sound I get after a few weeks is sweet as well as detailed with wonderful separation and fields of quiet. But it will always be a "listen carefully", not an "easy-listening" machine. Like always, you have to hear and judge it for yourself in combination with specific components in a specific listening environment.

"... a mature tolerance ..." - Do you write for WHFi or did you make this nonsense up on your own?

Chris

 

[antskip]

Before purchase, I compared the Elex-R to a Brio-R in a showroom, everything else remaining the same, and it sounded much better. That is also the case at home.

 

[antskip]

It is better in every way.

 

[nopiano]

Just wanted to say that I've found this one of the most interesting reads for a long time. I hope the OP hasn't minded the various diversions.

 

[Happy_Listner]

I'm the orginal OP, and no, I don't mind at all. This has been an enjoyable read.

 

[matthewpiano]

You can talk until the end of time about what Roksan have done to the K2, but I wouldn't swap my Exposure 1010 for one. Neither would I pay the extra for one over a Brio-R. Likewise, my findings with the CD players are that the Apollo-R is a far nicer sounding machine than the K2.

Do you have the photos to prove that? 🙂

Oh shucks... I obviously have a think for poorly designed amps ;-)

 

[Vladimir]

Not having transformer shielding is a flaw but that doesn't ultimately result in a rubbish amp. Having undersized transformer can show to be a bigger issue because stressed transformers saturate their magnetic field. I've read that general rule in electronic design is have the transformer roughly 2,5 times larger than amplifier power rating. Bare in mind due to efficiency 100VA does not equal 100W in transformers, it is usually less.

A 50W per channel amp should have at least 250VA transformer. The Exposure 1010 is rated at 50W per channel and has a 120VA transformer. Rega Elex-R is rated 72.5W p/c and should have 362.5VA, but I think it has a 250VA from the looks of it. My amplifier is declared at 150W per channel and the transformer is not 750VA but only 550VA. They cheapened out because of budget restrictions, headrooms are a luxury in budget amps. The fact remains, we pay more money for more clean power when we upgrade up the amplifier ladder. Eventually the game reaches to those, as Chebby calls them, grotesque and monstrous Krell or MBL monoaural block power amplifiers that cost new car money.

Interesting fact. An amplifier that costs £500 on the market revenues under £200 for the manufacturer. Half of the sum goes to the dealers and shops. Now cut those £200 (more likely £150) in smaller bits, company overheads, capital investments in manufacturing equipment, packaging, transport, marketing and finally materials. Now how much do you think of those initial £500 went in actual parts and labor?

With that in mind, these budget amps are pretty damn good despite all restrictions.

 

[Happy_Listner]

Hey Vald,

Thanks for the new post. So I am trying to figure somthing out that you said. You said this:

"Bare in mind due to efficiency 100VA does not equal 100W in transformers, it is usually less."

and this:

"Rega Elex-R is rated 72.5W p/c and should have 362.5VA, but I think it has a 250VA from the looks of it."

So what is the Equation? I see you just multiplied by 5, but what is the real loss in firguring out transformer voltage to watts? How much power does a 100VA transformer able to put out if it's not 100 watts?

 

[drummerman]

I really wouldn't worry to much about it. Very few products don't meet their power specification but some sail closer to the wind than others. Musical Fidelity, Leema and probably Rega spring to mind, at least with some of their products. I remember a Leema Pulse failing to meet its quoted spec in one particular test and a MF3i only just scrambling through by the skin of i...

Others compensate for lower transformer ratings with more capacitance of power supply or farads.

Its a balancing act as well as financial consideration, the power supply usually being the most expensive part after the casing, marketing and packaging

.

It's arguably more important for an amplifier to be able to swing volts than current, given sympathetic speaker matching. Its perhaps one of the reasons why well designed valve amplifiers can sound so dynamic and 'alive' despite relatively low power ratings.

Similarly, active speaker manufacturers can get away with (comparatively) smaller power supplies as the unknown quantity of driving different speaker loads is taken out of the equation and no power sapping passive crossovers are in the way.

regards

 

[Vladimir]

Paragraphs don't work in this new editor, I'll try posting again.

 

[Vladimir]

When a manufacturer builds an amplifier, they have to project headrooms because the choice of speakers and the way to use them with a selection of music are all at will with the unknown buyer. As we dive in the budget section of the WHF buying guide we see less headroom and a more headache for engineers to come up with clean power for peanuts.

What size of transformer should be used depends on the amplifier topology, specifically the class it will be running in. The class determines how much of the amplifier power will be used to amplify the signal and how much to be wasted as heat through the heatsinks. For Class A you really need 5 times the transformer size than the rated amplifier output for all channels total. If the Class A amp has 30Wpc in 8 ohms, the transformer should be at least 300VA (30+30 * 5). Class AB ideally 2.5 times the total rated output, a typical class AB design might waste as much as 50% of the power into heat, some run cooler into the 60's and 70's is Class B territory of efficiency (think Naim). In the budget end of the market manufacturers usually calculate 1.5 times the rated output power for one channel.

Lets analyze my amp briefly as an example. The transformer is 550VA out of which two windings are dedicated for each channel of the power section (S1 and S2). There are other less powerfull rails for powering the preamp, bluetooth and logic board with relays separately (S3-S5).

S1/S2 = 2 * 39V , 5A = 390VA

S3/S4 = 2 * 13V , 0.85A = 22.1VA

S5 = 14V , 1.1A = 15.4VA

---------------------------------------------------- 427.5VA total used

------------------------------- + 122.5VA headroom, including for some power lost due to transformer efficiency

-------------- = 550VA total available

You can find this data on the transformer label sticker.

So although there is a 550VA in the specs, actually the power section is 195VA per channel or 390VA total. The amplifier is declared at 150Wpc in 8 ohms or 300W total output power, which leaves us 90VA of headroom for power section or arround 200VA total for the whole transformer. The amp runs very cool (only 25W used in idle state) so if it was a very efficient Class AB design with 70% efficiency, 390VA is at best 273VA total or 136.2VA per channel. The Kandy usually gets rated at 140Wpc in 8 ohms so this rough estimate is quite close to the manufacturers. Only in this new K2BT version they upped the specs to 150Wpc which is maybe due to bigger capacitance in the power section, I don't really know. Specs would indicate the Kandy is 77% efficient Class AB, because of its MOSFET topology. Again this is just my guess, the real math depends on many factors, biggest being the topology. Class D amps have impressive and scary 90% efficiency, therefore need much smaller heatsinks, caps and transformers.

Regarding the balancing act with bigger caps to compensate for smaller transformers. The transformer has a limited capacity to fill in the big caps with energy (capacitors are basically fast recharge/discharge batteries), so the ratio of power used should not excede this recharging limit from the transformer. If you play music that sucks in more than the transformer can catch up filling the caps, yes, you get clipping and distortion, the amp is suffocating. Budget amps with large capacitance and small transformer rely on the average listening habbits of music that doesn't use a lot of energy constantly all the time, so there is breathing room for a recharge. But if you play bassy music loud for longer period, the results will not be pleasant.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_647623710]

Hi there!

I have it, and its connected to an Apollo-r and a Rega Dac (The DAC-R is on its way) paired with Rega RS7 speakers. Guess if im a happy camper? Im so pleased with this setup and will probably not change a thing for at least 5 years to come. I changed from Arcam C30 P38 and CD17 to this rig. My opinon is that the Rega setup is more musical, a litle bit more in your face but not in a bad way. Not to detailed but easy enough to separate instruments. 3D stage well defined and alot of stomp your feet factor.

// Ulf

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_10152714926246315]

'ello!

have been owning a Rega Elex-R for some months now as well. Am combining it with KEF LS50's and am using a Bluesound Node as the music source (connected to the router with a normal Cat5e cable). Node and Rega amp are connected with an Audioquest Golden Gate interlink cable. Have to say that I really like the musicality, detail (especially in mid-range and high) and general sense of energy that this setup gives.

On the other hand I sometimes do find the music to be a bit too much energetic/in your face, all depending on the type of music I want to listen and mood I'm in. Any thoughts on how I can maybe create a sound that is (at times) a bit more relaxing? Maybe adding a good DAC? Or something else?

 

[CnoEvil]

Erik, could you try a Linn Sneaky DS?

BTW. Welcome to the forum.

 

[rainsoothe]

'ello!

have been owning a Rega Elex-R for some months now as well. Am combining it with KEF LS50's and am using a Bluesound Node as the music source (connected to the router with a normal Cat5e cable). Node and Rega amp are connected with an Audioquest Golden Gate interlink cable. Have to say that I really like the musicality, detail (especially in mid-range and high) and general sense of energy that this setup gives.

On the other hand I sometimes do find the music to be a bit too much energetic/in your face, all depending on the type of music I want to listen and mood I'm in. Any thoughts on how I can maybe create a sound that is (at times) a bit more relaxing? Maybe adding a good DAC? Or something else?

It might be the Rega + KEF LS50 partnering - if you have the option, try auditioning a Croft Phono Integrated or an Arcam A19, or KEF R300 or R100 instead of the LS50 (I would go for an amp switch - again, if this seems to be the culprit).

 

[antskip]

'ello!

have been owning a Rega Elex-R for some months now as well. Am combining it with KEF LS50's...Have to say that I really like the musicality, detail (especially in mid-range and high) and general sense of energy that this setup gives. On the other hand I sometimes do find the music to be a bit too much energetic/in your face, all depending on the type of music I want to listen and mood I'm in. Any thoughts on how I can maybe create a sound that is (at times) a bit more relaxing? Maybe adding a good DAC? Or something else?

For me, adding a Rega DAC-R to an Apollo-R with Elex-R and KEF LS50's added 200%. - a combination "made in heaven". But the sumptuous sound of the Elex-R with the LS50's was enhanced, not tamed. I don't think the KEF LS50's are intended to be "relaxing"! If that is what you want, I would perhaps look at a speaker change?

 

[nima]

Funny though - almost all of the amps that look best shielded on the pics, sound rubbish.

If the mains introduce DC making the transformer hum then its an external enviroment issues. That can be easily fixed with a voltage stabilzier and filter. Some would comment that even this is a design flaw and consumer should not further invest in additional power filters and stabilziers. But this is h-fi, anything goes.

The best way to do it, reference for all manufacturers, is how Marantz does it, IMO.

Naim Nait 5si

Rega Brio-R

Rega Elicit-R

Exposure 3010s2

Roksan Caspian M2

Arcam FMJ A-32

NAD C 375 BEE

Cambridge Audio 851A

 

[Zax89swe]

Anyone that compared the Elex-R against Marantz pm8005? Will the Rega sound much better or is the difference small? The Marantz cost little less and has standby which I like.

 

[BillBadBlack]

Hi, I'm new to this forum, so apologies if I'm covering old ground.

I've just bought a Rega Elex-R as a replacement for my old Arcam Alpha 9 Integrated Amp. I ran the old one bi-amped with an Arcam 9P power amp into Mission 752 Freedom Speakers. It used to sound beautifully, clear and warm.

The Arcam packed up due to the Input selector dying. Apparently its a common fault. Anyway, I bought the Rega expecting something fairly similar. Unfortunately its not. Seems to be a bit muffled. Maybe that's too strong a word, but there is definately a lack at the top end. Some voices sound as if they are singing in the next room. The clarity is also not so good.

I was otherwise running the same set-up, but I have now removed the alpha 9P, and am bi-wired into the missions, but it has made little difference (I thought maybe an imbalance between the amps). This happens when I play LPs, or CDs, and sometimes with the radio. I have cleaned all connections, and run a test CD that plays single frequecies up to 20000Hz (I can only hear up to 14000), and the tweeters are working on the Missions.

Listening through the headphone amp; the sound is fine, so I can only assume that the signal going in is good.

I've had the amp for a little over a week, and am playing it a lot, and leaving it on all the time. Is this a 'running-in' issue? Has anyone else had similar experiences? I'm currently quite worried about it, and disappointed. Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks *dash1*