Just ordered mine can't wait to connect it to my bluesound node 2i. My experience with Marantz is really bad, the optical input started failing after a couple of months light usage,than turned out the phono input didn't work either when I got my Rega planar. Plus it always turned itself on without any reason! Sound was ok but the rest is rubbish. My mate got a Marantz Cd player not a long ago and for the first time already skipped the tracks and gave a distorted sound! Warned him but he didn't listen! Well I guess it can happen with other brands too but I was a Yamaha guy for 15 years and never had any issues with them!
I just bought a pair of KEF LS50 meta. I paired them with a Rega Brio. I love the Brio, but I find there is not enough separation, and the low end is also struggling. Anybody have any recommendations for an amp that would be a better match for these speakers?
Glad to hear that the Io lives up to the legacy of its bigger Brio brother. I loved this amp when I demo-d it. I just didn't love it more than its Cambridge AXA35 companion for the price. Still wouldn't trade my Rega turntable for love or money. (At British domestic prices I'd probably have bought the Io. Here in Canada Rega amps seem to demand an unreasonable premium vs. say NAD and Cambridge).
I've owned both, and the io sounds better than the Brio-R. The mids are less congested, it sounds more lively, and it images more vividly. The io has no problem driving my 88db sensitive Spendor SP3/1R2's.
I think this would be a good amplifier for connecting a PC with a soundcard and a decent DAC onboard. That would be the cheapest option for myself and still leaves the RCA line-in for another analogue component like a tuner plus you have your turntable connection. The other more expensive option would be to connect a DAC to The IO amplifier which would allow for more digital components to be added and will still leave you with a spare analogue connection. Has Rega stopped producing DAC's or will they be producing more in the future? Maybe a DAC to go with their new Rega System One?
I think it's very unlikely that Rega will produce another DAC as sales of better DACs seem to be declining. I liked the DAC-r so much that I bought extra when it was finishing so you can still buy one from me! Cheaper DACs seem to be still doing ok
@@michaelmcclean5169 Do you not think yourself that with all the digital connections available and streaming services that Rega should produce a decent budget streamer and DAC for their new Rega System One? I have an old Cyrus one from 1984 but is not working now. Do you still stock Cyrus amplifiers as my brother might be looking to buy one for the house and I am thinking of buying The Rega System One and use it in my flat for my desktop computer sound with a good soundcard and built-in DAC? The downside to not having a streamer and DAC built together is the noise a desktop computer makes while running. I hope sometime to be able to call into your shop with my brother for a chat and hopefully buy something that I like that has a decent quality of sound that is worth the price. Do you think the built-in DAC's to all devices are just getting better so maybe no real need for a separate DAC's now? I do still have a good soundcard at the moment from Creative and it made a big difference in sound quality compared to the onboard soundcard in the desktop computer I was using but I have to see if I can put The Creative Soundcard into the desktop computer I am using now which is a Dell XPS basic one. Is it okay to bring my speakers down to check some of your amplifiers with them? They are Mission Renaissance 737R from the 1980s, 30 to 120 watts per speaker. My HI-FI separates are all around 30 years old now but it is only The Cyrus One amplifier that is not working now but we still need another completely separate system for my flat when the brother gets a place to live. Sorry for the essay but hopefully I will get buying from your shop as soon as the brother and I are ready. Many thanks for your reply I hope others understand what I am trying to explain about The Rega System One and how to get digital connections connected to it.
@@trevorjenkinson6465 Hi Trevor I think to hit the low price point Rega made the decision early in the design process to forego the DAC in the interests of performance leaving it to you to decide what you wanted to add We still do sell Cyrus! There are 3 Cyrus One models starting from £ 599, which doesn't have a dac input but does have bluetooth
@@michaelmcclean5169 Thanks for your reply I hope to get calling into your shop sometime before the year is out or sooner depending on finances. Is your shop in Lisburn? Have you reduced the price on The three Cyrus One amplifiers by £100?
I’ve had a Marantz 6005 and now have an IO and truly, sonically the Rega is in a different league! I have had amps from Creek and Naim and the little Rega is sonically very, very good! It now fills the place the original Naim Nait did before Naim took the Nait into a way different price league. The Marantz amps are good and offer way more features as the review pointed out but the Rega delivers a musicality Marantz don't even aspire to..
