Rega Brio Integrated Amp (Black)

The story goes, many decades ago I purchased a very nice A&R Cambridge Amp, which had great reviews and was shall we say polite in it's delivery. A few months later I heard a Naim Nait and was completely bowled over by its musicality , and just made me want to engage in the music and listen to all my albums all day long. I regretted my original purchase. Well, here we are today and I was researching two channel integrated Amps and saw the reviews on the Rega Brio3 by HIFI magazines, which basically echoed the sentiments of my thoughts on the Naim Nait, so I had to check this out. I think this Amp is just a wonderful piece of kit for the money and just engages you in the music. Super clean highs and mid range and strong well defined bass. It just does what it does well for the money. I have auditioned some very expensive and cheaper amps and they normally show their good and bad sides. I think the Rega shows it's good side and hides it's bad side in regards you don't hear it. I definitely would recommend checking this out if you are in the market for a basic analog Amp around the $1,000 mark.

Wonderful little amp. I’ve owned many integrateds over the years (up to $5k) and this one stands out. With the more expensive gear I found myself always criticizing the sound and just not enjoying the music as much. This little amp gets out of the way and just let’s the music play and sounds great. My first unit did have a little hum on the right channel so swapped for another and this one is dead silent. I also live in an apartment and most of the amps I’ve used in my office are susceptible to hum so I don’t fully blame the amp.

Very good sound dynamic, bass extends very agile.Middle frequency, vocal lived. High frequency clear ! But Volume control only trough by remote control!

I've been slowly upgrading my stereo system over the last couple of years and finally took the plunge on a new amplifier. A year ago, I had purchased a Rega P3 Turntable and loved how that made my records sound better. For the amplifier I just wanted something that I could use with the Rega turntable. No bells or whistles, no DAC, no Bluetooth, just something that I could hook the turntable to and to power the speakers (a pair of vintage Dynaco A-35s)I was looking at tube amplifiers, but decided that was not a rabbit hole that I wanted to go down. After looking at all the integrated amplifiers with around 50w per channel, I settled on the Rega Brio. I read different reviews and the ones that matched it against similar or a bit more expensive amplifiers always gave the nod to the Rega.I looked around and found that the $995 price was standard, so I decided to at least get some Amazon points and bought it here.I received it quickly (about a week faster than the stated delivery date) and was able to hook it up in 15 minutes. I had played one of my favorite records on the old setup just to remind me what it sounded like. I played it again with the new setup and the difference was like night and day. The best way to describe it is if someone who didn't know they were extremely near-sighted put on prescription glasses for the first time. Everything is clear and crisp, more defined. You didn't know how much you were missing out on until you discovered that you were missing out on it!I'm very happy with the purchase and I'm definitely getting the most bang for the buck from it. Now I have to go through my record collection (5,000 and counting) and listen to them all again. That should keep me out of trouble for a few days!

I remember enjoying my first audio experience at 15 years old circa 1977. I saved and purchased a Rotel 10 watt per channel receiver coupled with a pair of Ohm E speakers and a BIC turntable. While this was a budget system it was heaven to my ears. I always had a distinct ear and could pick up subtleties in the differences between gear. Through the years I desired to revisit and expand on my personal audiophile experience, especially now that I have the resources to move past the budget phase. Fast forward and looking to reminisce I picked up a vintage pair of Ohm E's, had a couple of Cambridge Soundworks speakers - model 17 and the 6. The latter are ok for what they are.I came across a Nikko 38 wpc 7075 that sounds "ok" and probably needs some love-re capping. I also found a vintage Marantz 2252 that worked for awhile but recently one channel cut out. I was about to have it serviced-restored to original spec, then I thought let's check out the current gear out there. After reading reviews and articles I came across what looked like a promising potential start down the road of "audiophile" 101.So it's been week 3 of life with the Rega Brio. I took the time to 'burn in' or at least get there part way. I tried with the three different speakers. My music sources are streaming Tidal HD and Hifi, Apple Music, and CD. I have yet to pick up a turntable and start collecting vinyl. That will be next. Back to the Brio. It's got balls plenty. It's music detail is ok. It just isn't right though. Midrange is meh, too bright and sounds artificial and even harsh at higher volume levels, unnatural. It makes my ears hurt if you know what I mean. Bass is weak. Another thing that stood out, it had to be played at higher volumes to experience greater detail. It's my understanding that isn't unusual with non-tube gear, but I found this especially so with the Brio. I went thru endless music types from jazz, pop, to rock from 60's to current day. While some types of music sound better (at lower levels) it all became fatiguing to my ears. Maybe the speakers are the weak link I thought. I even picked up a DAC.So swapped over to the Marantz 2252. Even with only one channel working (mono set) the warmth and neutral tones came thru. Ahh, much better. Remember the Marantz is not only out a channel but is in need of serious re-capping. It's a shell of itself right now. Then I tried the Nikko. While this receiver isn't my favorite and a level below the Marantz, it too was more listenable and in some ways superior to the Rega Brio.You could argue that it's just personal preference and my ears are as old as my taste in audio gear, fair enough And yes the speakers are arguably not the finest out there, but that aside I'm comparing apples to apples - one amp vs another. The speakers reproduce what goes through them right?While the Rega Brio isn't a poor design and that's why I gave it 3 stars, it's just not all that impressive at least compared to some very low to mid level 1970's audio gear. That's not to mention gear that is operating below their 100% level - in need of restoration.So try the Brio. It's a personal choice. Hey you may be thrilled with it. I just found it musically contrived and not something I can experience that 'getting lost in a musical experience' with. Meanwhile the Marantz is going in for a rebuild ;)

Nice amp out of the box but only after about 6 weeks of use a horrible buzz started to come through the speakers. This unit is a disaster!