Rega designs for simplicity and reliability. We do the fussing so that you don't have to, Terry Bateman…
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"We like to make things," Roy Gandy, Rega's founder and owner, once told me. "It's what we do." Or maybe it was Rega's chairman and chief engineering honcho, Terry Bateman. Rega products are designed and manufactured in the south of England. So far as I know, no one at the Rega facility, on the Temple Farm Industrial Estate, has committed suicide; the same cannot be said of workers at the factory in China where iPods are made. Al Gore is on the board of Apple. Al, what do you think?
Here's another great disc (of course, you'll want the CD, not MP3 downloads): Black Coffee, by Ann Savoy & Her Sleepless Knights, with violinist Kevil Wimmer and guitarist Tom Mitchell (CD, Memphis DOT 0225)—inspired, I'm sure, by Joe Venuti and Django Reinhardt. Known for Cajun music, Savoy sings in English and French; try "Cette Chanson est pour Vous." Both DACs did splendidly with this album, which should be far better known. When it comes to popular taste, I must be totally asynchronous, which the Rega DAC isn't.
Asynchronous means that the clock on your computer (or server) and…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state D/A processor. Inputs: two coaxial, two optical (TosLink) S/PDIF, one USB. Sample rates/bit depths handled: 32–192kHz (S/PDIF); 32, 44.1, and 48kHz at 16 bits (USB). 10 different digital filters, selected with a pushbutton on the front panel.
Dimensions: 8.4" (215mm) W by 3.1" (80mm) H by 10.5" (270mm) D.
Serial number of review sample: not noted (auditioning); 01631 (measurements).
Price: $995.
Manufacturer: Rega Research, Ltd., 6 Coopers Way, Temple Farm Industrial Estate, Southend on Sea, Essex, England SS2 5TE, UK.…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
In his May 2011 column, Sam Tellig enthused about the sound of the new $995 DAC from UK-based Rega Research. "The Rega DAC had a richness, a fullness of tone, an analog sense of ease, that I had not hitherto heard from digital, save for SACD," Sam wrote. "I heard a naturalness, an organic quality to the sound. . . . I enjoyed that richness of tone: body, weight, authority."
Jon Iverson listened to the Rega DAC while preparing his review of the Peachtree Audio iDac in the October 2011 issue. While Jon agreed with Sam about the Rega's low frequencies, he…
Manufacturer's Comments
Editor: Thank you for letting us reply to your revisiting of the Rega DAC, which was largely brought about by the overt and unwarranted criticism leveled at our design methodology by another manufacturer that you were happy to publish without inviting a similar privilege of reply.
I also understand that you agreed, via Steve Daniels at The Sound Organisation, our US distributor, to speak with Roy Gandy (Rega's owner) regarding matters arising, but that call never materialized.
I do not intend to resurrect the asynchronous debate, nor is it Rega's…
Phono cartridges—along with mothballs, hobnails, laundry bluing, hot-water bottles, lighter fluid, fur coats, and typewriters—are among the most outdated of consumer goods: To most people who make their living in the world of consumer electronics, every new cartridge that hits the shelves is little more than a coughing spasm from the death-room down the hall. You can imagine, then, the welcome accorded new samples of the even more anachronistic pickup head, which combines phono cartridge, headshell, and barbell into a product one seldom sees outside the school librarian's junk drawer. New…
The latter idea has taken shape in the most recent edition of the Shindo Haut-Brion ($11,000), a stereo amplifier designed around complementary pairs of the famous 6L6 pentode tube. In recent years, during which the brand's following in North America has seen the most growth, the uniquely styled Haut-Brion has stood out as the only Shindo amplifier whose vacuum tubes are all contained inside a single enclosure; consequently, the Haut-Brion was also the only Shindo amp that lacked a separate tube cage.
The first Haut-Brions (footnote 2) used two output pentodes and two 6AW8A triode/…
Sidebar 1: Contacts
Ortofon A/S, Stavangervej 9, DK-4900 Nakskov, Denmark. Tel: (45) 54-91-19-15. Fax: (45) 54-91-19-11. Web: www.ortofon.com. US distributor: Ortofon Inc., 500 Executive Boulevard, Suite 102, Ossining, NY 10562. Tel: (914) 762-8646. Fax: (914) 762-8649. Web: www.ortofon.us.
Shindo Laboratory. Web: www.shindo-laboratory.co.jp. US distributor: Tone Imports. Tel: (646) 425-7800. Web: www.toneimports.com.
Sidebar 2: List of the Month
Lists are good, shallow fun, and capable of suggesting deeper truths: reason enough to make them a monthly thing. So in honor of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Eastman Wind Ensemble, I'll start by offering my choices of 10 records of dubious quality, the contents of which are accurately reflected in their cover art. While we can all name at least ten very good records with very good cover art (the Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers would top my list), here are those releases for which nothing in the firmament was in alignment, listed from bad to…
Here we go again! Come up with a list of classical pieces, and if your list is one of the skillfully crafted winners, you'll win your choice of a single CD from Stereophile's online store, and your list and all the other winning entries will be posted online for the admiration of all and sundry. This year's write-in contest will be somewhat more challenging than the last three, but I'm sure many of you will be up to it.
The premise is simple: Create seven classical concert programs for a fantasy symphony orchestra's season. But to make it more interesting, you can't program works by any…