"Five Stars" What Hi-fi? Magazine
"Immensely Engaging, Precise and Subtle Sound"
Rega's critically acclaimed Brio integrated amp gets a nice upgrade with the new Brio 2017. The upgrades start with a completely new case to house its improved circuits and parts. It now sits in a fully aluminum two-part case, which boosts the Brio’s heat sinking capabilities and improves on Rega’s already solid build quality and reliability. The new Brio also has a cleverly integrated headphone jack specially designed to avoid interference with the audio circuit when not in use. And as you would expect from renowned turntable and tonearm manufacturer Rega, a very high specification moving magnet phono stage is built in as standard.
Throughout the design process, the Brio has been meticulously improved in every aspect, from the quality of materials to the manufacturing process, to make this new Brio a step ahead in Rega’s engineering and design for amplifiers.
"An Upgrade in Every Way"
"It’s an upgrade in every way, from its redesigned features to its immensely engaging, precise and subtle sound," notes England's What Hi-fi? magazine, which awarded the new Brio with a top rating of Five Stars. "It’s the kind of amplifier we want to leave on and play our entire music collection through. Again and again."
"The Rega Brio remains the budget amp to beat at its price point," reports Jason Kennedy in his February 2, 2017 review for the-ear.net. "It is hands down the most musically rewarding amplifier in its class. Combine that with its improved aesthetics and a remote control that is big enough not to lose in the couch and you have a piece of kit that offers fantastic value and top light entertainment in a compact container."
Ample Power on Command
The Brio 2017's power amp section provides 50 watts RMS, both channels driven into the rated load of 8 ohms and 73 watts RMS, both channels driven into the rated load of 4 ohms. Additionally, it provides 58 watts RMS, one channel driven, into the rated load of 8 ohms, and 93 watts RMS, one channel driven, into the rated load of 4 ohms.
Four line-level inputs are provided, and input one is the moving magnet phono stage input, for a total of five analog inputs.
Brand New Case Design
The sleek and minimal look was designed to bring elegance to Rega’s classic style. But the new aluminum two-part case still harks back to the swooped features hidden away in Rega’s past amplifiers. Combining all these aspects makes this Brio case unique among the competition as far as looks and performance at this price point.
Re-designed Circuitry
Key improvements have been made to the circuits of the Brio. The PCB layout has been fully upgraded to handle higher specifications for all critical parts. A second raw power supply has been added to provide further isolation between output stage and the driver stage/line and phono amplifiers. This improves the isolation between high and low level signal stages of the amplifier. Higher specification MUSES operational amplifiers (op-amps) have been used in the line amplifier and phono amplifier.
Audiophile Headphone Jack
For convenience, the Brio has the capability to drive standard hi-fi headphones from the internal amplifier. Adding a headphone jack was only possible by finding a way to reduce its impact on the main signal path, so that it doesn’t disrupt the overall sound quality. Rega paid special attention to the switch that deactivates the main speakers for optimum performance.
