The Rega Brio Keeps Getting Better

Building upon its 30 year history, the Rega Brio continues to be a cornerstone for performance. Now in its sixth iteration, the Brio feels like a complete circle of what Rega set out to create all those decades ago. Sound Advice has much to say about this old school amplifier that’s packed with cutting edge tech.

The Rega Brio is an analog only design which may make it feel a bit dated due to the digital nature of the music world in today’s day and age. In fact, a lot of its components may seem dated or sparse- like it’s four line-level inputs, a line-level output, 50 watts of power and headphone jack. Thought the headphone jack may seem like nothing to write home about, it is worth mentioning that all generations of the Brio prior to this did not have one. Inside you’ll find 2 power supplies that are responsible for power amplification and phono stage + pre-amplification.

How does it sound? Sound Advice believes there’s nothing more you could ask for in terms of sound quality from Rega’s smallest amplifier. They even believe that in its current iteration, it’s nearly perfect. The sonic output is rich in clarity, dynamic range, and a good time. Which is really what the Brio is about to begin with. A new improvement found from its previous generation is an overall feeling of “muscularity and authority” (Sound Advice). It has a more condense and robust sense of being.

All in all, the Brio is still on its mission of being small but mighty. 30 years later and it’s still proving to live up to the name. It seems that in its sixth life, Rega has pushed its smallest amp even further into perfect territory making it the absolute best option on the market.

Read Sound Advice’s full review here