Just read the Rega Naia Whathifi review. Some new technical aspects are interesting, like the particular sub platter, or the use of titanium and carbon.
They compare it with the Technics SLR :
“ a comparison with our Technics SL-1000R/Kiseki Purpleheart MC proves. Superficially, the Technics sounds more muscular, but it doesn’t take long to figure out that the Rega is significantly better with low-frequency transients, delivering them with greater heft and power while also revealing that the Technics has a slightly sludgy quality in comparison”.
Strange conclusion however: coins: the sonic appeals more to the heart than the feet.
For a Rega turntable, it’s not common to read that.
They compared vs the Vertere MG1 : “ Complaints? The Naia is an exceptional performer in most ways but its otherwise admirably off-hand approach to music-making did leave us wanting more in the way of rhythmic drive. As we listen to Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal, we’re deeply impressed by the Rega’s ability to organise the dense instrumentation into a wonderfully cohesive and musical experience, yet still find ourselves questioning whether it should make more of the song’s hard-charging momentum. Don’t get us wrong, this package is certainly surefooted and confident when delivering rhythm tracks, but compared to a rival like Vertere MG1 mk2, it does sound a bit polite and subdued in comparison.”
While we may be accused of bias, owning a Vertere MG-1, we have heard that turntable with 3 different power supplies and boy does the power supply have a huge impact on the turntable’s ability to reproduce music’s rhythm.
Having just seen a Rega Naia with Naim 300 series electronics this afternoon, it does look like a mighty fine piece of precision engineering. However, like most precision engineering, it is hard to see where the cost lies as precision is largely invisible to the naked eye. It does look very similar to the lovely P10.
But you read reviews of members here. For me it’s quite the same. Just a point of view.
The ice on the cake is nice pictures and some technical details.
When a member expresses an opinion, it is more as if it comes from a colleague/friend/someone next door
…rather than from…
Someone who expects thier opinion to hold supreme gravitas.
Cynical me!
Do you think the void in the plinth is where the ‘rhythmic drive’ went? Joking apart, my dealer told me he tried an LP12 without the plinth (just resting on the springs - is this even possible) & thought it was fast but lacked thrust. This was after I mentioned a P8 was doing a grand job at NW Audio Show. I’m sure the Naia’s brilliant by the way.
…‘but lacked thrust’…
I bet that if you asked 10 people here to describe what this means, without using the word thrust, you would get an assortment of different interpretations.
In the end it depends on what you want. No right’s and wrongs. At the NW Audio Show I found the P8 I heard enjoyable but very delicate. My daughter has a P3. There’s definitely a family sound so the Naia review is no surprise really. Hopefully I’ll hear one next year at Cranage although surprisingly I only saw one Rega this year. Given their quality and ease of set up I expected to see several.
Interesting sweetie. My dealer mentioned that these are arriving in NZ and that some trade in opportunities on the Rega Planar 10 might become available with people upgrading. That might be a good option for me, as I like the Rega sound. But I’m also thinking whether the new Wand TT might be a better option with a nice Hana cart and I have a friend who has one that I can try in my system….
Enjoy your wonderful turntable Bluesfan. I would be very happy to own one. I bought finally the P10 because it’s not upgradable, so better for my piece of mind.
I have never found that Rega decks can lack rythmic drive. I had P3, P25, P9, Rp10, Rp8, and now P10.
They lack some refinement vs others or bass authority, but not Prat. So I am surprised by their findings.
Try the Wand. It received a lot of good reviews. I am very curious of your impressions.
If you don’t enjoy it a lot, you will have the P10. But you would be the first here to own a Wand. More original than always Rega or Linn. And it’s from your country
Audiophile man review conclusion:
“Full of unique and interesting design choices, The Wand is the result of independent research. This is not a ‘me too’ turntable. This deck is not a crowd follower. It’s not a profit chaser. It’s a pioneer. It breaks new ground. The Wand is obviously a work of love that’s chasing a musical passion. It’s the result of a singular vision. “
I am sure that the Mystic is an excellent cartridge. When looking to replace our worn out & much loved DV XX-2 mk 2, several cartridges were recommended to us including Vertere’s Mystic.
Our dealer recommended the DV XV-1S and the Hama Umami Red. As he uses an Umami Red in his own MG-1 turntable, we followed suit and are very happy with ours.
Thank you, it is very clear. I didn’t audition both but I feel that hana is more on the warm side (koetsu and dyna like) and Mystic is more on a sparkling side but it is an impression coming from reviews…if it is the case I would be more on the hana side as well. Recently I read the stereophile listening impression of the tw acustic turntable, they auditioned the dyna and then the miyajima and the preferred the latter. I remember that once it was used by Touraj as awell
