Rega has unveiled a few world exclusives at this year’s Bristol Hi-Fi Show. The British brand always has a surprise or two to show us ahead of the official launch, and this year we are treated to a few new models to delight fans attending the popular consumer event.
Let’s kick things off with a new reference preamplifier and power amplifier comprising the Mercury preamp and the Solis power amp. We only have a few details at the moment: the Solis power amp boasts 165W per channel, whereas the Mercury has a variety of analogue and digital inputs, including USB type B. There’s also a bespoke Rega DAC housed within the Mercury.
This new pre-power combo joins the rest of Rega’s top reference line including Aura phono stage and Naia turntable. The Naia/Aphelion 2 turntable is a five-star spinner, so here’s hoping Rega can bolster its hi-fi stable with the Solis and Mercury.
Also on show is the ND7, a moving magnet cartridge due for release later this year. Developed over a period of 10 years, the new ND7 is a new design which teases “next level” performance via a high-performance diamond stylus, neodymium rare earth metal magnet and a glass-filled PPS body. Like most of the company’s products, the ND7 is hand-made in Rega’s factory in Essex. It’ll cost you £450.
Finally, there’s a new Rega turntable finish. Thanks to the popularity of the 50th Anniversary Limited Edition version, Rega has decided to bring out a new light oak effect finish for the standard Planar 3.
It’s not finalised yet, but we’re told the Mercury and Solis are priced at roughly £6000 per product, totalling a pretty substantial £12,000 total for the pre-power combo.
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