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New Rega Speakers - Aya

I like the look of these, wonder how well they would work on the end of a Leak Stereo 20 (RX-Ones work really well).
One slight issue for me is the horizontally stacked binding posts, they annoy me on my ST20 & would annoy me on these.

TS
 
It’s good to see speakers moving away from wood cabinets, after all we don’t have ash framed cars are anymore.


Pete
 
TonyScarlett said:
One slight issue for me is the horizontally stacked binding posts
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Nothing of notice for me, though I would like to see them in flesh before my statement.
Always liked Rega speakers due to their uncolored speedy replay and easy placement rather close to wall.
Bet they walk over slow boomboxes at triple price.
 
For what it’s worth, it’s fibre loaded or reinforced. I imagine there’s some work on the shape as well to avoid ringing
 
Back in the Eighties I auditioned the concrete Rauna Tyr bookshelf speakers, they were quite good if a bit tonally thin/bright.
But the engineering creativity I’m already seeing behind the Aya is in just another universe altogether.
 
matt j said:
Is that a perceived good design for speakers then? Only I can think of quite a long list that aren't inert that sound great, again we seem to be kneeling at the altar of deadening/inertness/rigidity for the sake of it. Surely if that is the goal then it is simply done with basic materials?
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I'm not sure whether ultimate cabinet rigidity is the best for speaker drivers as there are manufacturers opting to work with the cabinet material flexibility instead of trying to make the cabinet as solid as possible - Russel K's lateral approach springs to mind, and they sound really good whenever I've heard them. That said, there seem to be more manufactures working with high mass material to remove the effects of the cabinets on the drivers than not.

These new Aya cabinets do look very interesting and with ten years R&D behind them I'm sure Rega will have encountered and overcome many problems along the way, but one thing that did spring to mind would be their vulnerability to accidental knocks and their potential to crack, chip or mark. I’m sure Rega have done due diligence on the cabinet sturdiness, but one thing about wooden cabinets is they can be (relatively) easily repaired.
 
Would be nice if there were some colours other than grey. Back in 2012 when I was after speakers I set my heart on gloss white RS3's, just after they were discontinued. Ended up with white Kudos X2's, but satin, not gloss.
 
Jamie said:
Would be nice if there were some colours other than grey.
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Guess there's a market for other speaker colors as Rega found with various of their turntables.

I have seen Technics, Focal and Linn amo. offer different colors on some of their products.
Naim did a grey edition of their now discontinued Classic series.
 
boegelund said:
Guess there's a market for other speaker colors as Rega found with various of their turntables.
Naim did a grey edition of their now discontinued Classic series.
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Yes, I remember those grey Naim cases for the Focal / Naim partnership - I sill have the nightmares.

nac-282-v4.jpg
 
Tony L said:
Concrete is anything but inert, an unsupported paving slab rings like a doorbell, as do most stone-like materials!

Rega are IMHO a bright light in a universe of dumb audio thinking so I bet they have modelled this very carefully and placed the resonances exactly where they want them (as they did with their ceramic platter).
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Also I guess that the combination of two dissimilar material (concrete and glass fibres) would counteract the ringing - in a similar way the the LP12 inner and outer platter.

Andrew
 
AndrewR said:
Also I guess that the combination of two dissimilar material (concrete and glass fibres) would counteract the ringing - in a similar way the the LP12 inner and outer platter.
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I’m very interested in how the front baffle joint works. I suspect it is absolutely no coincidence that most of my favourite box speakers have a screwed-on baffle (BBC, Lockwood etc), it makes for a ‘broken bell’ structure that is far less likely to ring or resonate at a certain frequency. It wouldn’t surprise me if that joint was damped/decoupled in some way. I’m certainly of the mindset that heavy glued MDF cabinets are the absolute worst thing one can mount loudspeaker drivers into, and given Rega’s utter contempt for similar construction techniques in record decks I’m expecting something quite interesting here. The recent Kyte stand-mount certainly takes Rega’s low-mass approach into speaker design and I suspect by virtue of the apparent thin-wall and separate baffle design these floor-standers are barking up a pretty similar tree.
 
Very interesting speakers, and rightly priced.
The design looks that strictly follows function (as most Rega products do) and I do like it.
I hope they sound good also outside Rega systems.
Once again this proves that at least some audio UK brands keep innovating and delivering products that are above the competition.
Well done Rega :)
 
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