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Rega Aethos. Missed a trick?

Off brand, if not off topic...

My Bryston B135 cubed integrated has the best volume / volume remote I’ve ever encountered, and is one of the reasons it’s a keeper (notwithstanding the possibility of further class-A fun if/when funds allow).

Usable range is 8am to 2pm into my Tannoy HPD315s. Usual session listening being between 10pm and 1am, depending on the music / mood.

Moreover, the remote allows for what seems like infinite adjustability.

As others have noted, this seems a rare ability, but if Bryston can do it it’s obviously not impossible.

Just to state the fairly obvious, this is not intended as criticism of Rega, rather more singling out Bryston in this area.
 
Anyone mention Linn?

Volume from 0-100, great remote, works all their toys, that require a remote.

Volume can be from the softest to the loudest with tiny steps to suit all requirements.
 
I would add exposure to that list, good range on the volume control and really easy to make small adjustments. Every press of the remote results in a consistent small movement with a corresponding LED flash. Excellent for late night listening and really important to me now as I have my sky box hooked up via my dac. This is something I hadn’t considered before but now wouldn’t be without this functionality / usability. Again not a criticism of rega as their equipment is excellent, I have the dac-r and rega P6 which are both excellent. And have had the brio and elex in the past which I enjoyed particularly the brio which is outstanding value IMO.
 
This must be all the more frustrating since Rega are usually pretty good at this - I enjoy huge usable volume range with my Mira 2000, Cursa 3 and Elicit-R: 11-12 o'clock is good for background music. They only start getting loud from 2pm (into 89 dB loudspeakers). I understand the Elex-R and Aethos are different!
 
Is anyone else reminded of the displaced earthlings aboard the Buy N Large Corporation (BNL) built Axiom space ship in the Pixar film 'WALL-E'?
 
Tiernoise said:
This must be all the more frustrating since Rega are usually pretty good at this - I enjoy huge usable volume range with my Mira 2000, Cursa 3 and Elicit-R: 11-12 o'clock is good for background music. They only start getting loud from 2pm (into 89 dB loudspeakers). I understand the Elex-R and Aethos are different!
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It certainly is frustrating !
Having my Aethos at the bottom of rack, its impossible for me to control volume satisfying via remote, changing between CD, tuner and turntable sources.
I will need to remove my deck and replace upper shelf with my amp, ditching the remote and operate by hand.
At nights its difficult to look how high volume-knob is because no led light.
For a "no compromise product", Its a bummer Rega.
I would understand if this is a dealbreaker for some.
 
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PerF said:
It certainly is frustrating !
For a "cost-no-object", Its a bummer Rega.
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Reading Rega's description of the Aethos [and correct me if i missed it] nowhere could i see the "cost-no-object" phrase.

What i do see is a "no compromise product" which i assume is limited by budget constraints.

I guess the nearest Rega have come to a cost no object amp would be the Osiris , which if my memory is correct was stated as being the best they could do at the time . As that was 12 years ago i wonder if they could do even better now ;).
 
Hi Folkman, I stand corrected, what I meant to say was the "no compromise product" phrase from Aethos marketing blurb, this however, makes the issue no less frustrating.
 
PerF said:
It certainly is frustrating !
Having my Aethos at the bottom of rack, its impossible for me to control volume satisfying via remote, changing between CD, tuner and turntable sources.
I will need to remove my deck and replace upper shelf with my amp, ditching the remote and operate by hand.
At nights its difficult to look how high volume-knob is because no led light.
For a "cost-no-object", Its a bummer Rega.
I would understand if this is a dealbreaker for some.
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Sorry but I couldn't quite understand the problem. What exactly is the issue with the remote of the Rega Aethos? Is it the unusable range whereby a slight press of the button on the remote will cause excessive change in the volume? The 282 also has this issue isn't it?

Or the range of the remote is poor, meaning you can't operate the amp from a distance away from your listening chair?
 
I love my Aethos, and am a bit of a Rega fan-man, but the remote/volume drives me insane too. The large jumps are one thing, but when the amp gets too hot (which happens quickly and often) the remote stops working altogether until I manually move it. The issue is better now that it has more air around it, but it's still present. I've had it for a year now, and the issue was present from day one.

Before I bought it i had read in reviews about the jumps in volume, but didn't think it would be as noticeable as it is. The media reviews downplayed it a bit I think, but it's not often you read truly negative reviews in the press, so for them to actually mention it at all should probably have been a red flag.

When I'm doing serious listening on my own I don't really mind, as I tend to listen quite loud and can adjust when i'm changing vinyl etc. But for daily use it's a pain not to be able to adjust when someone walks into the living room, phone rings, Skype call etc.

There definitely is an issue with this model, and no, it's not enough for me to change amps because I do love it. Running this with a Rega front-end (P10 and Aura) and all sounds wonderful together. I had an Elex-R before this and don't remember an issue with adjusting the volume.
 
ryder said:
Sorry but I couldn't quite understand the problem. What exactly is the issue with the remote of the Rega Aethos? Is it theusable range whereby a slight press of the button on the remote will cause excessive change in the volume? unThe 282 also has this issue isn't it?

Or the range of the remote is poor, meaning you can't operate the amp from a distance away from your listening chair?
Click to expand...

This^^
 
PerF said:
This^^
Click to expand...
Looks like it sounds really bad. Well, looking at the brighter side of things, having a remote is better than not having one. I didn't find the remote of the Naim NAC 282 to be an issue as I could still get to the desired listening volume despite the limited range. Perhaps the range on the Aethos remote is even worse than the 282.
 
I demoed Dynaudio Heritage Special today and when they were hooked up with the Aethos I know this was something very special. Actually considered springing for this amp (even though I never paid more than 650 for an integrated amp before), but the overly large volume steps means I will pass. I came upon this thread seeking a solution (that’s how much I liked it) but instead found PD’s attitude of “there is no problem”, which made the choice somewhat easier.
 
Rega is a very successful company approaching a record 18 million turnover . I am sure they are listening very carefully to this feedback . A good remote is probably THE most important aspect for using an amp.

My American pre amps both have 200 steps in the volume , they may not be the finest in the world but they are so easy to use and sensitive ears mean a good remote is essential as so many cds vary in volume from one to another
 
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