gregory lynch
pfm Member
As the Elys 2 is unavailable are Rega about to launch a new range.
Possible new Rega cartridge range
- Thread starter gregory lynch
- Start date
daytona600
Registered User
Sell your ortofon & AT shares now
They have been around for almost as long as the horrible cartridge tags they still use. Would be nice if they swapped them for something that didn't look like a half chewed jelly baby. I'm sure the looks is one thing that stops a lot of people from taking them seriously. The way they sound being the other!
Yeah, would be nice if they could properly improve them. They are also-ran carts at best, except for the Exact which is sadly overlooked and a really lovely device.
Yeah, would be nice if they could properly improve them. They are also-ran carts at best, except for the Exact which is sadly overlooked and a really lovely device.
gregory lynch
pfm Member
I like the looks funnily enough but i agree about the sound, the exact is good but the Elys not so good, i haven't heard the Bias so can't comment on that one which i understand is also unavailable, makes you wonder, their cartridges seem to be the only items not to have been updated.
Jono_13
Duffer
I do rather like mine, with the matching Fono MM stage.
I'm struggling to think of what to replace it with. Sure, it is limited in dynamics, width, scale and detail compared to a more expensive moving coil but it has a melodic soulfulness which is rare in cartridges at any price. It's so easy to forget about the Hi-Fi and get drawn into the music.
Guess the cheap mass produced Audio Technica are solely made by a robot machinery, but I'm not a technician, others may help clarify.
I've done a back to back between the Exact and the DL-110. The Exact is just plain better, end of. I thought it would probably be swings and roundabouts with each being better in different areas but after a while I realized the Denon wasn't better at anything. Both are musical and enjoyable cartridges and are surprisingly similar in a lot of ways but...
The Exact gives a sense of solidity and body the 110 lacks. The feeling that you are listening to a real person singing. The Denon sounds thin and hollow by comparison. And there isn't any trade off or downside. The Denon didn't beat it in any way.
The MP500 might also be a good option. I've never heard one but it also has a reputation for having a full bodied sound while also being very good in other areas. I preferred the Exact to the 2M Black too but if you're up in that price range you're starting to get some talented moving coils so you've got a lot of options.
I doubt it. The is a limit to what machines can do and Chinese hands are pretty cheap.
Craig B
Re:trophile
Other than tip profile and channel matching, there isn't (wasn't) much difference between Elys 2 and Exact.
I doubt that many who have heard and liked Exact have ever actually given Elys 2 a fair shake.
For that matter, every once in a while, by intent or accident, the odd Bias used to sound surprisingly good; this even before Rega got round to dramatically improving their parallel coil winding technique. I used to wonder whether their cartridge technicians used to do the occasional Super Bias before Super Bias became a product (same for Super Elys vs. Elys).
I doubt that many who have heard and liked Exact have ever actually given Elys 2 a fair shake.
For that matter, every once in a while, by intent or accident, the odd Bias used to sound surprisingly good; this even before Rega got round to dramatically improving their parallel coil winding technique. I used to wonder whether their cartridge technicians used to do the occasional Super Bias before Super Bias became a product (same for Super Elys vs. Elys).
Ptah
pfm Member
Is that a fact.
I had the Elys 2 preinstalled in a Planar 3 (latest) and I thought it was pretty good. Swapped it over after a year for the Exact, big improvement. I now have Exact on P6 and it's very revealing.
I've heard good things about the Ania Pro but not heard one. The problem I've found with (two) Rega MCs is fragility - those cantilevers will break if you sneeze. I lean towards AT MCs.
Rega are working on an Elicit replacement.
I've never compared the Exact to the Elsie but if had a few Bias so I assume the Elsie is somewhere in the middle.
The Exact is like a Bias, fixed. The Bias is like a painting done with tubs of poster paints, no mixing. You get the primary colours but no texture. You get the notes but no air or decay between them. The Exact has the same sense of solidity and weight but it has that detail missing from the red one. It's really good value where as the Bias isn't. An AT-VM95e is better at half the price.
The Ania Pro is one of the carts I'm considering next. That and the 20x2L are probably top contenders but maybe an AT of some description.
Craig B
Re:trophile
I should have made clearer that I was referring to physical differences in my first sentence above.
As AT cartridges have been mentioned, consider the differences between the VM530EN and next model up VM540ML. The generators/bodies are identical in all respects, and the styli are both nude. The only difference other than knob colour is that the former has an elliptical vs. the latter having a Microlinear type (plus a tapered tube cantilever). With a nude Ogura 'Vital' type tip, Exact has an even greater advantage over Elys 2, in that its diamond is roughly half the size/mass of a typical nude elliptical, and that is before we consider it being a fine-line, not to mention having hand selected coil pairs with near perfect channel balance. Regardless, these differences come at a price, none of which make Elys 2 any less good than others at its price point; speaking of which, at £149 Elys 2 was 16 quid less than VM530EN, the latter arguably an uptight disco queen in a LEGO® frock, compared to the Rega's buxom breakdancer in bright blue Spandex.
What is wrong with robot machinery? Does the job and never gives any lip.