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Putting together a small system...starting with a Rega io

wulbert

pfm Member
I've been trying to visualise what my next hi-fi system will be. Last night I sort of "impulse" bought a Rega IO amplifier. I saw a picture and thought the size was exactly what I want and reviews seemed positive.

My priorities are:
Small, streaming capable (so that I can find new music, and my wife will use it), keeps residual value, fairly cheap, future-proof, sounds "relaxed", "smooth", "warm","musical" etc (whatever all that means). I'd like to be able to use headphones too. Not immediately, but maybe once we move house and I can set up my Old Man's Chair-Space somewhere. ( I have a pair of Sennheiser DT770's 250 ohm)

Total budget around £700 - £1k (what I got selling off some other gear). The Rega IO was £330.

I was thinking of an ifi ZEN One Signature DAC, Hub thing to handle the digital stuff (£350)?

I already have a Cambridge Audio CD4 SE (£70) I bought a few weeks ago. Also have a pair of KEF LS50's (too hard for the Rega io to drive?) and a 1980's pair of KEF Carlton 2's that I like but have no wife approval and have been mainly stored since I bought them. Even the LS50's she says are "too big". So one or both pairs of speakers may be getting sold.

I'm thinking of putting the system in the kitchen where I can listen to music whilst cooking and tasting beer. Will investigate soon if the LS 50's will sit on top of the kitchen cabinets or somehow be able to be hidden away. Maybe sell them for smaller bookshelf speakers?

Ideally I'd like a half-size CD player to fit the whole system on the kitchen cabinet bookshelves. I was attracted to some ancient TEAC CD players but they are getting very old. Seems to be a dearth of small, good, affordable CD players/transports...why are they so effing big? The CD4 SE only occupies half of it's box and is mostly fresh air inside.

Any thoughts/comments? (I realise this is a garbled mess of ideas with no real direction....welcome to my life)
 
Rega io and the LS50’s are a great combination, even if not so much on paper. I’ve had both items for a while now and have been subbing them in and out in my revolving door of (a) system/s. Even Steve Guttenberg (the reviewer, not the actor) seem to agree about the combo when he reviewed the io.
 
The io is a good little amp. Keep what you have and add a Bluesound Node streamer, Sevenoaks have some clearance ones at ££449 currently. That will give you streaming and very many connection/control possibilities, inc headphones and two way bluetooth.
 
Personally I would save money on the streamer and get a better amplifier. Something like a Brio, if small factor is important or an Audiolab 6000A if it is not. The Audiolab has a decent H/phone amplifier and DAC built-in. You will get more out of your LS50 (or other speakers). A CCA is a good cheap option. There are others.
 
Personally I would save money on the streamer and get a better amplifier. Something like a Brio, if small factor is important or an Audiolab 6000A if it is not. The Audiolab has a decent H/phone amplifier and DAC built-in. You will get more out of your LS50 (or other speakers). A CCA is a good cheap option. There are others.

I don't think I need the power or extra inputs of the Brio. I listen at fairly low volumes most of the time. From what I've read (which may be wrong) the Brio and Io have a similar sound. Money is tight.
 
The io is a good little amp. Keep what you have and add a Bluesound Node streamer, Sevenoaks have some clearance ones at ££449 currently. That will give you streaming and very many connection/control possibilities, inc headphones and two way bluetooth.

Have you used the Bluesound Node streamer? Does it sound good? It seems a lot of dosh for a streamer. I was thinking of perhaps a small, separate DAC in order to keep things as future proof and versatile as possible.
 
Cheap streamer - Rasp Pi based one (had a few) with Digital Out board into a DAC such as DacMagic 100 refurb off eBay (preferred to several ChiFi options I’ve bought/sold over lockdown, still have the DacMagic).

Likely be similar money to the Pi+DAC, a used/exdem old version of the Bluesound Node, I paid £250 for a used 2i and later sold it on and bought an exdem 2021 NODE for £449 which I still have. The Node is an excellent sounding bit of kit, very importantly it has a good control App and is dead easy to setup and use, no faff.

LS50 I was disappointed with them driven by a Brio and UQ in our kitchen/diner system, they were much better to my ears in open space or R2 stands with a my lounge main system with big power amps driving them. Try and if not 100% they sell on easily and there are loads of cheap used high quality bookshelves out there, buy used/try/sell on for no loss if careful - Rega RS1, Mission LX, Dali Zensor, Q Acoustic are all great options.
 
I've got the io amp and use Dali Oberon 1 speakers. Like you I don't listen at loud volumes and I'm more than happy with it. I've just bought an ifi zen dac 2 as also wanted to dabble with decent headphones. More than happy for the money I've spent. For the digital side I use a raspberry pi and have swapped between volumio and moode.
 
Cheap streamer - Rasp Pi based one (had a few) with Digital Out board into a DAC such as DacMagic 100 refurb off eBay (preferred to several ChiFi options I’ve bought/sold over lockdown, still have the DacMagic).

Likely be similar money to the Pi+DAC, a used/exdem old version of the Bluesound Node, I paid £250 for a used 2i and later sold it on and bought an exdem 2021 NODE for £449 which I still have. The Node is an excellent sounding bit of kit, very importantly it has a good control App and is dead easy to setup and use, no faff.

LS50 I was disappointed with them driven by a Brio and UQ in our kitchen/diner system, they were much better to my ears in open space or R2 stands with a my lounge main system with big power amps driving them. Try and if not 100% they sell on easily and there are loads of cheap used high quality bookshelves out there, buy used/try/sell on for no loss if careful - Rega RS1, Mission LX, Dali Zensor, Q Acoustic are all great options.

Thank you for the detailed response and suggestions. I'd forgotten about the control App side of things. No faff is good. I'll look into the Node. See them used sometimes.

Someone always mentions Raspberry Pi stuff when DACs are being discussed by I have no clue how to buy one, what to buy, how they fit together, what software goes on them etc....seems more like a hobby kit for people who understand all that stuff. I don't know if I could handle the learning curve. But they do seem to promise cheap, good audio.

I'd be happy to sell the LS50's if they don't work well in the kitchen. They are good, but have never found a niche in my household.
 
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I've got the io amp and use Dali Oberon 1 speakers. Like you I don't listen at loud volumes and I'm more than happy with it. I've just bought an ifi zen dac 2 as also wanted to dabble with decent headphones. More than happy for the money I've spent. For the digital side I use a raspberry pi and have swapped between volumio and moode.

Cheers, Zen DAC 2 added to "check it out" list.

The Rega io amp arrived today. Got it plugged into the old KEF Carltons ( 86 db sensitivity) and Cambridge Audio CD4SE player on the kitchen worktop with cables running everywhere. Sounds promising so far, but I'm too knackered for music right now.
 
FWIW, I’ve got a Bluesound Node 2021 (aka gen 3 version) feeding a Rega io that’s driving DALI Opticon 1 Mk 2 speakers. That’s it, a very simple system that sounds glorious in a small room at less than ear-shattering volume. I am officially Done, this is the last system I anticipate buying.
 
I have one and think it sounds quite good. On top of that, it has a great interface that is really easy to use.
I have an original Node2 and like it to. It is very fuss free. Read about how they can improve when changing the power supply, but never got around trying.
However when I added an external dac, in my case a mhdtlabs itanbul I realized it might have been a bit veiled.
Regardless the Dac in the node is still better than the one in my Quad Va-one
Still have it and don’t gave any plans to change yet.
 
I've got a Node 2i and although I only use it to stream local files via USB stick, it really has an excellent user interface as the app you use to control it is just nice and clean and easy to use; there's nothing clunky about it whatsoever. Mine is currently in my bedroom system with my Rega IO but I'm having so much fun playing records just now I haven't really had a chance to enjoy digital playback.
 
Currently running in my dining room: Rega IO, Raspberry Pi4 straight in to a Chord Mojo, SL1200 in to some Royd Minstrels. Sounds great. All sounds very good.

PJ, did you have a go with that chromecast audio, how did you get on with it?
 
PJ, did you have a go with that chromecast audio, how did you get on with it?

Sigh...I bought a half-dozen CCA's for the nieces and nephews Christmases about 5 or 6 years ago. They were stupidly cheap from Curry's, to the extent that I thought they's made a mistake pricing them, hence I bought 6 of them as gifts. They are probably languishing in dusty drawers now or lost under the bed.....wish I'd kept one for myself, but at the time I thought "streaming" was only for the youngsters.
 
Sigh...I bought a half-dozen CCA's for the nieces and nephews Christmases about 5 or 6 years ago. They were stupidly cheap from Curry's, to the extent that I thought they's made a mistake pricing them, hence I bought 6 of them as gifts. They are probably languishing in dusty drawers now or lost under the bed.....wish I'd kept one for myself, but at the time I thought "streaming" was only for the youngsters.

My streaming solution was a used £35 Sonos ZP80 which feeds my Topping D50S DAC, easily good enough for what I need and no desire to change it, I may pick up another ZP80 as a spare whilst they're still around cheap.
 


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