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Rega IO vs. Brio 2017

PerF said:
I agre its stunning value really
Not the last word but involving like hell, maybe even a tad better performed than Brio.
Not for those who want Bling, 250W and 25kg.
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Interesting. You’re not the first person who has preferred the Io to the Brio. I had the Io, loved it so much that I got a Brio and found it a little more muscular and in control. To my ears, better, but not night and day. Somebody on AV Forums preferred their Io to an Elex-R. Regardless, the Io is a stunning little amp.
 
PerF said:
I agre its stunning value really
Not the last word but involving like hell, maybe even a tad better performed than Brio.
Not for those who want Bling, 250W and 25kg.
Click to expand...

"Involving like Hell"

Sums it up brilliantly as you say it's not the last word by any means.My Bryston 12B - 2B betters it for soundstage bass weight.But it's pretty marginal.
It really has this involving quility about it and you forget its a £379 intergrated with 30 watts.
Just so relaxing ,easy on the ear and very transparent.I know its a cliche but the music just flows out of it.And you forget it's weaknesses and enjoy.

A couple of weeks ago a mate was doing a home demo of a Mc Intosh 252 intergrated ( 100 watt - Valve hybrid ) and wanted to hear it with difearant speakers so brought it round and we had a nice afternoon listening to vinyl.The Mac was seriously impressive soundstage was huge and treble was sweet.I Liked it alot but at £ 4500 a lot of money.
What I mean with the Mac is I would love one but the IO, it's just so listenable and at £379 just brilliant VFM.
I am on day 3 with mine now and loving it's musicality.
 
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Miss Ariel said:
"Involving like Hell"

Sums it up brilliantly as you say it's not the last word by any means.My Bryston 12B - 2B better it for soundstage bass weight.But it's pretty marginal.
It really has this involving quility about it and you forget its a £379 intergrated with 30 watts.
Just so relaxing ,easy on the ear and very transparent.I know its a cliche but the music just flows out of it.And you forget it's weaknesses and enjoy.

A couple of weeks ago a mate was doing a home demo of a Mc Intosh 252 intergrated ( 100 watt - Valve hybrid ) and wanted it to hear it with difearant speakers so brought it round and we had a nice afternoon listening to vinyl.The Mac was seriously impressive soundstage was huge and treble was sweet.I Liked it alot but at £ 4500 a lot of money.
What I mean with the Mac is I would love one but the IO, it's just so listenable and at £379 just brilliant VFM.
I am on day 3 with mine now and loving it's musicality.
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Nice! What speakers are you using it with?
 
I have now compared the Io versus an Exposure 2010S2 and an Arcam A85. I prefer the Brio. My speakers are the Seas A26 kit, which are a true 88dB, 8 ohm speaker with a first order x'over and minimal x'over = very easy to drive. The Io just sounds smoother, more "right" than either of those at normal listening levels.
 
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greg788 said:
I have now compared the Io versus an Exposure 2010S2 and an Arcam A85. I prefer the Brio. My speakers are the Seas A26 kit, which are a true 88dB, 8 ohm speaker with a first order x'over and minimal x'over = very easy to drive. The Brio just sounds smoother, more "right" than either of those at normal listening levels.
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"The Brio just sounds smoother..."? I thought you bought an IO?
 
One of the things that are holding me back from buying one - apart from having no real excuse need to buy one - is that the headphone socket is 3.5mm instead of 6.5mm. If the headphone amp is as good as they say then why on earth would you want to use earphones? Sure, some good headphones might terminate with a 3.5mm jack but my HD650s terminate with a 6.5mm jack. And sure, I know you can use adaptors but solid female-to-male adaptors just add stress on the unit's sockets, while cabled-jacks just add stress on the cable where it bends sharply from the unit.

I'm trying hard to justify buying one but this is a potential snag that's hard to overcome.
 
windhoek said:
One of the things that are holding me back from buying one - apart from having no real excuse need to buy one - is that the headphone socket is 3.5mm instead of 6.5mm. If the headphone amp is as good as they say then why on earth would you want to use earphones? Sure, some good headphones might terminate with a 3.5mm jack but my HD650s terminate with a 6.5mm jack. And sure, I know you can use adaptors but solid female-to-male adaptors just add stress on the unit's sockets, while cabled-jacks just add stress on the cable where it bends sharply from the unit.

I'm trying hard to justify buying one but this is a potential snag that's hard to overcome.
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In my book that's a minor thing, they could have excluded that headphone amp IMO, its just a marketing demand, I would use the socket rarely if at all, even my HD25 would match 3.5 socket I never used them there, they are for other priorities.., HD650 would be comfortable with a dedicated HPA.
 
PerF said:
In my book that's a minor thing, they could have excluded that headphone amp IMO, its just a marketing demand, I would use the socket rarely if at all, even my HD25 would match 3.5 socket I never used them there, they are for other priorities.., HD650 would be comfortable with a dedicated HPA.
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It is a minor issue as you say. However, as operationally functional as it is, it seems like an oversight or a half-hearted measure that's somewhere between no-man's land pyrrhic defeat for the sake of using a slightly larger drill bit. A very, very minor gripe but a gripe nonetheless seeing as the headphone out is meant to be pretty decent. Like I say, I agree it's a minor issue and I doubt it'll put anyone off from buying it - myself included.
 
windhoek said:
It is a minor issue as you say. However, as operationally functional as it is, it seems like an oversight or a half-hearted measure that's somewhere between no-man's land pyrrhic defeat for the sake of using a slightly larger drill bit. A very, very minor gripe but a gripe nonetheless seeing as the headphone out is meant to be pretty decent. Like I say, I agree it's a minor issue and I doubt it'll put anyone off from buying it - myself included.
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Looking at the top view I'm guessing a 6.35mm headphone jack would have interfered with the transformer:

io-gallery-13.jpg


It looks like the socket is mounted to the same PCB as the input selector/display. It's a pretty compact build with not a lot of wiggle room inside, so don't imagine it's as trivial a decision as you make it sound.
 
booja30 said:
Looking at the top view I'm guessing a 6.35mm headphone jack would have interfered with the transformer:

io-gallery-13.jpg


It looks like the socket is mounted to the same PCB as the input selector/display. It's a pretty compact build with not a lot of wiggle room inside, so don't imagine it's as trivial a decision as you make it sound.
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It looks like there's enough room for a 6.5mm socket. If depth was an issue then the case could have been extended in depth by a few mm at the front. Like I say, I recognise it's a minor gripe (gripe's probably too strong a word here as it really is such a minor thing) and I don't imagine it'll put anyone off from buying one. I can only imagine it was a business decision - I mean, you don't throw all your best stuff into your cheapest product, including design and functionality; even if the cost of raw materials remains pretty much the same.
 
The 3.5mm headphone adaptor was probably a marketing decision as much as anything else. I believe Rega are trying to pitch this amp at a younger market, people who already use headphones on the go with there mobile phones, most of which still have 3,5 mm sockets.
TS
 
TonyScarlett said:
The 3.5mm headphone adaptor was probably a marketing decision as much as anything else. I believe Rega are trying to pitch this amp at a younger market, people who already use headphones on the go with there mobile phones, most of which still have 3,5 mm sockets.
TS
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Assuming the actual headphone stage is geared towards low impedance earphones as opposed to high impedance headphones that makes a lot of sense.
 
You could buy a replacement cable from Sennheiser with a 3.5 mm plug on one end and the two pin plugs to fit the headphone casings on the other. No adapter required. The cable for HD 660S’s would be perfect for this. I’ve bought replacement HD650 cables (so I could reterminate with a 4-pin XLR plug to make a balanced cable) direct from Sennheiser’s online store for about £20
 
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