Rega Naia

[Craig B]

Here is another still extracted from Rega's '50x 33 and a Third' anniversary video. This particular shot illustrates a very interesting difference in generator assembly method between old and new in that the coil cores/pole extensions have been made singular. This allows for a fundamental structural change wrt anchoring these at the back end of the cartridge body/rear terminals plate interface.

FYI, Rega's existing 4 x coils assembly is pre-assembled, consisting of folded and crossed conjoined pairs which necessitated Rega having potted these in adhesive all these years. Anchoring these individual coil/pole assemblies either end, plus potting compound (likely), should make for a dramatic internal structural improvement to the generator elements, this combined with even higher precision wrt generator alignment within.

Of course, this isn't the most exciting development. Stay turned for further spy photo instalments!

 

[RichShortland]

Very hard to take much away from dealer dems. They're bad more often than they are good.

Agreed... ditto hi-fi show rooms in the main...

 

[Craig B]

Very hard to take much away from dealer dems. They're bad more often than they are good.

All of the open evening events I attended over the years included wine and cheese.

Makes a big difference to one's impressions of the systems on dem. All the more so, should one arrive early and leave late.

 

[Mr Pig]

All of the open evening events I attended over the years included wine and cheese.

Makes a big difference to one's impressions of the systems on dem. All the more so, should one arrive early and leave late.

Yeah, cheese is deadly.

 

[Woodface]

A dealer dem with a Rega employee present should surely be a showcase for the product? Why wouldn’t it sound great? Good dealers have decent dem rooms & should know how to present their wares to the best advantage.

It could be that the Rega amps are growers? I’ve never found them that compelling but this could change with a longer trial.

Anyway it’s nice to have a bit of balance.

 

[RichShortland]

A dealer dem with a Rega employee present should surely be a showcase for the product? Why wouldn’t it sound great? Good dealers have decent dem rooms & should know how to present their wares to the best advantage.

It could be that the Rega amps are growers? I’ve never found them that compelling but this could change with a longer trial.

Anyway it’s nice to have a bit of balance.

I totally agree and was part of why I was surprised and disappointed. I was quite ready to be blown away by it. For more context, my main amp at home is a Rega Elex-r and again, I was really looking forward to hearing the top of the tree Rega amp / phono stage as well as the Naia. Very odd that it was all a bit so-so...

 

[John]

I don’t know why they’re not doing direct comparisons using same cartridges on both decks.

 

[pfbaat]

I was quite ready to be blown away

I find it strange, with a Rega representative - why not a complete Rega setup included their loudspeakers.
Neat are usually more than fine but maybe not a good match for this particular setup ?

 

[Iain Docherty]

I heard the Naia at an open evening at a local dealer where a Rega employee was doing a bit of a roadshow around some dealers and showcasing the new deck. It was a full Rega system in terms of cartridge, phono stage and amp, but with some nice Neat floorstanding speakers.
I haven't heard a P10 before. Most of my Rega deck experience has been various Planer Three's over the years and using the RB250/300 arms on various decks.
Given the price, the fanfair around it's arrival and the resulting expectation, I was quite underwhelmed by the sound tbh. It was decent enough, with a fairly broad, stable soundstage, even representation across the frequency range and a neutral overall presentation. It was even handed with the variety of music played, however I felt it lacked rythmic ability, and certainly no 'boogie' factor. It was a little boring in fact...
I know Neat's are very capable, having heard them with different amps/systems, so I wondered if the all-Rega remainder of the system was the culprit, and perhaps some more variety of amplification and or cart / phono stage is needed.
Also, weirdly it seemed to get slightly better over the hour I listened to it for, despite the fact it had been played for several hours before that... I wondered if this was a very new cartridge or simply everything needed several hours to start to come good?..
So, a bit of a disappointment really.

Disclaimer that I have heard neither a P10 nor a Naia, but that description is pretty much spot in terms of how I've perceived every Rega I've heard up to and including the RP10. They always come across as a grey facsimile to me, and I can't say that one has ever really held my attention much.

That said, there is an enormous amount to respect about the company, and I hope that they continue to please the many people that love their products for a long time to come.

 

[Craig B]

I don’t know why they’re not doing direct comparisons using same cartridges on both decks.

Nothing wrong with a manufacturer wanting to showcase a newly released TOTL product on its own merits.

Factory or distributor rep brings new uber product round the dealers; dealer has a play and eventually arranges a collaborative 'musical evening' to help generate interest; interested customers pursue private demonstrations (whilst others have at the wine and cheese).

No doubt, the dealers will get round to offering comparative dems soon enough.

 

[piccadilly]

Disclaimer that I have heard neither a P10 nor a Naia, but that description is pretty much spot in terms of how I've perceived every Rega I've heard up to and including the RP10. They always come across as a grey facsimile to me, and I can't say that one has ever really held my attention much.

That said, there is an enormous amount to respect about the company, and I hope that they continue to please the many people that love their products for a long time to come.

That matches my experience.

I've heard the P9 several times at Classic Album Sundays events. With different amps (Crown, Bonnec and Linn) and speakers (B&W 800 series, Klipsch horn speakers).

Always sounded too crisp and dry. Like Chablis rather than Meursault.

 

[HifiDan]

I popped into my local dealers today for a browse and they had the Naia set up with an Aphelion 2 cart going into an Aura then Aethos which had some Goldnote speakers hooked up to it.

Just wow. The details that was being retrieved from the record was just amazing. I heard a very familiar track (to me anyway) and heard things I’d not heard before. Yes, that comment sounds like every magazine review out there but, I really did, it was very good.

Would I buy 1, yeah I would. This has now got me thinking of selling my Orbe/Techno arm/Apheta 2 and getting a P10/Apheta3 (which I plan to home dem in a couple of weeks.)

One thing that struck me was the Rega deck sound. I had a P8 which I loved so I have an idea of that particular sound. The Naia had that lovely dynamic, fast-paced sound but with so much detail.

Secondly though, the way it looks. It just oozes quality. The more you look at it on finer detail, you see the amount of engineering that’s gone into it, it looks an absolute master piece.

 

[gazjam]

Sold my Michell Orbe/ SME V and bought a P10/Apheta 3 a while back.

An improvement with the P10 more neutral for sure, but over time the “forensic” nature of it began to remind me of good digital playback, and I already had the gear ticking that box.
Wasn’t enjoying vinyl the way I used to, so sold up.
Loved my Rega Planar 2 back in the day, glad I had a P10 in my Turntable journey.

Auditioned a Project X8 Running fully balanced based on Michael Fremer’s raving review, and bought it on the spot.
Have to say the vinyl magic is back, it’s astounding sounding thing, even with its stock Ortofon MC.
Much happier now, vinyl’s doing its thing separately from the digital gear, which I prefer.

Horses for courses I guess,

 

[sonddek]

When I decided I wasn't using vinyl enough to warrant keeping my fully spec'd up LP12 I sold the Linn but luckily kept my records. Glad I did as I went back to them 3 years later. If you're not using the LP12 move it on, you can always come back to vinyl when you're ready and take a different path too... just don't sell those records

Or better still, lend them to me permanently ;-)

 

[Soundstage Hi-Fi]

I heard the Naia at an open evening at a local dealer where a Rega employee was doing a bit of a roadshow around some dealers and showcasing the new deck. It was a full Rega system in terms of cartridge, phono stage and amp, but with some nice Neat floorstanding speakers.
I haven't heard a P10 before. Most of my Rega deck experience has been various Planer Three's over the years and using the RB250/300 arms on various decks.
Given the price, the fanfair around it's arrival and the resulting expectation, I was quite underwhelmed by the sound tbh. It was decent enough, with a fairly broad, stable soundstage, even representation across the frequency range and a neutral overall presentation. It was even handed with the variety of music played, however I felt it lacked rythmic ability, and certainly no 'boogie' factor. It was a little boring in fact...
I know Neat's are very capable, having heard them with different amps/systems, so I wondered if the all-Rega remainder of the system was the culprit, and perhaps some more variety of amplification and or cart / phono stage is needed.
Also, weirdly it seemed to get slightly better over the hour I listened to it for, despite the fact it had been played for several hours before that... I wondered if this was a very new cartridge or simply everything needed several hours to start to come good?..
So, a bit of a disappointment really.

I've done a few demonstrations of the Naia. So far the best sound was the Naia with Aura phono stage through a Vitus SIA-025 and YG Acoustics SUMMIT speakers, it was pretty special. The customer confirmed his order straight away.

 

[BlueYeti]

Courtesy of Pearl Acoustics over on Youtube, an interesting Naia and P10 comparison using the Aphelion cartridge on both decks...

 

[pfbaat]

Courtesy of Pearl Acoustics over on Youtube, an interesting Naia and P10 comparison using the Aphelion cartridge on both decks...

Sensible,
Maybe he would have experienced higher degree of differences if he used Aura phonostage.

Aria is good but basically a Fono with beefed PSU.

Naia with Aphelion deserve the very best stage now the $'s out.

 

[Mr Pig]

Aria is good but basically a Fono with beefed PSU.

The MM side is. The MC section is completely different.

 

[laughingboy]

Courtesy of Pearl Acoustics over on Youtube, an interesting Naia and P10 comparison using the Aphelion cartridge on both decks...

Ha! So he shot the video, concluding that the differences he heard were probably not worth the expense, and then changed his mind a week later. I like his style!

 

[cosimoss]

Ha! So he shot the video, concluding that the differences he heard were probably not worth the expense, and then changed his mind a week later. I like his style!

I’ve done similar and I bet others have done the same. You're not sure, baulk at the price but the seed to upgrade/buy has already been planted. Then later the order gets placed!