Continuing the theme of famous British hifi brands, today's spotlight is on Rega.
In April 1973 Rega launched the Rega Planet - their first turntable - apocryphally built in Roy Gandy's spare time, after shifts at the Ford Motor Company. This evolved into the Planar and then the iconic Planar 2 and 3, complete with 10mm and 12mm glass platters.
The 1980s saw the launch of a floorstanding speaker, and the evolution of arguably the most popular and widely used tonearms in the world - the RB250 and the RB300. Electronics followed in the 1990s, with the launch of the first models of the Brio, Elex and Elicit - models that are still available today! The stunning top-loading Planet CD player followed in 1997, together with a range of pre and power amplifiers. Advances in cartridges and innovations in tonearm and turntable design were also seen, along with a comprehensive range of loudspeakers.
The 21st century saw Rega expanding at both ends of the market with budget turntables, but also high-end offerings, and a moving coil cartridge. Rega have always been obsessed with specialist materials, tolerances and accuracy and they continue this approach with everything they design. In recent years, advancements have been coming thick and fast, punctuated by "record store day" special turntable editions, celebrating the still-ongoing vinyl revival. With over 40 years of truly British manufacturing from their beginnings of tonearms and turntables Rega truly are at the forefront of British hifi engineering.
Both Stephen and John have long histories with Rega, and have decades of experience between them. During his time at Cornflake, Stephen recommended and installed countless Rega-based systems all over London and the South East, and also was trained in servicing turntables and loudspeakers. He's also been lucky enough to have been invited to one of Roy Gandy's exclusive parties at his home in Essex, to listen to music and chat with other enthusiasts.
John has been a fan of Rega since he first joined the industry 20 years ago, when there would generally only be two turntables on demonstration, both of them Rega. Now, with the vinyl revival still in full swing, we will be carrying ten turntables ranging in price from £250 to £3,000 and Rega will even take you to a higher level than that. The thing John likes about Rega is that they always put the music first and their products are just such great fun to listen to. Having been selling Rega between us for over 30 years combined we know the range inside out and back to front.
As such it is with huge excitement that we can announce that Rega is now part of our portfolio, and that Expressive Audio is a proud Rega dealer. We will be stocking a full range of Rega's turntables and electronics including the truly iconic Planar 3 as well as the award winning Rega Brio amplifier. Along with Rega's own cartridges and phono stages this allows us to see to all of your turntable needs from a British manufacturer who now employ 140 people and still to this day are manufacturing in Essex.
Please feel free to give us a call or an email if you would like to talk to us more about the fabulous British Hifi brand and very soon we will have a full range of products we can demonstrate to you in our new showroom.
