Rega io

Rega is a long-established British maker, born around turntables and with a precise philosophy: put the money where you can hear it, in the circuit, not in the surrounding functions. The io arrived in 2020 as a "smaller Brio": it takes the award-winning Brio's Class A/B power stage and its linear power supply, scales it to deliver 30 watts instead of 50, and puts it in a compact case.

In our ranking of entry integrated amps it takes first place, and the reason is consistent with the soul of the site: it is the amp made for those who mostly listen to records, with the phono stage inside and no digital. What Hi-Fi? and The Ear praise above all its rhythm and timing; What Hi-Fi? also finds it cruder and less refined than the Marantz PM6007. The others offer more watts and more sockets; the io bets everything on analogue.

It is a small machine — 18 cm wide, under three kilos — with an aluminium shell and a heavy metal base that helps shed heat. The build is solid and careful in the Rega tradition; the one criticism is aesthetic, the glossy plastic front panel that does not shout "premium". But it is a declared choice: Rega has put the money in the circuit, not the face.

Inside, the substance is the Brio's: Sanken output transistors, an Alps volume potentiometer of a quality above the class, a linear power supply. The headphone output is driven directly from the power amp via relays — it is not an afterthought — and inserting the jack mutes the speakers automatically. The remote is included. The one practical limit: being narrow, the rear sockets sit close together, and with thick cables the connection is a little awkward.

The sound character on this page does not come from our own listening: we report it from published reviews, with the name of the person who wrote them.

What Hi-Fi? (2020 review, updated December 2024) describes a rhythmic amp with punchy dynamics, agile and detailed: its drive pushes bass lines forward, and voices come across clear and rich. The character is direct, lively, almost exuberant, which is why it suggests pairing it with speakers that suit that temperament. The limits: less space and detail than the Brio, and a cruder, less refined sound than the Marantz PM6007; there are also no digital inputs.

The Ear (Jason Kennedy, June 2020) hears a firm groove, good vocal clarity and an amp that stays in control, with surprising detail for the price and excellent timing. With highly resolving speakers it loses some transparency while keeping its timing and coherence; on a demanding ECM record it finds it close to its limit, and overall less revealing than bigger amps.

Audio Science Review (Amir, October 2021) does not listen to it but measures it, and reaches different conclusions from the two listening reviews. SINAD is rated fair, mains hum high, crosstalk poor, channel gain unmatched and the frequency response not flat; the phono stage's RIAA curve, on the other hand, is good. Its verdict is that it does not recommend it.

This is the heart of the review, because it is the heart of the io. The built-in MM phono stage is the same circuit as the Brio's — not a reduced version, the same — set to 220 pF, with plenty of gain for any moving-magnet cartridge. In practice: you connect the turntable directly to the io, without buying a separate phono stage, and you get the Brio's own phono stage. Audio Science Review, which measured it, rates its RIAA curve as good.

This is where the io really saves you money. An amp without a phono stage forces you to add a preamp — even a good one, like the iFi ZEN Air Phono 2 — and on the io you do not make that spend: it is already inside. For those who mostly listen to vinyl, this changes the total cost of the system, and moves the io ahead of rivals that look richer on paper. The limit, consistent with the philosophy, is that the phono is MM only: with a moving coil you need an external MC preamp.

In the Rega range, the io sits below the Brio (50 W, more inputs) and the Elex (more power and features still): if you have demanding speakers, a large room or want more sources, the step up is toward those. But for most people entering hi-fi with vinyl in mind, the io is more than enough — and the price difference is better spent elsewhere in the chain.

Against the rivals in our ranking, the positioning is clear. The closest comparison is the Marantz PM6007, which sits a whisker above in the composite score: it adds a DAC with digital inputs, but it costs a third more, and What Hi-Fi? finds the io cruder and less refined than the Marantz. If the turntable is your main source, the io puts the money into analogue; if you also need digital, the Marantz is its natural senior. Amps like the Yamaha or the Cambridge offer more power and digital inputs — a DAC, sometimes streaming — and are more versatile if you also listen from digital sources; the NAD adds Bluetooth and a hybrid soul. They are excellent for those who want a do-everything system hub. The io does the opposite: it gives up digital and bets everything on analogue and the phono stage. It is the purist of the class — and it is why, for the vinyl-first listener, it is our first. It is not the amp with the most functions, and it does not try to be.

The io is the natural centre of a vinyl-first chain: a turntable in the phono input, easy-to-drive speakers on the output, and optionally a line source in one of the two RCAs. With 30 watts, the pairing must be judged on speaker sensitivity: efficient, easy speakers like the Triangle Borea BR03 (90 dB) are ideal partners, while thirsty or low-sensitivity speakers would call for the Brio.

In our bookshelf-speaker ranking you will find several suitable pairings. It is also the amp we cite when a chain built piece by piece needs an integrated with the phono already inside — the idea of the £800 system: turntable, io, speakers, and you are set without an added phono stage.