I bought the Brio used. Wasn't sure what I was getting into. I read as much as I could find on the Rega line of amplifiers and always found good if mild approbation of the product. When I turned it on I found all reviews to have been honest. The Brio performs much the way it looks--clean lines, minimalist design, attention to what is sensually important. It's only drawback is a slight lack of power in the phono stage (but for 35 watts what should you expect)? The sound is right--there's no other way to describe it; it reproduces sound in a way least sounding like it is reproducing sound. As you will gather from the other reviews here, you're not going to find a lot of descriptive audiophile argot bouncing off this amplifier, and with good reason. It's not the sort of sound you either need or want to analyze--at first you will, because that's what you do, but then you'll just listen. I use it with a NAD 512, MMF2 Music Hall, NHT 1.3's and though I'm missing octaves down low I'm still hearing the music and the detail, my imagination can fill in the rest. I also have a life. For what I paid it rates 5 stars. You can pay more, and much more, and you can thereby deepen the illusion that your're listening to something that doesn't actually exist anymore, but why would you want to do that? In some human societies they might even go so far as to kill you for such inexplicable behavior. . .

Extremely musical sound for the money; non-analytical, smooth, musically consonant, doesn't interfere with enjoyment of the music

Better build quality can be found for the money; not as good a bargain at the new price (~$550, i paid $350 4 years ago); low power, not a lot of bass punch

in stock form, this is a good, musical amp for the money. much more musical than a lot of similarly-priced but more popular gear, such as Adcoms, Rotels, etc. which sound horribly "solid-state" and sterile in comparison. it edged out my old Adcom 555 Preamp/535 amp combo, delivering a smoother, more consonant sound with better imaging and a more palpable soundstage. can sound a little thin and lackin g in bass with some small 2 way speakers, but the relatively smooth treble helps compensate.

NOW, here is something most people don't know about this amp. open it up, and the build quality is pretty cheap, much worse than your average Adcom or rotel. so i started hacking my amp up... i bypassed the preamp section, replaced all the resistors with Roederstein metal films, replaced a electrolytic coupling cap with Rel-Cap polypropylene, bypassed fuses, etc etc... all in all less than $100 worth of parts and a weekend worth of soldering (although i did short out the output transistors once, they promptly smoked and died). WOW. the smooth sound now becomes even smoother but more transparent, soundstaging opens up, there's more air and detail, all at the cost of just a slightly more distant perspective and a very slight thinning out of the lower registers with some speakers. but WOW, it now smokes my Adcom combo, and edged out a $1000 Arcam model my friends and i tested. i don't recommend this tweaking for everyone, but i will say that it does have a lot of tweak potential despite the small chassis that doesn't leave much room inside. if you can deal with the low power, it's a great minimalist amp.

4 stars stock, 5 stars after tweaking. i like it so much i'm building my own integrated from scratch based on its circuit topology.

Similar Products Used:

Adcom GCD-575 CD player, MSB Link, Audio Alchemy DDE 3.0 DACs; Tannoy 605, Tannoy M3, JM Lab Daline 6.1 speakers

Compact, tank built, sound and price

Power, but you can't expect this 38 watt amp can blow your house away

Used for more than a year, this little amp is the best price/outcome solution for my bedroom system. Although the power is not much, it reproduces "music".
Haven't listened to the millenium version, but want to upgrade to mira 2000 later.

System:
Rega Planet
Rega Brio
Mission 772
MIT Terminator 2
Audioquest CV-4

Similar Products Used:

Self-made tube amp, audiolab 8000

Detailed balanced sound, great phono stage, minimalist yet very stylish appearance

None at the price (300 UK pounds)

After 10 years of excellent service, I decided to replace my NAD. After much research and several listening tests I opted for the Brio (2000 model). Immediately I noticed more detail and a wider soundstage over the NAD, yet the warmth was similar to the latter amp; after a few days of running the sound opened up more and I was hearing more detail than I expected at the price. It just presents the music effortlessly and naturally. Jazz instruments and vocals are presented so clearly with this amp (sources are a Marantz DR-6000 and a Thorens TD165 turntable), which excels in midrange and gives a sweet detailed treble. Bass is not quite as good; clear but a bit lacking in presence and extension (I'm sure my Mission 751's have a lot to do with this, a subwoofer would be nice). The sound is nicely balanced and conveyed in a fast and fluid manner. The amp has a solid feel to it and I love the minimalist styling; sleek curved front and just 2 knobs (source selector and volume control). It has been so well engineered that tone and balance controls would be superfluous. The phono stage is brilliant, I love the warm presentation of vinyl. One good indicator of this amp's sonic quality (and the DR-6000, which is a great CD player/recorder) is the lack of harshness in transients such as cymbal crashes; these sound far more lifelike than with my previous set-up. To sum up, I think the Brio 2000 is the best sounding and looking amp in its price range (300 pounds) and fills an average-sized listening room with far more presence, warmth and detail than both its price tag and 30W power output would suggest.

Similar Products Used:

NAD 3240PE

Realistic presentation of music, true depth to sound but retains sweet treble.

none

I listened to Rotel and Arcam products before buying the Rega, and the decision to purchase the Rega was based upon it's outstanding performance. It takes whatever the source gives it and reproduces the sound in a realistic manner, without adding high trebles which hurt the poor old ears. Even the Kenwood I was using at the time was given a new lease of life, and I swear the brio must have dragged every last inch of music out of it. Instead of the flat, harsh sound I'd been used to (through a pioneer receiver) it became a much more orderly reproduction, with voices having depth, and instruments sounding like they should. I now have the rega planet playing through it, and I find this to be an incredible experience. Not because of artificially introduced colourations, but because I can listen to the music without being critical of how I think it should sound. If you like it natural, then I'd recommend the Brio.

Similar Products Used:

arcam, rotel

i bought this so i could play records on my rig. 550 bucks, it works.maybe it isn't "awesome". but its nice. Better than the old, thick SF
Integrated 1.

This amp is excellent value.For applications where 30w is sufficient you should give the Rega a listen.I use mine with the Rega Planet & Rogers LS/35A's.The Brio is smooth, punchy & very musical.Never mind about disecting the sound, just relax & enjoy the music.The Brio also comes with a mm. phono stage [of course]and is very well built and cool running.Highly recommended.

I used to use a Rega Brio with a pair of Mordaunt Short MS10i speakers + a Rega Planar 2 record deck. Sound quality was excellent, the Brios relaxed sound countered the MS10s forwardness.

compact size, simple exterior design, lively sound

no remote control

purchased the brio (older style) for its compactness and audiophile like sound for about $350 US. use it in a simple, very compact bedroom system. for the price and size of this system (with the brio the heart) it blows away any off the shelf "mini-systems" (denon/misson, bose, etc.)

brio's top-end openness and 30wpc power mates very well with the somewhat dark and distant sound and 89dB sensitivity of the KEFs. far better match that what it replaced (h/k avr10). wish it had a remote. didn't look at the creek 4330, which is highly regarded in stereophile. no complaints though.

system:

rega brio
kef k120
rotel RCD-930ax

Very musical natural sound, no frills only the things that are really necessary.

none

For about a month I purchased the Rega Brio model 2000 amplifier. And I am very happy with it. What do I say? Extremely happy! In the last six years I've owned several amplifiers in the so called budget class. I started with the Rotel RA 931 mk1. The Rotel sounded very compressed. So I wanted to change it for an amplifier that didn't sound compressed but open and good in all areas. I changed it and got an Arcam Alpha 7R. The dealer said to me you have to listen to it, that's a musical amplifier. I have to say that I never liked the design of the Arcam Alpha range, but if it was so god... When I came home I plugged it in and listened to it for a couple of months but it didn't satisfie me. For example the bass was way to fuzzy. I really disliked it and changed it for a Harman Kardon HK650 which had much more punch and was much better in teh bass.

After a year I read very good things about the Rega Brio model 2000. In the meantime I purchased the Rega Planet cd-player which I'm very fond of. So I went to the dealer and got myself the Rega Brio model 2000. A very simple amplifier with no frills. It has all the necessary things I need: one pair of speaker terminals, volume knob, input selector and on/off knob, that's it.

It has the sound I was looking for:open, good in all areas and the instruments and voices in a very natural way. For example the marimbas in Steve Reichs composition Nagoya Marimbas are very natural with the right atmosphere.
When you listen to Cassandra Wilsons traveling miles you know what I mean about the sound and how instruments are posistioned. I also sometimes play some Sonic Youth or Nick Cave stuff and the Rega handles this equally well.

This time I got the right amplifier!

Set up consist of: Rega Planet, Rega Brio model 2000, Dynaudio Audience 42 on Mission Stance stands, Van den Hull integration Hybrid interconnect and Van den Hull CS122 speaker cable.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel RA 931 mk1, Arcam Alpha 7R, Harman Kardon HK 650