Rega Aria on a Test Spin
Posted by: Michael Mccullough on 13 October 2018
My dealer alerted me of a preloved Aria. He offered a generous trade for my Stageline N/Flatcap so I'm trying it out for a week.
First evening: Playing from cold with Chord Clearway RCA/DIN. Much more extension on the frequency extremes. More space around instruments. Sound is pleasing but lacking drive and a bit fatiguing.
Second Evening: Settling down, pace and drive increasing, no fatigue and the boogie is much better. This may be a keeper 
To be continued...
I had exactly the same experience when I got my Aria. I used the same Chord interconnect but after a couple of months I swapped it for Linn Silver RCA’s on the advice of my dealer and they really do sing, much more musical and engaging.
Now that's a good tip !!
Naim_that_tune posted:I had exactly the same experience when I got my Aria. I used the same Chord interconnect but after a couple of months I swapped it for Linn Silver RCA’s on the advice of my dealer and they really do sing, much more musical and engaging.
Thanks for the tip. Not sure if I will play with other cables just yet. Since warming up and a slight speaker adjustment (bit wider apart and closer to rear wall) it's really starting to sing.
It's surprising how much more gain the Aria has. With the SL/Flatcap2 I had to turn it up to 60 on some records. Now I only have to go to the mid to high 40's.
I see from your profile that your running a Hana EH so i presume your on the MM setting of the Aria,
Any thoughts on the performance of the Hana and how did you come to try it?
Ray
thebigfredc posted:I see from your profile that your running a Hana EH so i presume your on the MM setting of the Aria,
Any thoughts on the performance of the Hana and how did you come to try it?
Ray
I really like the Hana. It just gets out of the way and plays music. It came with the preowned LP12 I bought at my local dealer. It's there "go to" budget cartridge. It's kept up with and showed off every upgrade I've done since. (Kore, NAPSA, Cirkus and Aria) I haven't compared it with any other carts on my lp12, though. I have no desire to change it so that speaks for itself.
Michael Mccullough posted:Naim_that_tune posted:I had exactly the same experience when I got my Aria. I used the same Chord interconnect but after a couple of months I swapped it for Linn Silver RCA’s on the advice of my dealer and they really do sing, much more musical and engaging.
Thanks for the tip. Not sure if I will play with other cables just yet. Since warming up and a slight speaker adjustment (bit wider apart and closer to rear wall) it's really starting to sing.
It's surprising how much more gain the Aria has. With the SL/Flatcap2 I had to turn it up to 60 on some records. Now I only have to go to the mid to high 40's.
Hi Michael - just wondering how the testing's going - have you reached any firm conclusions on the Aria yet?
I have just recently gone through a bit of a turntable and amp upgrade. I've added a Rega RB808 tonearm and Dynavector 20X2L cartridge to my Michell Syncro turntable. I got a good deal on a used Aria from my dealer and that's now feeding in to my Nait XS2 through a pair of Audioquest Red River interconnects. Sounds very nice indeed.
Hi Michael - just wondering how the testing's going - have you reached any firm conclusions on the Aria yet?
Yes. It's definitely staying. Big step up from the Stageline/Flatcap2 in my system.
Larger bandwith. More power and extension in the bass.
Increased detail.
Better sense of timing. Slower music is slower. Faster music is faster.
And everything fits together better and makes more musical and emotional sense to my ears.
The Clearway cable is still a touch hot on the top end for my taste on some albums so may try a Naim RCA-DIN in the future.
With Aria I would try some of the Chord RCA > DIN offerings. I found their Signature cable particularly good with Aria. I even tried their Sarum T with Aria and some of the magic was lost.
Aria is a good phono-stage and handled even my RP10 well.