Rega Aura versus Naim Superline

The Aria is quite good but I'd be very surprised if the Superline isn't way better - but this comes at a not insignificant extra cost, of course.

Nice walk ...

PSAN posted:

The Aria is quite good but I'd be very surprised if the Superline isn't way better - but this comes at a not insignificant extra cost, of course.

Nice walk ...

I have an Aria but am trying the £3,999 Aura. 

Filipe posted:

PSAN posted:

The Aria is quite good but I'd be very surprised if the Superline isn't way better - but this comes at a not insignificant extra cost, of course.

Nice walk ...

I have an Aria but am trying the £3,999 Aura. 

Crikey O'Reilly - that's one pricey 'Stage! I've just replaced my Stageline with an Aria for my LP12 and it's great. I'd be really interested to hear how these 2 products compare. What's the set-up for the trial? Please do report back.

Yes I'm interested to

May well be in the market for a phono stage if I buy the Planar 8 package soon ...but it must be small enough to fit in a discrete place as running out of space

The Aura is my LP12 Fettler's favorite stage. They are a Naim Dealer as well.

I’m interested to know how much better it is than the Aria. 

I have an RP10 + Aphelion into 252 + 300DR all SL + Focal Sopra N2. The Aura is MC only. It’s as big as a Naim CDX2. It actually looks rather good and I put it on the CDX2 Naim Isolation Glass,  cups and balls.

It’s very revealing and exciting. I have things like Dark Side of the Moon, Du Pre Elgar on vinyl and CD. The DSOTM sax had more subtlety on the vinyl than I’ve heard before. The nDAC+555DR is no slouch either. The 252 has improved slowly since I took the plunge in May, and is now PDG. Genesis Selling England By The Pound sounded the best I’ve heard it this morning after a spell of listening to too much Genesis. 

 I need to let the Aura do some work over the next 10 days to see how the sound develops. 

The aura’s pretty new and roughly twice the price of the superline but the 252 powered input is reputed to out perform a hicap powering it. Could be an interesting contest, the superline is likely more sensitive to setup so take care with it when you demo one, loading will be important. Using an aphelion might favour the aura somewhat but If you have any possibility of a 552 in the future the supercap from the 252 will come in very handy for a superline so a long view might be worth considering.

Filipe posted:

The Aura is MC only.

And crucially has the right capicitance and load settings for all Rega MCs, such as your Aphelion.

Christopher_M posted:

Filipe posted:

The Aura is MC only.

And crucially has the right capicitance and load settings for all Rega MCs, such as your Aphelion.

It’s really nice not having to worry about set up????

When I try the Superline I hope @Richard Dane will advise on what he used with his RP10.

The Aura base is a real foot tapper, but the whole sound is a real step up from the Aria which is a tad to polite.

Phil

yeti42 posted:

The aura’s pretty new and roughly twice the price of the superline but the 252 powered input is reputed to out perform a hicap powering it. Could be an interesting contest, the superline is likely more sensitive to setup so take care with it when you demo one, loading will be important. Using an aphelion might favour the aura somewhat but If you have any possibility of a 552 in the future the supercap from the 252 will come in very handy for a superline so a long view might be worth considering.

Yep, I nearly succumbed but decided the 252 was enough!

Phil

Filipe, I use 100ohm load on my Superline for the Rega. I recently got an Airplug with the same load and I’ll fit that sometime next week.

Richard Dane posted:

Filipe, I use 100ohm load on my Superline for the Rega. I recently got an Airplug with the same load and I’ll fit that sometime next week.

That’s what the Aura is set to along with 1000pf. What do you use?

Look forward your feedback on the load Airplug.

Phil

Yup, 1nf here as well. Yes looking forward to trying out the airplug load.

I have using Rega RP10  

And Superline is my preferred choice. Once you move into a separate PSU for it it’s even better (in my case SuoerCap DR). 

Adam Zielinski posted:

I have using Rega RP10  

And Superline is my preferred choice. Once you move into a separate PSU for it it’s even better (in my case SuoerCap DR). 

What was it powered from before? 252 

I guess it's own dedicated S'cap is going to bring an improvement

Edit... Just looked at your profile... What haven't you got / tried .... That's some selection of kit

Adam Zielinski posted:

I have using Rega RP10  

And Superline is my preferred choice. Once you move into a separate PSU for it it’s even better (in my case SuoerCap DR). 

Correction to my post: I’ve missread the title - I read Aria not Aura

But Aria vs SuperLine - no contest

Japtimscarlet posted:

Adam Zielinski posted:

I have using Rega RP10  

And Superline is my preferred choice. Once you move into a separate PSU for it it’s even better (in my case SuoerCap DR). 

What was it powered from before? 252 

I guess it's own dedicated S'cap is going to bring an improvement

 

Edit... Just looked at your profile... What haven't you got / tried .... That's some selection of kit

Actually off the back of my 282.  It was already good. 

SuperLine transformer it. 

Re collection: My naim is Adam and I’ve been a naimoholic for....

Been away for a few days and the Aura is sounding better and better. Now playing Kate Bush’s Lionheart album. Always was an exciting album but even more now, and everything sounds so  natural. Another interesting things is how low the surface noise is. 

Phil

Filipe posted:

Richard Dane posted:

Filipe, I use 100ohm load on my Superline for the Rega. I recently got an Airplug with the same load and I’ll fit that sometime next week.

That’s what the Aura is set to along with 1000pf. What do you use?

Look forward your feedback on the load Airplug.

Phil

 

@Richard Dane, How is the new Airplug?

Kind of confused between what you have now and the Airplug.

Very impressed with the Aura. Have asked dealer for a loan Superline which will have to come from Naim.

Phil

Filipe,

I haven't fitted it yet.  Some time this week, I will do so.

Filipe posted:

Filipe posted:

Richard Dane posted:

Filipe, I use 100ohm load on my Superline for the Rega. I recently got an Airplug with the same load and I’ll fit that sometime next week.

That’s what the Aura is set to along with 1000pf. What do you use?

Look forward your feedback on the load Airplug.

Phil

 

@Richard Dane, How is the new Airplug?

Kind of confused between what you have now and the Airplug.

Very impressed with the Aura. Have asked dealer for a loan Superline which will have to come from Naim.

Phil

Richard, The Naim rep gave my dealer a blank look over Air Plugs (perhaps Naim don’t make them?)! 

Phil

Filipe, they're a bit specialised and not a regular item, but they do exist.  Maybe they require a special order?  Mine did take a quite a while to be made, so not exactly an off-the-shelf item. If in doubt, ask your dealer to have a quiet word with Jason Gould at the factory.

air plugs, power supplies, excess cabling....... I am all Naim but not for phono stages  

Having returned the demo Aura and put the Aria back this time on the Naim glass isolation shelf, I can say that the isolation shelf is definitely part of the improvement. The Aria is really good but it can obviously be bettered at a price. 

In about a week I should have a Superline to try. In the new year a 552DR thanks to [@mention:48872963983698699] and [@mention:1566878603872123]. It’s a lot cheaper to be off walking in Spain! Showed me there is good life after prostate cancer and have raised £4835 now for my charity.

Phil