Bristol Hi-Fi Show 2024 (FEB 2024)

Rega had two rooms at the show, a listening room which was packed and always busy and a static display room where I had the pleasure of meeting Roy Gandy and he discussed several new products due to be launched later this year. The listening room system featured two new Rega products, one recently launched late last year the Rega Aya floor-standing speakers £1499 being driven by an Elex MK4 and the source was a Planar 6 with a rather special next level new ‘flagship’ MM cartridge the “Nd7′ estimated price is £450 and plan to be launched early summer TBC. The Nd7 is a brand new design featuring some ground breaking new materials for a Rega MM (including double shielded body). The system was sounding really great considering the hotel room limitations. We can’t wait to have a proper play/listen when the Nd7 is launched. I am sure this will be a popular choice for PL3 and PL6 but expect to see the Nd7 partnered on the PL8 too. Another new finish option was shown too for the Planar 3 in Light Oak and it looked really smart and classy.

Now on to first unveiling of the Rega Mercury Pre and Solis Power amplifier combination both will be launched in the 2nd half of 2024 with an estimated price of £12,000 (TBC). The pre-amp will include a high performance DAC too. Over the coming months we will learn more details and have already agreed with Rega to hold another popular music evening here at VGA when they are officially launched.

This newly announced H190 revision has an inbuilt high-performance MM phono stage, in fact the very same MM section taken from the award-winning V10 phono stage. Hegel have also tweaked and improved the power supply too. Therefore this will sound even better that the standard 190 version. ETA is April and we have one on order for demo. Retail £3250. This we predict will be a very popular one box amplifier solution.

One box streaming amplifier solutions are very popular as all you need to do is add speakers but one limitation is not having enough power in reserve to drive the most demanding of speakers. Introducing the Naim Uniti Nova’s big brother the Nova PE (Power Edition). This really packs a punch It condenses 150 watts (into 8Ω and 250W into 4Ω) of power thanks to the finest class D amplification technology. Available now at £8599. Learn more HERE.

This was one of my favourite new product/feature launches at the show. Mainly as it offers a very clever upgrade path. We already have had great success with the Twenty5 series and going forward 21i, 22i, 23i and 24i can be ordered either in passive of active versions. The huge benefit of these active speakers is the power amplifier and crossover section is housed in the speaker cabinet. This means the amplifier driving the speakers is perfect matched. Therefore, you could use any pre-amplifier or streaming-pre like Naim NSC 222, Exposure 3510 or even Dac-pre like the Chord Hugo TT2.

Each active module had both balanced and unbalanced connections. Therefore, no need for speaker cables reducing connections. The high quality 100 class D Amp section has been pioneered in their pro/studio ranges. The best news is you can upgrade Twenty5 series passive speaker to active version. Prices per upgrade are £1750 (per pair) and £1400 premium when ordering a new active pair over passive eg. 2521i £3995 and 2523i is £5975. We will be ordering a set of active modules so we can demonstrate Active mode in the showroom. Important Note – this upgrade is also available for the original Twenty5 series too. Learn more HERE.

Neat were demonstrating the full classic range featuring the newest addition ‘Mystique’ compact floor-stander (from £2475) along with it’s big brother ‘Elite’ (from £3250) and stand mount Petite (from £1995). In fact the Petite’s in American Walnut looked so great that we have decided to replace our demo Black pair for Walnut (pictured). Therefore, if you are interested in our demo Black pair with £400 off (at £1595), please contact our Preston showroom.

We already have these on demo but what was new for me was seeing them in stunning ‘British Racing Green’ with 14 layers of paint. One of the most challenging tasks is trying to take a good picture in British Racing Green (£6999), as they really need to be seen in the flesh to full appreciate how amazing they look. We will look to replace our Tectona Wood finish at some point for this very reason. Why not book a demo to hear the fantastic Corinium’s in action?

If you have any further questions or queries on any of the featured products here, please do not hesitate to contact us for more information.