Rega Elicit Break-In

Ryder:

Great Observations. I neglected to detail the almost "manic" nature of the sonics throughout the break-in process. Your Harbeth's will allow you to experience the many dramatic changes that your Elicit will exhibit on your way to sonic nirvana. The unit will open up with tremendous "air" and a consistent openness as you progress. The base will reach even lower and also become more true to "live performance" instrumental timbres.

I think much of the reason for the strange break-in trend is related your comments regarding the multiple power supplies,. I believe that they actually break-in at different rates. I do love the Rega's approach to power supplies involving the multiple supplies vs large, slower transformers. It allows for more speed to down stream circuits and components at a significantly lessor cost.

I had the awesome opportunity to visit Rega and Roy Gandy last month and truly gained an appreciation for his design approach. Every design feature of every component is applied with a tremendous sense of purpose and intent, none of which includes skimping or short cutting. Every penny of cost is applied efficiently toward producing the best possible sounding products at each given price point. Further, it is a rare pleasure to see a high value product line that is still built entirely in house without reliance on China.

There are no better sounding pieces at anywhere near these prices and as USblues mentions, the Integrateds are giant killers. The Elicit is an absolute "sleeper" in this congested industry. It's too bad that, given the simple, utilitarian looks, that Rega Electronics and speakers are not taken more seriously. I think the Rega's upcoming, new "no holes barred" integrated and matching Isis CD player may garnish some of that misplaced attention.

Enjoy your Elicit! I'd love to hear your observations in the weeks to come as the break-in progresses.

Paul
Auravis Systems LLC
www.auravissystems.com

The Elicit currently has about 50-60 hours on it as it continues to amaze me with erratic sound changes for the past few days. I believe the unit is still in the break-in process judging from the manner the transformation in sound has taken place. The individual power supplies, transistors and capacitors under the hood must be burning-in nicely, and I hope I wouldn't have to wait too long to experience the REAL sound of the Elicit.

In the first 50 hours or so I was getting a nice warmish sound throughout the spectrum. Midrange and vocals have good tonality with a hint of warmth and highs were just about right albeit lacking in air and detail. Just yesterday there was a perceived change in sound, an abrupt one for that matter, and the effects were quite dramatic. As the midrange opened up there was a feeling of lightness as instruments sounded sharper with more attack and zing especially with drums. Layering of background instruments also improved(or changed) as the sound of some instruments went back a few rows instead of all being on the same row. Not only that, the tonality of certain instruments also sounded different. I could hear decay of drums in the background that previously wasn't there in the recording. Spooky in a nice way. High frequencies also improved as more distinct details could be heard.

Timbre and tonal quality of voices also transformed to more open, light and less shut-in. Overall it was a nice change due to the departure from an overly warm kind of sound. However, there was a slight hint of stridency especially with the increased energy and vitality. I would expect some changes here with more hours on the unit.

Music used was a particular track from Fourplay which I was very familiar with.

In summary the sound has changed from a lush, warmish, composed and slightly laid back character to a more airy, light and 3-dimensional sound borderline brightness. I am anxiously waiting for the unit to go beyond 100 hours to fully relish the true performance and sound of the Elicit. The revealing and transparent nature of the Harbeth do play an important role here as well as all changes during the break-in period are ruthlessly exposed. With this recent experience I am now fully convinced on the effects of break-in associated with amplifiers.

Forgive me for digging up this old thread but I just picked up an Elicit and found what has been discussed here very helpful. You see, after I set up mine and gave it its first listen I was pretty disappointed with how it sounded. I would best describe it as sounding clinical or chiseled rather than smooth and warm as I prefer amps to sound. I also own a no-name tube amp that sounds very nice for its cost, but is nothing special in the world of high end pedigree components, so naturally I expected the elicit to blow it away. Not so. In fact, my $600 Chinese made tube amp (Musical Paradise) sounds better to me. It then dawned on me that the Elicit might require some break-in to realize it's full potential, and reading this thread seems to confirm it.
Does anyone have suggestions on best methods to break it in? Can I just leave it turned on or does it require a signal to be fed through it? Might I simply leave a CD player hooked up in repeat play mode for a couple of days or weeks?
Thanks for any help you might offer.
Best,
Peter

Having the same issues with my new Rega Brio R. 4 days old now and about 50 hours on it. I am really hoping the bright and hard upper midrange and lower treble become more round and warm soon. I will give it 200 hours. If it does not change I will return it. Everyone hears different. Some hear better than others in this area. Maybe my ears are just sensitive. Great amp otherwise! So don't don't let my posts deter you from trying one out.

Snackeyp- It needs to be playing music, so yes cd on repeat is fine or radio just keep it playing. I also like to give things a rest once in awhile.