Rega Brio R bright???

@Ryder. The Rega sounded good at what I consider a comfortably high level. Maybe it was the right amp for the right speaker? Or maybe it was the room? Which was only about 14x10, not much acoustic treatment and no back wall as it opened up to the showroom behind the listening position. I really can't say if I'd prefer more power, it sounded good for what it is. The Bryston is in a different league, I can only imagine how much better the 1.7 must sound with Bryston. However, if my budget was limited (which it always is) I'd would not hesitate to drive the 1.7 with the Rega until I could afford Bryston or Pass or something in that realm.

@laudio I would encourage you to also audition the NAD 326. As the owner of the similar 325, I enjoy what I am hearing for such a modestly priced amp -- very full and powerfull sound. I'd have to spend 5x as much to better it, IMHO.

You need to take a look at other models if it sounds bright to you.
I look forward for the review.

Yes, I agree with you, it is bright. Not in the entire frequency spectrum though. I found many parts pretty smooth except for the lower treble and upper midrange. Here it took on a sharp edge. This part of the spectrum reminded me of a 1980's Yamaha receiver.

I noticed it on voices in the T's and S's sounds and on certain instruments. It did get marginally better after a 100 hours break in time. I also tried to use Cardas interconnects and that also helped tame that edge.

It was exciting to listen to and had good rhythm, I will give it that, but ultimately though I had to sell mine. I could not live with the unnatural brightness. It distracted me from just relaxing and enjoying the music.

Anyways, trust your own ears. Everyone hears different and everyones systems are different. If it sounds bright to you then it is bright. Some others may not even notice it.

Yes, it is bright. Not in the entire frequency spectrum though. I found many parts pretty smooth except for the lower treble and upper midrange. Here it took on a sharp edge. This part of the spectrum reminded me of a 1980's Yamaha receiver. I noticed it on voices in the T's and S's sounds and on certain instruments. It did get marginally better after a 100 hours break in time. I also tried to use Cardas interconnects that also helped tame the edge.

It was exciting to listen to and had good rhythm but ultimatley though I had to sell mine. I could not live with the unnatural brightness,.

Review of the Rega Brio-R

I promised to put up a review of the Rega Brio-R so here it is. The equipment the I use to demo the Rega with is the Arcam RDAC, Dynaudio Excite X12 speakers and of course the Brio-R. I am not good at writing long reviews and English is not my native language so I try to keep grammar mistakes to a minimum.

When you unpack the Brio the first thing you notice is it's size, it's very small with all the necessary inputs on the back (five line inputs and the phono output, and of course the speaker terminals). There is no headphone output witch I could live with, but I can understand that you need one.

Now the most important part of the review: Sound Quality. The amp has a detailed sound, I heard things that weren't there before most noticeable on the Unplugged CD of Eric Clapton. The amp is not forgiving of bad recorded material, but I guess that is part of moving up the amp-ladder. Also I found that when playing records that the sound is bright not harsh, but bright. For people that like that kind of sound this amp is a must listen. Voices have a strange quality that I cannot put in to words and are very expressive, maybe it's the combo of Arcam and Rega, but i've heard better. Bass is exactly right for me with a tight and defined presentation.