Rega io

Signature Rega sound in a highly accessible and compact package

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The budget stereo amplifier market has shrunk in recent years. The good news is that the Rega io is still up there as one of the best (despite its lack of digital inputs). There is some stiff five-star competition from the likes of Marantz and more recently Rotel, though.

While Rega used to make a high-end DAC called 'io', the naming of its budget stereo amplifier is almost certainly a nod to the familial link with its big brother, the excellent Rega Brio.

Billed as a smaller, cheaper Brio, the Rega io quite reasonably has half its name. But that doesn't quite translate to half its performance.

The class A/B-powered, 30 watts-per-channel, entry-level Rega io can be purchased individually, or as part of Rega's System One all-in-one proposition with the Planar 1 turntable and Kyte speakers. It borrows the power amplifier and phono stage design from its Award-winning older sibling, and that goes a long way to explain the pleasing sonic resemblance between the two.

When it first entered the market and when we originally reviewed it in 2020, the io was yours for £379 - the price has since crept up to £440. The Rega io has won two What Hi-Fi? Awards (one in 2020, one in 2021) as our favourite budget stereo amplifier, but it has given way to more cost-effective and newer models in recent years.

Analogue only