Smarter - And Cleverer

FOR Detailed and spacious performance; timing; design

AGAINST Nothing

There is always room for improvement; though sometimes that margin is so fractional it can be difficult to comprehend just how it could be achieved.

Take the Rega Fono MM as an example of said conundrum. Since the MK2 version received a What Hi-Fi? Award, it has had plenty of competition, but none sufficient to relieve it of its crown. Even now, that incarnation remains one of the finest phono stages available for the money.

Yet Rega has decided to release a third generation of its amplifier for moving magnet cartridges, and has also managed to wring out another few drops of performance from an already-superlative product. We reckon that's commitment to the cause if ever we saw it.

Family resemblance

The main motivation appears to have been aesthetic, to bring the Fono MM’s design into line with its moving-coil stablemate. It would be difficult to exaggerate just what a difference those kind of alterations to an amplifier’s chassis, regardless of incentive, can make to the eventual performance.