Rega’s updated stereo amplifier delivers a wonderfully revealing and accomplished performance
Stereo amplifier | £1199 | whf.cm/ElexMk4
UK hi-fi brand Rega, once staunchly all-analogue, has slowly but surely been introducing – gasp! – a DAC into its stereo amplifiers. It started with the Elicit Mk5 (five stars, £2000) and it’s now the turn of the mid-tier Elex model to get a digital upgrade. The Elex Mk4 is the successor to our multiple-Award winning Rega Elex-R, one of our favourite amplifiers for a long time. That was a terrific performer, but due an upgrade – and the Elex Mk4 has plenty to prove in a highly competitive market.
The Elex Mk4 has been given a new casework and minimal redesign to match the rest of Rega’s latest models, such as the recent Elicit Mk5 and Aethos amplifiers. It’s a sturdy, hefty build. The profile is streamlined, and slightly slimmer than the outgoing Elex-R. The all-black metal casing is of a high standard (and dissipates heat better by functioning as a big heat sink), with only a handful of buttons and red LEDs marking the fascia. Everything works smoothly and is responsive to use, whether you are using the on-unit volume dial or the simple but well-laid-out remote.
Rega hasn’t entirely thrown out its own rule book with this new digital-equipped amp. The Elex Mk4 is still a Class A/B design with a powerful 72 watts per channel into 8 ohms (or 90W into 6 ohms), which is more than enough to drive most speakers. For this new iteration, the entire circuit board has been re-jigged by Rega’s engineers to improve performance, with special care taken when choosing key audio components in the design. Power is provided by a multi-stage linear supply designed to run as quietly as possible. And, with Rega’s history with record players, there should be no surprise it comes with a good quality moving-magnet phono stage.
Despite the inclusion of a DAC for the first time in the Elex range, Rega hasn’t strayed too far from its analogue heart. You get only two digital inputs and, for better or worse, there still isn’t any Bluetooth or streaming on board. Around the back, you will find a single set of speaker terminals, four line-level inputs, one phono input, a record output and preamp output.
Its closest price-rival, Cambridge Audio’s CXA81, offers a handful more inputs (an extra coaxial, USB, balanced XLR), two sets of speaker terminals and Bluetooth streaming. That’s a great spread of options, but realistically most people don’t own more than two or three sources, so the Re
