When you hear about Rega, you might think of Planar record players, the company’s long-running range. Well, you can not blame yourself.
The Elex-R is built to the highest standard and designed to deliver the best possible audio performance whilst remaining simple to use and easy to setup.
The turntables have been dominating with sheer force in the market for decades. So, when the brand brought out the Elicit MK5, audio enthusiasts were pretty intrigued with what it could actually offer.
The thing about Rega products is that they tend to be pretty purist affairs that put emphasize performance and solid overall engineering. Rega hardly excels in terms of features.
However, the story is not the same for the Rega Elicit MK5. The integrated amplifier features digital inputs along with regular analog connections. Now, that is something that will impress a lot of the Rega fans.
Nonetheless, the digital-to-analog module that the Rega Elicit MK5 sports have a hybrid design. It combines all the aspects of the DAC-R. The hybrid module also sports the features of Apollo and Saturn CD players.
With the combination of all of the aspects, this digital circuit is capable of producing what Rega thinks is appropriate for the solution of this integrated amplifier.
On that note, the digital circuitry has the support for signals of up to 24-bit/192 kHz PCM. And while that will be more than enough for a majority of the users, many will be disappointed with the lack of support for DSD.
And the thing that will stand out to them is the inputs are limited to just coaxial and optical. A lot of the fans were looking forward to wireless connectivity and USB connection for Rega Elicit MK5. But it seems like they will have to wait for future iterations.
When it comes to the analog domain, you will not have much to complain about Rega Elicit. The amplifier has five line-level inputs.
There is also a headphone output, a moving magnet phono stage, and a range of different signal outputs that will let you pair up external recorders and power amps.
There is also an option for allowing you to connect a standalone preamp. However, you should note that anything that you connect through this input will bypass the volume control of Rega.
It will even bypass the preamp circuitry of the Rega Elicit MK5. For that reason, if you plan to use this input, you need to manage something to control the signal level.
With that out of the way, you can sum up the sound of the amplifier in three words: punchy, clear, and taut. It is a surprisingly forthright sounding amp that does not hold back when you want it to play racks with high volume levels.
The bass grip of the amplifier is pretty great as well. So, even if you are not impressed with it for the lack of wireless connectivity, you will surely not be let down by its performance.
Slava is a man of mystery and no-one seems to know exactly where he is at any point in time. When he isn't enjoying writing about all things audio and technical he can be found researching his next project of interest. The man never rests.
This post was last updated on 2024-11-06 / Some images from Amazon Product API & some links may be affiliate links which may earn us a commission from purchases.