If you own a Rega Brio, congratulations! If you are planning to get one, I would say “that’s an excellent choice!”. A talented integrated amplifier will need to be paired with talented speakers, are you planning to get them now? Then that’s great news because you have arrived at the right article. We will be listing out a list of recommended speakers that you can select from, all of them are amazing speaker partners for Rega Brio.
Before we start listing the matching speakers, let’s find out more about Rega Brio first. It is best you get to understand how they sound as it would enable you to find the right speakers in the future on your own. But of course, you can just skip to the next recommended speakers section, it is entirely up to you.
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Sound Characteristics and Specifications of Rega Brio
Rega Brio is actually an upgraded version of Brio-R which has won a lot of awards over the years. You will be delighted to find out that the revamped Brio has better sound quality than its predecessor. Other notable features will be the brand new case design, which looks stylish and sleek. A headphone socket is integrated at the front of Rega Brio, this will reduce the impact on the main signal path thus preventing it from disrupting the overall sound quality. The internal circuits and parts have been significantly improved as well, such as boosting the heat sinking capabilities.
More Details at Amazon – Rega Brio Integrated Amp
There’s quite a lot of power been packed into this compact size integrated amplifier. At a rated load of 8Ω, it has 50W RMS with both channels driven and 58W RMS with one channel driven. For Rega Brio’s rated load of 4Ω, it has 73W RMS with both channels driven and 93W RMS with one channel driven. In regards to its frequency response, for Phono, it will be 15Hz to 40KHz (-3dB), and for Line input will be 12Hz (-1dB) to 43KHz (-3dB). Can’t really drive floorstanding speakers to their fullest potential but definitely great for bookshelf speakers including the ones with 4 Ohms nominal impedance. There is no dedicated subwoofer output, and using the Record output is quite troublesome. Still, we have other options if your genres of music to which you listen are usually bass-heavy. The ‘solution’ will be shared later on, let’s continue on with Rega Brio’s sound characteristics.
Comparing Rega Brio to its predecessor, it has improved clarity and sounds bolder. Even with the added details it still sounds rhythmic and fun to listen to. The overall sound delivery has become fuller and richer, a warmish sound quality, unlike Brio-R, this is perhaps the most significant difference. The bass output of this amplifier is punchy and at a scale that you don’t expect coming from such a small amp. There’s richness in the bass too and has tight control.
The agility and rhythm of Rega Brio are incredible, it pulls you into the music, giving you excitement, and makes you want to listen to more. Can’t help but keep praising the bass reproduction, it is meaty but not flabby. These are ‘musical’ bass which is essential for an accurate presentation of your music and giving it a lifelike feel. Rega Brio has more smoothness than Brio-R, which we find more appealing to listen to than the latter. The improvements in sound quality are really significant, which made us wonder how much more amazing will the next version be.
Now we know what to expect from Rega Brio, we can finally check out the best matching speakers which you can pair with this talented amplifier. Just to add on, the approachable nature of Brio, allows the amplifier to be not too fussy with pairing most speakers currently on the market, but it is limited by power output though.
Recommended Speakers to pair with Rega Brio
Rega RX3 is one of the most popular speaker choices that users choose to pair with their beloved Rega Brio. It is a pair of floorstanding speakers that are musical sounding and specially designed to be used for their Rega amplifiers. This could be the main reason why they sounded great with the Brio and I won’t be surprised it will sound even better with Rega’s bigger amplifiers. The RX series does have better drivers and sonic capability than their RS series. I would suggest you give Rega RX3 floorstanders an audition and also RX1 standmounters, as I find the latter is easier to be driven by Rega Brio. The trade-off will be the weight and scale of the bass though.
More Details at Amazon – Rega RX3 Small Floorstanding Speaker
More Details at Amazon – Rega RX1 Bookshelf Speakers
Q Acoustics Concept 20 is a pair of bookshelf speakers which delivers smooth and warmish sound quality. The overall characteristics of Q Acoustics speakers are usually well suited for any Rega amplifiers and seem like Concept 20 is on top of the list. There’s clarity in the sound reproduction, the smoothness of the edges, and sweet treble, combining them with the lively and expressiveness of Rega Brio, you got one impressive sounding audio system.
More Details at Amazon – Q Acoustics Concept 20 Bookshelf Speaker (White)
Bowers & Wilkins 606 is also another beloved bookshelf speaker that many proud owners have paired with Rega Brio. B&W 606 is musical sounding as well, with crispy clarity and detailed midrange. This combination will provide you with hours of enjoyment, it is really an entertaining duo as both of them have that tightly controlled precision and that agility to effortlessly maneuver the peaks and lows. The bass reproduction sounded insightful and rich. Definitely worth your while for an audition with this talented pair of stand mounters.
More Details at Amazon – Bowers & Wilkins 606
Castle Knight 2 has a very interesting sonic characteristic, at a certain point in the music it may sound too flat but when it starts to get exciting, the sound quality is magnificent. Pairing with Rega Brio brings out more of the excitement from this talented pair of bookshelf speakers and in return, it provides a more cohesive soundstage. They are like two partners complementing each other with their strengths and covering their flaws, I would suggest you bring along your favorite tunes and audition them together. See if you like how the music flows as well as the presentation.
Wharfedale Diamond 11.1 has all the right sonic characteristics which will work seamlessly well with Rega Brio. It may be an entry-level speaker but the sound quality is worth every penny. The awards and praises it has garnered show how impressive this pair of speakers really are. No wonder there are some very satisfied owners who swore that at this price point, pairing Rega Brio with Wharfedale Diamond 11.1 is the best choice they have ever made.
More Details at Amazon – Wharfedale Diamond 11.1
As you can see, the recommended speakers are mainly bookshelf speakers with the exception of Rega RX3 but it is still quite a small floorstanders. Since it doesn’t have a dedicated subwoofer output, for those who are concerned that it may not have enough bass output or just wants more and deeper bass, there is a solution. You can go for speakers that have integrated powered subwoofers, for instance, Goldenear Triton Three+. This pair of floorstanding speakers have an inbuilt 800W subwoofer and are capable of reaching bass extension of down to 21Hz. The recommended amplification starts from 20W and all the way to 400W.
The other brand will be Definitive Technology but their floorstanders with built-in active subwoofers are harder to drive than Goldenear Triton Three+. It is best to audition them first before really thinking of buying them. Also since each speaker has a subwoofer, you will need a large room to accommodate them as they can easily overwhelm smaller rooms.
More Details at Amazon – Definitive Technology BP-9020
In Conclusion
Sticking with warm-sounding bookshelf speakers is the safer choice but floorstanders can still be an option. You can always go for very efficient and high sensitivity floorstanding speakers from brands like Klipsch, Omega loudspeakers, etc. We won’t be able to tell you how they sound so is best that you audition them yourself using Rega Brio as the amplifier.
Sames goes to the recommended speakers mentioned in this article, as different people have different tastes, what sounds good to us may not be for you. You should listen to them first either at your nearest local dealer or if possible at home. They are definitely worth your time and effort to audition their sound quality, or you can simply use them as references.
There are so many amazing speakers out on the market, if you have the time, you should audition as many as possible. Auditioning speakers is the process that I find the most fun when hunting for speakers, at least for me. You can filter down the choices based on your budget and Rega Brio’s capabilities which you can use this article details about Brio as reference.
