For the men...

That pink turntable from Scheu Analog certainly created a stir on both my blog and my Facebook page. A couple of men objected to the idea of marketing a pink turntable to women. Not surprisingly, a number of women audiophiles took one look at the pink Diamond turntable and thought it was absolutely beautiful.

Jeff Dorgay of TONEAudio commented that "I know quite a few women who would be highly insulted if I even suggested that they like something because it is pink or simple to operate...never good to pre judge [sic] your audience. I know more women who prefer black to pink." Colleen Cardas replied that "I think most women are afraid of tables that are expensive and have all the bells and whistles. Anything that can be done to make them feel user friendly to women should be considered." She went on to say that "this table is advertised as designed with a women in mind."

Adam LaBarge, a reader of this blog, commented "WOW - I mean - I know 'pink' is the new 'black'. But doesn't is really show the 'out of touch'ness the male makes of hi-fi audio are? Many other industries have moved way beyond the 'pink is for girls' color scheme. BTW - I'm a guy - and I'd own that in a hot second."

MY final take is this: For every woman who doesn't like pink, there are probably five that do. Do you risk turning off one customer to make five sales? Of course you do. In fact, most business people would risk turning off five people to make one sale. And if you're a woman who doesn't like pink, you're probably used to having pink marketed to you so you're not going to get truly upset or offended anymore...you just won't buy. Most women do like pink. Market research backs this up.

So where do you stand?

By the way, the Blue Moon turntable above is made by another German turntable company called Audio Agile Unterhaltungs Elektronik (boy, that's a mouthful) and the pic is courtesy of Eduardo Gutierrez of Eduardo Audiofilos Mexicanos. I love that shade of blue!

Here's one more shot of the Scheu Analog Diamond:

Rega RP1 turntable hits the states!!

The new Rega RP1 is just now arriving in the US, and the buzz is good. This was originally slotted as a replacement for the entry-level P1 that was released a few years ago. I had a chance to listen to the P1 in depth when we reviewed it for TONEAudio, and while I thought it was much better than the Music Halls and Pro-Jects in its price range, I was less than enthusiastic about its MDF platter that wobbled around the edges. I was also less than taken with the Ortofon OM-5se cartridge that came with it. The felt mat for the platter didn't seem to fit as well as other Rega mats.

At the time, I recommended that P1 owners should opt for the upgrade kit, which included the classic Rega glass platter and felt mat used on the P3 and the P5. Most dealers were selling the kit for $69, which brought the P1 closer to the performance of the P2 for just a bit less money. Then I recommended that P1 owners also opt for a cartridge upgrade such as the Ortofon OM-10 or OM-20, or Rega's own Bias 2. That begged the question, of course, of why you wouldn't just go for a P2 in the first place (my recommendation at the time, since the P2 has always been my first choice for an entry-level analog rig).

Well, the reviews have noted that the new RP1, which includes such upgrades to the P1 as the new hand-built RB-101 tonearm, a phenolic resin platter (like the curved drawers of Naim CD players) and a new low-vibration motor, performs at a level almost identical to the P2. (You can read Jeff Dorgay's review of the RP1 at http://www.tonepublications.com/gear/exclusive-the-rega-rp1/). So the RP1 is so good, it's going to replace BOTH the P1 and the P2 while Rega re-works the new P2.

The price of the new RP1 is just a little more than the P1 at $449. That's a steal. Brian DiFrank of Whetstone Audio has just announced that the RP1 is now shipping, so it's time to give either him or the Rega dealer of your choice (such as Dan Muzquiz in San Diego or Gene Rubin in Ventura) a call!

Naim Night at Whetstone Audio

Brian Di Frank, owner of Whetstone Audio here in Austin, is hosting a Naim Night on October 21st. Naim is celebrating the release of their full line of Uniti components, including the brand spankin' new UnitiQute and UnitiServe. These components contain a lot of features in tiny little boxes (kind of like my old favorite, the Naim NAIT 2 integrated amp), and Brian reports that these pieces are literally plug-n-play.

Both Doug Graham from Naim UK and Dave Dever from Naim USA will be on hand to demo these amazing products and answer questions, and they'll also bring one of their Bentleys equipped with the all-Naim sound system. My friend and former boss, Jeff Dorgay from TONEAudio, will also be there. I'm going to stop by as well, but not in any official capacity...just helping Brian spread the word about one of my favorite audio brands. The event will take place between 6 and 9pm at Whetstone Audio, which is located at 2401 E. 6th Street in Austin. Brian says he'll have beer and pizza there as well!

For more info, check out the Whetstone Audio website at http://www.whetstoneaudio.com/.

Rega Brio 3 integrated amplifier

"I think that the Rega Brio is the single biggest bargain in all of audio."

That was Brian Di Frank, owner of Whetstone Audio in Austin, after I told him I'd been using the Rega Brio 3 in my system for much of the last year. Sure, Brian is a Rega dealer and sells a lot of Brios, but he's also one of those dealers who prefer to sell the models he loves as opposed to the models that have the largest margins. He's also one of those dealers who absolutely loves any piece of hi-fi that converts music lovers into audiophiles through the sheer force of value. I have to agree with Brian completely; I can't think of an integrated amp that matches the Brio's performance for anywhere near its modest asking price of $650.

I received the Brio 3 from Jeff Dorgay as a lovely parting gift after I left TONEAudio. When I started writing for TONE, I had the exquisite Yamamoto Sound Craft A-08 45 single-ended triode amp and matching CA-03 preamplifier w/phono stage. I also had to add a pair of Yamamoto Sound Craft step-up transformers so that the CA-03 would mate better with my Koetsu Rosewood cartridge. All in all, it was about $8000 worth of amplication that provided a whopping 2 watts per channel. I was using the Zu Audio Druids at the time, and they were a fantastic match with their 101 db sensitivity and 11 Ohm impedance. But the simple fact was that I wouldn't be able to review a wide variety of speakers as long as I had the Yamamotos. So I sold them (and immediately regretted it).

During my time at TONE, I used a wide variety of amplification--everything from McIntosh to Exposure to Simaudio to Nagra to conrad-johnson to Manley to BAT to LFD to Clayton Audio to an old Advent 300 receiver. But I never made the plunge and purchased anything. So when I left TONE in the summer of 2009, I was amp-less. Jeff came to the rescue with the Brio 3.

So I've been quietly using the Brio 3 in my system over the last year. While I have to admit that the sound quality is a clear step down from what I'd been used to over the last decade or so, I've concentrated on the strengths of the Brio and now love it for its simple, unassuming way of doing things.

For those of you aren't familiar with the Brio, it's the entry-level integrated amplifier from Rega that's been around in one incarnation or another since the '80s. I remember almost buying the original for $399 back in 1986 or so. This new version, which is about a year old now, offers the following improvements over its predecessors:

*Increased power output (49 wpc)
*Modified power supply (using Sanken 150w output transistors)
*Upgraded toroidal power transformer

It still looks a lot like the old Brios, which is to say it shares the same aluminum casework as a wide variety of Rega products. Still, it's much more than a typical black box integrated, with its gently curvy top and solid overall build quality. While it doesn't stand out in my equipment rack, it certainly doesn't seem out of place with the more expensive gear, either.

The Brio also has five inputs, including a phono stage that has been optimized for use with Rega cartridges. (Like Naim, Rega components are designed to work best in all-Rega systems.) Since I'm using a low-output MC with my Rega P3-24 (a Zu Audio DL-103), I have to use my Lehmann Audio Black Cube SE as a phono stage. So I can't comment on the phono stage, but it's there if you want it.

After all that, the Brio 3 is simple, straightforward and no-frills. I didn't even have to read the owner's manual to get everything up and running the first time.

At first, I focused on what the Brio 3 didn't do. It certainly doesn't do what the big boys do: offer a feeling of unlimited size and space, and offer the last bit of resolution and detail. If the Brio 3 could do this for $650, almost everyone would buy one. But the Brio is an almost textbook example of PRaT (pace, rhythm and timing), that touchstone of British amplification. The overall sound was punchy, forward, dynamic and compelling. It doesn't offer a lot of soundstage depth behind my Vienna Acoustics Bach Signatures or my Spendor S20s, but it does put a sizable amount of information in front of them. That's not to say it sounds aggressive (a characteristic I don't particularly like), but the Brio 3 and its 49 watts per channel sounds authoritative and gutsy.

If I were to nitpick on a single flaw, it was the sense that pieces of musical information were glossed over or even missing altogether. It's that old chestnut, sins of omission rather than commission, which is a good thing when it comes to making sonic sacrifices in budget gear. On some of my favorite recordings, I'm not hearing the things I'm used to hearing such as reflections off the walls of the recording venue, or the distinct sound of hammers hitting the piano strings or even the distinctive resonance that comes from inside of the chest of the typical male vocalist. Sometimes I miss these details a little too much.

But I'm a guy who has been listening to $100,000 systems for the better part of the last five years, so I'm spoiled. If this was 1985 or so and I was still a fledgling audiophile, I would be ecstatic at the level of performance I get out of the Brio 3. While I'm certainly planning to upgrade to something like a Naim NAIT XS or an LFD Integrated Zero Mk. III in the next few months, I think I'll keep the Rega around for a second office system. Knowing Rega's reputation for sound quality and reliability, I'm sure I'll get decades of pleasure out of this little amp.