Rega's ISIS CD player is here

Just off the truck, 15 min ago....

Rega's ISIS is here. Time to take pics and get this baby playing. Sounded great when I heard it in the UK this summer, but anxious to hear how it stacks up to the Naim 555 and Wadia 781.

You can use it as a DAC too. More pics to follow later in the day when I get it unboxed!

 

How much $ will it go for here?

 

http://www.rega.co.uk/html/Isis.htm

Interesting, a Rega machine with Burr Brown Dacs. I thought Rega was using only Wolfson Dacs. Anyway, the way Rega has implemented these Dacs should result in high resolution.

"Two Burr Brown PCM1794 digital to analogue converters, running in a parallel dual mono mode."

 

$8995 is the U.S. list price on the Isis, as well as the forthcoming Osiris amp

 

The box it came in already has me excited.

 

Whoa!! Rega makes the price leap into serious high-end territory!

Seriously, what a great-looking player; and, given Rega's usual value-for-money, I bet the sound is beyond stunning.

 

Here is another crucial part of the engineering:

*Discrete class A operational amplifiers and filters.

*High performance discrete class A current to voltage amplifier.

The circuit appears to be made of all discrete components, no IC Op-Amps.

This is the right way to build a cd player to extract high-performance.

 

Having looked at the pics of the amp and the CD player, I must say Rega have made a bold move design-wise. I need to see them "in the flesh" to know what they really look like. Rega's trademark graphic simplicity is certainly in evidence!

 

Been on the phone all morning. Pics within the hour...

 

This means almost nothing if the power supply is not as good or better than the amp circuits. A quote from Beno May " if you aint got a power supply, you aint got nothin'". I'm sure Rega put quite an effort in the power for this unit.

 

here's another picture to torment you with....

The box opens sooon!

 

Not me, as the slow internet connection revealed the picture, I was thinking "You're kidding, they've made a cdp out of wood!"

I'm sure this will be a great player, and I love the look of the deck Doubt I'll ever hear one though!

 

* 10 separate power supply regulators are used in the digital circuit.

* 50VA transformer.


But if you want to know the "truth". This level of cd player circuit topology and power supply attention was common in top end machines from the late 1980's. I own a working example myself.

Good day

 

here's a pic of the unit...

Build quality is fantastic. This definitely feels like a ten thousand dollar CD player. The remote is billet, and Rega includes a very nice set of interconnects and a great power cord. Presentation is first class as well.

Now to start listening!

 

....and more pictures!

 

I listen to this player last weekend, it is a beauty.

 

And,
"The analogue stage has its own dedicated 50VA mains transformer which ensures galvanic isolation between the digital and analogue sections of the player. You will find 10 separate power supply regulators are used in the analogue circuit and each individual amplifier stage has its own dedicated low noise voltage reference."

Now we are talking some good stuff. I just wonder what kind of voltage regulators they are using. Ahhh, we will likely never know for the audiophile companies’ guard their "secrets" closely.

I wonder how all of these multi K$ units stack up to the likes of a Lampizator unit or some such? Oh I forgot! The shiny clad metal unit MUST sound better because it --- Aye forget it!

Not just good day, Have A GREAT day.

 

I approve of the CD poised to be played 100%!!

Can't wait for the review Jeff.

 

Look forward to reading about your listening impressions.

Not that I could afford this machine anyway

 

More pics!

 

Sigh. What a great job you have.

 

The world hangs on your review Jeff - I couldn't find anything online other than specs and speculation.