Rega Fono MM MK3 Phono Stage Black

This has replaced my broken Ifi Phono amp. The Rega has a sophisticated, smooth, dynamic, open and natural presentation that suits acoustic instruments, electric guitars, and vocals. I would say it is an amp for concentrated listening and wasted if used for background music. I find it lacks a bit of drive and punch when playing high energy pop or rock music when compared to the ifi phono. However its musical performance always sits somewhere between exceptional for the price and extremely good. Overall the Rega is a far more musically satisfying and fatigue free listen than my highly rated and more expensive ifi phono. Recommended, but it really needs a £500+ turntable with at least £1000 of amp and speakers and concentrated listening to get the best out of it. ProsSound quality for the price. If you have an old phono amp that cost up to £1000, you may be shocked just how good the Rega sounds. highlights are:- Just sounds right tonally.- Solid and wide sound stage- Very good level of musical detail from highs to deep base.- Easy, relaxed and effortless presentation.- Doesn't emphasis sibilance.- Very low noise floor so quiet and subtle passages are just that.- Fatigue free.Easy to install with no impedance switches to match it to the cartridge.Small footprint.ConsFeels a bit flimsy. Case is well made, but in plastic. When I press the power button the amp moves.Doesn't suite anyone who collects LPs from 1954 or earlier as it only supports RIAA equalisation.May not have quite enough drive for those into real high energy pop or rock.RecommendationsMay take a few sides to sound its best.Good enough to notice differences in caballing so use good quality cables.Switch it off after use. Usual rule is low current devices (such as the Rega) don't gain much in sound quality from being left on when not used.General Listening notesTest with Special build turntable based upon Rega RP3-24 + Funk Firm FXRII arm + Goldring 1042 cartridge, Chord SPM2600 integrated amp, Tannoy TD8 Floor standing speakers.May suit jazz, blues and acoustic more than modern pop or rock.Very easy to live with.an audiophile's sound.Imaging slightly recessed behind the speaker so not quite as exciting a sound as some.Slight edge to sibilance for first side or two.Tight controlled bass which can give the impression of less bass, but it is just more accurately portrayed with little overhang. Also tends to put the bass in a natural context within the mix.Mids and highs are full of detail, smooth and natural. No edge or overblown sibilance of vocals. Well recorded percussion is a delight with lovely splash on cymbals.Good dynamic range and timing.

When I first purchased my Rega RP6 turntable (in 2012), I selected the model with the matched, external power supply and Exact (MM) cartridge. I hadn't budgeted for a separate phono stage, as my NAD amp already had a dedicated phono input built-in, but after discussing this with the guys in the showroom, I was convinced that I should get one. At that time, I couldn't find (or justify) the extra cash for the recommended Rega one, so I accepted their other recommendation and bought a ProJect one for about £80. It was good (better than the direct input into my amp's phono stage anyway) and I have been happily listening to vinyl ever since. Until ...This week, I finally decided to try listening to my iPod through the hi-fi system again and to make that possible, I purchased a decent preamp (Little Dot MKII, all valve). I expected that this would give a warmer (more 'vinyl-like') quality to the digital source component and was quite surprised when it came out sounding bright, but punchy and powerful. This led me to make some A/B comparisons of my vinyl and MP3 sources, by flicking between different input buttons on the integrated amp. In doing this, I heard a very bright (too bright, for my taste), detailed sound coming from the iPod and LD mkII, compared to a bassier, melodic, but slightly 'dulled' tone from my turntable and ProJect phono box. The seed of doubt was sewn and I immediately began to wish for a little more top-end clarity and detail from my vinyl set-up :-( .Fast forward a few days and I had done all of the Googling I needed to do - it was clear to me that the phono stage was the obvious component to try and swap out, to see if an improvement in clarity could be gained. The obvious model to go for seemed to be the Rega (mid-range) Fono MM model. So, I ordered it here. The price was competitive and it arrived the following day, despite being ordered on Standard (free) delivery terms. Excellent work!Once it was unboxed, I plugged it into the mains and routed one channel's In and Out leads to the Rega, leaving the other stereo channels In and Out leads connected to the ProJect box. This meant that when I powered the turntable and amp up, I was suddenly listening to a different phono stage in each speaker. The thing is, I hadn’t paid any attention to colour of the plugs and so wasn't sure which was which :-( .However, what was clear was that one of the channels was louder than the other (by around 20% I would say) and also sounded brighter at the top end than the other channel (even when the volume as equalled out using the amp's Balance control). I couldn't honestly tell which phono stage was which, but I knew which one I preferred - the one that was plugged into the right (R) channel. So, with fingers firmly crossed, I reached over and switched the power button on my ProJect phono stage to OFF...Hallelujah!!! The left channel fell silent, meaning that the 'better' sounding box powering the right speaker had to be the Rega Fono mkIII :-) . I was delighted! I knew instantly that the Rega was producing a much clearer top-end than the ProJect and once both stereo channels were hooked up to the Rega, I was able to sit back and listen to the whole thing in action. It still had a decent amount of bass and mid-range punch, but much better clarity overall, without ever sounding too harsh.Although it is early days, I think that I can safely say that the addition of this Rega phono stage to my chain of other Rega components has led to a more 'consistent' sound, with the detail that the Exact cartridge extracts and the natural 'musical' properties of the RB330 tone arm all being funnelled in a neutral and tonally well-balanced way to the amplifier with the aid of this nifty little phono box.Ultimately, it makes sense to me that these products should all interact so well, as they were essentially designed to be used together. The inherent 'synergy' of these middle-of-the-range Rega audio products is immediately apparent and represent an almost foolproof way to get a good starting point for your vinyl sound. I just wish that I had had the extra cash to buy this phono stage in the first place (although, it is great fun to be able to make a good 'upgrade' to the system every now and again) ;-) .Verdict: Excellent product, decent value for money and great service from Analogue Seduction at Amazon :-) !

I recently upgraded my cartridge and read that you should spend about as much on your pre-amp as your cartridge, and this Rega Fono MM Mk3 was well reviewed and at the right price point. Does it sound vastly better than the much lower cost pre-amp it replaced? Honestly, if you put me in a darkened room and asked me to differentiate, I might struggle. It certainly sounds great playing my records in my system. There are so many components between the vinyl groove and the sound waves hitting your ears, it would be hard to change any one thing to achieve a dramatic improvement. My approach is to incrementally upgrade them as my understanding of how to improve the sound quality increases. A year ago I was using an integrated amplifier. It sounded fine. Now I am using this pre-amp and a new power amp and what is for me, and expensive cartridge. It all does sound very good to me. The trouble with upgrading a little at a time is that there is no step change in the listening experience - it's very gradual. And there's no easy going back to do a side by side comparison. As someone else once said 'The only person who need to like your Hi Fi is YOU'. And I do like mine, the more so with the Rega Fono MM Mk3 pre-amp.

This pre-amp worked perfectly to boost the signal from a Rega 25 turntable giving lovely sound quality. Simple to install and tot ally successful.

I am going to be very honest. At first when I first connected the Rega Fono MM MK3 up to my amp and turntable I thought my previous phono pre amp Cambridge audio 540p sounded better and I made a big mistake. I left it on over night and wow what a difference. With my Rega P3 24 and Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge I was very impressed with the way its sounds, Bold vocal midrange with a deep tuneful bass and nice tops. So far very happy. Good quality pressed vinyl sounds really really good. Excellent.

Writing this review because I could not find this comparison anywhere with a good conclusion. Hope it helps. My major question going into this purchase was....is it worth it to spend this much to replace my excellent Cambridge Solo preamp to match my Rega Exact cartridge on my Planar 3 turntable. I am a audiophile tinker-er with 5 nice tables, but I hate complicated preamps with 85 dip switches, so my go to has been the Solo (or Duo for MC cartridges) After receiving the Rega Mk III I did dozens of side by side listens switching between the two. The Rega MK III has a very clear advantage (to my surprise). The bass is punchier and the soundstage is much more open than the Solo. I was very happy with the Solo/Exact combo, so color me super happy with this purchase. The only complaint is the seller had this in an MK5 Box labeled as a Japanese unit. If I ever sell it, that's will hurt the value. But I personally won't. So it's a minor thing. And this unit costs significantly less in the UK. So had to knock off a star for value for money. Sound is a subjective thing for sure....but I would recommend the Rega by quite a lot.

Great item professionally packaged and posted item received in great condition would highly recommend

The preamp improved the sound out of my system

My previous pre amp which was about half the cost worked good for classic rock and country music, but when ever I played a metal or a sludge album it sounded flat. The Rega fixed all of that, would recommend for any metal fans out there that want to upgrade.

Beautiful, sweet sound. Allow this to break in for a week, or keep it on for several days. It needs to break in, the sound will be a bit fuzzy right out of the box. Sounds great after it's broken in.