Интегральные усилители — Rega AETHOS

The Aethos is an integrated stereo amplifier made in the UK by Rega Research and housed in a custom case developed for it. Rega took the design concepts behind its Elex-R and Elicit-R amplifiers and carried them into a dual-mono layout rated at 125 W per channel. It has no built-in phono stage.

Key specs that matter

Output is 125 W RMS per channel into 8 ohm and 156 W RMS per channel into 6 ohm at a rated 230 or 115 V supply, and the speaker terminals accept 4 to 16 ohm loads. Five line inputs sit alongside a record loop and a direct input with 840 mV sensitivity for full output and a power amplifier gain of 31.6 dB. The record output delivers 219 mV at 560 ohm, while the preamplifier output gives 840 mV at 100 ohm. The headphone socket has a source impedance of 109 ohm and delivers 2.7 V into 32 ohm or 9 V into 300 ohm. Maximum power consumption is 415 W, dropping to 0.0 W in off mode. The case measures 433 x 95 x 360 mm including terminals, and the unit weighs 17.5 kg.

Engineering and use context

A custom-wound toroidal transformer feeds the two mono channels, and regulated supplies serve the amplification and driver stages. Each channel uses four 160 W, 16 A output transistors. The preamplifier runs discrete class A circuitry, and the line amplifier is a fully discrete FET design with polypropylene capacitors throughout the signal path and Rega K-Power reservoir capacitors. To keep capacitors out of the signal path, both the preamplifier and speaker outputs are DC coupled, with a servo on the preamplifier and DC protection that acts within milliseconds. Foldback short-circuit protection sits outside the audio path, and a thermal sensor shuts the unit down if it overheats. Plugging in headphones mutes the speakers through an output relay. The volume control is motorised and follows the supplied Solaris system remote, which also operates other Rega products.

Pairing

The direct input bypasses the volume control and is intended for multi-channel systems in which the stereo pair works as the front channels, or for use with an external preamplifier. Rega states that the preamplifier output can drive at least five power amplifiers or sub bass units, and a parallel record output link can feed a headphone amplifier with a signal independent of volume.

Alternatives

The Rega Elicit-R is a lower-powered integrated amplifier from the same maker that includes a built-in MM phono stage.