Напольная акустика — Rega AYA

The Aya is a floorstanding loudspeaker from the British company Rega, launched in 2023 at GBP 1,499 per pair. Its cabinet is made from glass-reinforced cement in the UK, an unusual material for a loudspeaker. A team headed by Rega founder Roy Gandy developed it, and the company says the project took a decade of trials after the rising cost of real-wood veneered MDF pushed it towards other cabinet materials.

Key specs that matter

The Aya is a 2.5-way design with a ZRR tweeter, a handmade 5-inch MX-125 bass and midrange driver and a handmade 7-inch RR7.8 bass driver. The bass section is loaded by a band-pass enclosure with a front reflex port. Nominal impedance is 6 ohms, sensitivity is 89.5 dB and Rega gives an amplifier power rating of 110 W per channel. Each speaker is 258 mm wide, 871 mm high and 215 mm deep, and weighs 14.1 kg. The front panel is Steel Grey on a dark grey cement cabinet.

Engineering and use context

Glass-reinforced cement, or GRC, is a cement mix strengthened with glass fibres, which according to Rega reduces weight while increasing the structural integrity of the enclosure. The moulded cabinet sits on a stand to give a floating look, and it is paired with a Tancast 8 foamcore plinth. Because the material is cast, each cabinet shows natural variations in shade and small pinholes, which Rega describes as expected. In a band-pass enclosure, the bass driver radiates into a chamber that is vented to the outside, so only a limited frequency band leaves through the port and the driver's rear output is contained. In the 2.5-way layout, the 7-inch driver handles only the bass, while the 5-inch driver covers both bass and midrange up to the tweeter. Since the port exits at the front, the speaker's bass does not depend on clearance behind the cabinet. The slim footprint means the Aya takes little floor space. The ZRR tweeter is joined to the two cone drivers by a new crossover developed for this model. The optional cloth grilles attach by magnet to the front plate screws, and Rega leaves them out of the box to reduce waste, since most owners do not use them.

Pairing

With this sensitivity and impedance the Aya is an easy load, and Rega's own integrated amplifiers such as the Brio, Elex or Elicit are natural partners. The front port and shallow cabinet make it practical in living rooms of about 20 m2. The Elex MK4, for example, delivers 90 W per channel into 6 ohms and was priced at GBP 1,199.

Alternatives

Rega has no other floorstanding model, since the Kyte stand-mount is the only other loudspeaker in its current range.