Rega Elicit-R question and asking for opinions

ZootSuit

Novice Member
Joined
May 11, 2017
Messages
39
Reaction score
2
Points
35
Age
52
Location
Rio de Janeiro
Hi everybody. After long research on opinions on forums and youtube comments, I just bought a Rega Elicit-R last week, as I made my mind it was the best option to drive my Dynaudio's Emit 20. I was using a Rotel 971 MKII before. So my current impressions corresponds to some opinions I've read, but others I could not get completely satisfied. For example, I think the bass improved a lot. The Emits are much more controlled, improved in a way that are much less boomy than few days ago, and specially an improvement over Rotel 971 I was using before. Drums are sounding full and detailed, and voices in general sound beautiful.

But thought something is still missing that I am still not completely satisfied. Contrary to some opinions that I read that Elicit was forward, open or analytical, I'm having an impression that the highs a little bit rolled off, or too polite. For example, I am a big fan of Radiohead and Smiths, and the guitars do not have the brightness and presence I was used to hear. I then turned the computer on and compared using AKG Y50 phones using Dragonfly Red and Tidal, and could hear the guitars shining as I used to. So I turned Elicit off and replaced with Rotel again, and the Rotel gave that extra bite on guitars (but lacked in bass control). I bought this Rega Elicit-R second hand. Maybe there's still time to burn in or similar? Any advise?
 
Last edited:
I doubt you'll need any more breaking in period with the Elicit. It does improve considerably over the first 100 hours. The bass control of the Elicit is superb, something that drew me to the Elicit in the first place. I find guitars and the mids to be very good, especially so with acoustic guitars something I doubt you'll hear with Radiohead though. High female vocals are very well controlled as well.

As well as the amp you should give your ears and brain time to adjust as well. Your are used to the signature of the Rotel and your picking out the aspects of that amp that you are comfortable with. I'd give it time. Those guitars with other devices may just be overly bright and the notes being somewhat shortened whereas the Elicit is playing the full spectrum of those notes giving more detail and a longer decay.
 
Completely agree on bass control is superb. It made a Radiohead experimental song like 'pull pulk revolving doors', that features electronic drums and effects, more coherent and even musical than I used to. Elicit makes 'Abbey road' 2019 remixed album' drums full and showing more space between kick drum and other parts.

Despite all those benefits, I still miss, for example some of the detailed background acoustic guitars on Smith's reel around the fountain, that now don't appear as bright, Radiohead's 'let down' intro not sounding so sparkling, and other examples. I mean, they're there, but not as present. I do play guitar, and got the impression that some guitar parts that sounds somewhat softer on Elicit. Anyway, cymbals, voice, and treble sounds sounds great.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestion, and I will continue to hear some other song i usually put to compare and report later.

Other than Elicit-R, or even other than Emit 20, that seems to require a good control over bass, I'm opened to suggestions for further replacement.
 
Last edited:
It could be that the Rega is showing up the limitations of the Emits? In the UK that would mean pairing £500 speakers to a £1700 amp. It sounds as though the Emits are not the best speakers to bring out the qualities of the Rega. I'm using KEF R300s and hope eventually to upgrade to the Reference 1.
 
It's a possibility. When I got emits, I thought it's low frequencies uncontrolled. I then turned the Rotel eq on and decrease the bass. But a few days playing with Elicit the emits changed a lot, and now the bass is completely different, in a positive way. Regarding the treble frequencies, I still think they are nice. I had a chance to compare them to an old Quad L11, and found the Emits treble more agile and open. But maybe a brighter or more contemporary speaker would compensate what I think it's missing on Elicit? Would a Kef 350 be a good option? I know its not the same price league, but its easier to find where I live. Or a b&w 606?
 
I'm using an Rega Elicit-R (and Rega DAC) and I absolutely love it. The Elicit-R makes 2 channel music come alive in away that my Denon X6200W AVR can't do. I've had mine a year, and honestly it makes me smile every time I use it.

I needed a 2 channel amplifier that could work in concert with the Denon, so HT-Bypass was a must-have requirement for me. This limited my 2 channel amplifier choices considerably.

Gibbsy recommended the Rega Elicit-R and it's been a fantastic recommendation. I auditioned mine at home for a week before purchase. Coincidentally, I have the same KEF R300 speakers as Gibbsy. The KEFs love the Rega - it's a perfect pairing.


Minor points, but the Rega Elicit-R has a few quirks - as long as you can live with these, it's a great choice:

1. Ugly Remote Control and no back-light.

2. No standby power mode (can't power on/off from the Remote Control).

3. Volume control (from the Remote Control) isn't as granular as I would like. However, fine adjustments can be made from the volume dial on the amplifier.

3. Can't see the HT-Bypass LED unless you are right in front of it.

But the superb sound quality makes up for these idiosyncrasies!


Regards,
James.
 
Last edited:
Hi James. Thanks for the advise. I am trying to follow gibbsy advise and thinking of an upgrade from Dynaudio Emit 20, on seek of a more defined overall sound. Emit 20 has a very pleasing sound, specially with vocals, but sometimes I think it could be more forward sounding. Was reading about Klipsch rp 600m as a good forward sounding speaker, but Cnet review says it lacks some bottom end (altought it specs says it goes down to 45 Hz). Or maybe it would not be considered as an upgrade at all. Do you think Kef r300 would be a safe upgrade from Emit?

Have you guys had some experience with Revel speakers as Performa 3 m106 or M16? Both seems be on same price range as R300. Read on stereophile review that it has light bass. So basically was looking for a detailed speaker with good bass extension and clarity.

As I live in Brasil, I cannot audition all those speakers. Kef Q350 is on a budget option side, but somehow would open up the sound, or should I go safer with r300?

Also completely agree on the remote control design. It could be smaller. Mine also has input knob malfunction (when I press down the input on remote the number goes up on Elicit. I should send to technical support soon).

Regards,
Sidney.
 
Hi James. Thanks for the advise. I am trying to follow gibbsy advise and thinking of an upgrade from Dynaudio Emit 20, on seek of a more defined overall sound. Emit 20 has a very pleasing sound, specially with vocals, but sometimes I think it could be more forward sounding. Was reading about Klipsch rp 600m as a good forward sounding speaker, but Cnet review says it lacks some bottom end (altought it specs says it goes down to 45 Hz). Or maybe it would not be considered as an upgrade at all. Do you think Kef r300 would be a safe upgrade from Emit?

Have you guys had some experience with Revel speakers as Performa 3 m106 or M16? Both seems be on same price range as R300. Read on stereophile review that it has light bass. So basically was looking for a detailed speaker with good bass extension and clarity.

As I live in Brasil, I cannot audition all those speakers. Kef Q350 is on a budget option side, but somehow would open up the sound, or should I go safer with r300?

Also completely agree on the remote control design. It could be smaller. Mine also has input knob malfunction (when I press down the input on remote the number goes up on Elicit. I should send to technical support soon).

Regards,
Sidney.
I'm afraid I'm not in position to compare the Dynaudio Emit, Klipsch or Revel speakers as I've not heard them.

There's more of a difference sonicly between the KEF Q's and KEF R's than I think most people realise.

All I can say is that the KEF R300 speakers are outstanding. They reveal so much more of the music than any of my previous speakers and have a presence that I've been striving for, but which I haven't previously been able to attain.

However, the key things for me is the pairing of the Elicit-R and the KEF speakers.
The combination has really ignited my passion for 2 channel stereo music. There's a warmth and richness that I've never heard before.

When I replaced my previous speakers with the KEFs, I then realised that the Denon was now the weak link. The Denon is fabulous for multi-channel surround sound, but for reasons I still don't really understand, I just find it underwhelming when listening to 2 channel music.

You need to try and find that perfect partnership between amplifier and speakers. I think I've found :)

Regards,
James.
 
Hello, little late to the party I am. @ZootSuit What did you finally go for? Replaced the Amp or the Speakers!
I actually was contemplating the Rega Elicit R/Dyn Emit20 and Node2i as DAC (may upgrade the DAC later).
I was worried about:
a) the pairing and power requirement of Emit 20, did it match with Elicit R?

b) the DAC does play a major role in tuning the sound signature, what DAC matched well with the combo?

Regards!
 
Hello, little late to the party I am. @ZootSuit What did you finally go for? Replaced the Amp or the Speakers!
I actually was contemplating the Rega Elicit R/Dyn Emit20 and Node2i as DAC (may upgrade the DAC later).
I was worried about:
a) the pairing and power requirement of Emit 20, did it match with Elicit R?

b) the DAC does play a major role in tuning the sound signature, what DAC matched well with the combo?

Regards!
The Elicit will have no problems driving the Emits giving a healthy 162 watts in 4 ohm. No one can tell how they will perform with your ears in your room, that is something that only you can decide. A word of caution with the combination though and that is with a 4 ohm speaker the Elicit is going to run hot so good ventilation around the amp is going to be essential.
 
Thanks for the reply.
Have you listened to the combo subjectively. I feel bad pairing is bad, ok to good pairing can be interchangeable depending upon ears. :D
 
Hello, little late to the party I am. @ZootSuit What did you finally go for? Replaced the Amp or the Speakers!
I actually was contemplating the Rega Elicit R/Dyn Emit20 and Node2i as DAC (may upgrade the DAC later).
I was worried about:
a) the pairing and power requirement of Emit 20, did it match with Elicit R?

b) the DAC does play a major role in tuning the sound signature, what DAC matched well with the combo?

Regards!

Hi. I kept the Rega Elicit R and replaced the Emit 20 to a Revel Concerta2 M16. Found the bass more controlled and the sound a little more open or forward compared to Emit. Not too forward, but sounded more to I was looking for than the Emit. Also, the Revel sounds better when listening at lower volumes. In my opinion, the Revel is overall a great speaker.

I also changed the Rega regular Power cord to a Rega Reference Mains power cord. It seemed that gave an even better bass control and power.

Regarding to Dac, I do have a Topping D50s. Found that connecting my laptop via USB sounded better than Bluetooth transmission. But my 10 years old Rotel 1070 CD player sounds even better. I would give a CD player a try besides a Dac for comparison. I am telling this because supposedly newer converters would sound better than older ones, but Rotel CD player has higher output, powerful bass and sounds great. Will try to upgrade Dac rca interconnect cables to try an upgrade.

Let me know if this helped.
 
Hi. I kept the Rega Elicit R and replaced the Emit 20 to a Revel Concerta2 M16. Found the bass more controlled and the sound a little more open or forward compared to Emit. Not too forward, but sounded more to I was looking for than the Emit. Also, the Revel sounds better when listening at lower volumes. In my opinion, the Revel is overall a great speaker.

I also changed the Rega regular Power cord to a Rega Reference Mains power cord. It seemed that gave an even better bass control and power.

Regarding to Dac, I do have a Topping D50s. Found that connecting my laptop via USB sounded better than Bluetooth transmission. But my 10 years old Rotel 1070 CD player sounds even better. I would give a CD player a try besides a Dac for comparison. I am telling this because supposedly newer converters would sound better than older ones, but Rotel CD player has higher output, powerful bass and sounds great. Will try to upgrade Dac rca interconnect cables to try an upgrade.

Let me know if this helped.

The Topping D50s is a relatively expensive DAC. Connecting this via USB from your laptop is always going to be a much better, cleaner and more high resolution option than using Bluetooth. Bluetooth is fine for casual listening from a Smart 'phone, but it's not a suitable audiophile connection, and doesn't meet the high standards of your other equipment.

The Rotel 1070 has a very well regarded Burr Brown 1732 on-board DAC. Newer doesn't necessarily mean better.

Personally, I think it's a waste of money replacing your power cord and RCA interconnects. But we all have different opinions about these sorts of things - which makes the hobby so interesting!


Regards,
James.
 
Last edited:
Hi. I kept the Rega Elicit R and replaced the Emit 20 to a Revel Concerta2 M16. Found the bass more controlled and the sound a little more open or forward compared to Emit. Not too forward, but sounded more to I was looking for than the Emit. Also, the Revel sounds better when listening at lower volumes. In my opinion, the Revel is overall a great speaker.

I also changed the Rega regular Power cord to a Rega Reference Mains power cord. It seemed that gave an even better bass control and power.

Regarding to Dac, I do have a Topping D50s. Found that connecting my laptop via USB sounded better than Bluetooth transmission. But my 10 years old Rotel 1070 CD player sounds even better. I would give a CD player a try besides a Dac for comparison. I am telling this because supposedly newer converters would sound better than older ones, but Rotel CD player has higher output, powerful bass and sounds great. Will try to upgrade Dac rca interconnect cables to try an upgrade.

Let me know if this helped.

Getting the M20 at almost half price of the Revel M16, thus having a hard time to decide.
For the DAC, considering the Topping D90 or the Ares 2 paired to Node 2i, in future. Not a CD guy here.
 
Thanks for the reply.
Have you listened to the combo subjectively. I feel bad pairing is bad, ok to good pairing can be interchangeable depending upon ears. :D
I already had speakers that I'm more than happy with, KEF R300s and wanted an amp that would give good bass control. The Rega came out top in an audition by putting a massive smile on my face. The combination is very good and is a non fatiguing listen even over several hours. The R300s are no longer in production with the new R3 taking their place in KEF's speaker line up.
 
I already had speakers that I'm more than happy with, KEF R300s and wanted an amp that would give good bass control. The Rega came out top in an audition by putting a massive smile on my face. The combination is very good and is a non fatiguing listen even over several hours. The R300s are no longer in production with the new R3 taking their place in KEF's speaker line up.
I've lost a chance to buy a used and in very conditions R300 being sold in my City. But I was afraid of even taking a cab to listen to it due to pandemic. So I found a showroom Revel, and decided to test it. The seller told that if I didn't like it, I could return. So I took the chance. It is a very nice speaker.
 
Getting the M20 at almost half price of the Revel M16, thus having a hard time to decide.
For the DAC, considering the Topping D90 or the Ares 2 paired to Node 2i, in future. Not a CD guy here.
Seems D90 is a better DAC than D50s. I would give it a try for sure.
Regarding M20, I would go for a better speaker and maybe an Elex R. I found Revel Concerta2 really good. Emit 20 has a good overall sound, but IMHO Concerta2 seems to have more controlled or detailed bass and less laid back sound.
 
Last edited:
I've lost a chance to buy a used and in very conditions R300 being sold in my City. But I was afraid of even taking a cab to listen to it due to pandemic. So I found a showroom Revel, and decided to test it. The seller told that if I didn't like it, I could return. So I took the chance. It is a very nice speaker.
Don't blame you one little bit. Keep safe.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom