Rega has officially released the AOS MC, a dedicated moving coil phono stage whose circuit leans heavily on the company’s reference-grade Aura MC.
No compromise?
The AOS MC is a two-stage, pure analogue design with no digital control circuitry anywhere in the signal path. Rega has used parallel-connected, low-noise FETs configured as compound pairs, a topology chosen partly because FET transistors draw no bias current through the cartridge coil. That matters: bias current can disturb the magnetic geometry inside an MC cartridge, and Rega wants none of it. A self-adjusting servo compensates for temperature drift, both ambient and operational, which is a trickle-down feature from the Aura’s design philosophy of keeping things stable without adding complexity to the signal path.
Adjustability covers resistance loading from 70Ω to 400Ω and capacitive loading from 1000pF to 4300pF, all via rear-panel dip switches. A 6dB gain toggle accommodates low-output MCs. There’s also an automatic standby mode that sends the unit to sleep after a period of silence, deactivatable via dip switch for those who’d rather leave it powered up. Connections are RCA in, RCA out. No balanced, no worries.
The half-width aluminium casework provides RFI shielding and matches Rega’s current component aesthetic.
Pricing and availability
The AOS MC sits between the Fono MC MK4 and the Aura MC in Rega’s phono stage lineup. It retails at £1500 in the UK (US$2299/AU$2999), roughly a third of the Aura MC’s £4620 asking price, and begins shipping to UK retailers this week, with export units following through March and April.
Further information: Rega
