Rega/Totem combo wow!


Was out of town for work last week and managed to stop into a hifi shop downtown after work one evening.  I forget the name of the place but it was right in Cincinnati (audible elegance i believe).  I had always wanted to hear a rega/naim amplifier.  Long story short, they had a rega brio and elex r hooked up to a pair of Totem Rainmakers (which is a nice compact speaker for my space) and I have to say that I was really impressed by the speakers even through the lower powered brio.  The gentleman switched from the Brio to the Elex to hear the difference.  And yes, there was a difference. The Elex provided more bass and a little smoother sound to my ears but both amps sounded superb and although the Totems are 4ohms, I was more impressed with the little Brio handling them quite well.  I haven't really heard many people talk about totem speakers on too many threads but like I said, there seemed to be a really good match there between the regas and the totems.  Has anyone else had a similar experience with these two brands playing together and if so what were your thoughts?
mgrec42
I was lucky to be able to purchase a demo Rega Osiris from a local audio dealer for about 34% of retail.  I have seen a used one or two go for close to that amount.  It is very good.  Because of it's list price of $9995, that it is made by Rega plus it does not look extra fancy in looks, I don't think that it has been a great seller.  It's sound I would compare to that of the upper level Naim products.  At ten thousand dollars there might be better choices, but at a significant discount would be hard to beat.  Oh yes, Rega's repair service is unbeatible.
I have a Rega Elex-R, and I tried the Rainmakers with it (a demo form my local shop), and I found the combo way too bright. I went with Dynaudio Excite X-12's at the time, and that combo sounded much better to my ears. I now have Ascend Acoustics Sierra 2's, and I am set, as I think they sound fantastic - they don't image quite as well as the X-12's, but they are a bit fuller sounding, and the highs from the ribbon tweeter are extremely detailed and sweet, without being too bright, or fatiguing.
i have the new Rega Brio and bought the Rega RS1's at the same time. heard this set up at a show with Rega cables and was sold. 
the RS1's are very compact and are on my desk, but sound very big.