New Rega Elicit Integrated - Opinions

Fillmoor,
May I ask how many hours did the Elicit take to sound at its optimum? The Rega Elicit sounds pretty darn good right now. I have listened to the LFD Zero MkIII in my system and the Elicit exhibits the same character in PRAT, dynamics and detail in the high frequencies and midrange. Although the bass of the Elicit is pretty good, it still doesn't quite match the LFD's bass performance. The bass on the LFD is exceptional and one of a kind. In comparison the LFD's bass is tauter with better slam and presence while the Elicit's bass is more ballsy and rounded. I was just hoping the bass of the Elicit would improve with more hours on it.

I was intrigued by the other guy's comment that the Rega was his 2nd choice, which pushed the LFD to the last. Although the Rega Elicit was said to sound exceptionally close to the LFD Zero MkIII, the latter was supposed to be the superior unit by a marginal difference. Did he say why he preferred the Rega more than the LFD although he eventually ended up with the Luxman?

well the Luxman is $4000 and class A, so no surprises there. I have found Class A amplification distinguishes itself with a lack of any hash or grain in the upper mids and treble, I just no longer want to deal with the heat and energy waste of class A amps. He said the Rega came close to the Luxman. He said the LFD had a "detailed sheen" that over time fatigued him. Nowadays, I leave my Elicit on all the time and am really liking it, and to be honest it sounded good right off so I can't comment on what to expect regarding "break in". In reality if you want a quality UK, US or Japanese Manufactured solid state integrated there is not alot to choose from, particualrly if you want an on board phono stage.

Thanks for the response Filmoor. Looks like I can forget about drastic sonic changes now since you mentioned the Elicit sounded great cold right out of the box. I did perceive a smooth transition in the 10th hour or so as everything started to come together nicely and was hoping to hear further improvements with more hours on it. I do agree that there isn't much quality solid-state integrateds around to choose from particularly in this sort of price range. The Elicit does punch above its weight, and to be frank it sounded better than my separates costing 3X more.

I am not so sure about leaving the unit on 24 hours a day though. As much as I would like to do so, the manual does not state anything regarding this and furthermore there isn't any standby function on the unit. I would be more inclined to leave the unit in standby mode rather than having it powered up all the time.

Manuals never say to leave on, but some people do, and it is common praactice in the professional audio industry. I first experienced the idea at a sound dealer who left their solid state Mcintosh power amp on all the time. Some feel it actually extends rather than shortens component life just so long as it's a component that won't generate alot of heat at idle. True there is no need to leave on, but amps usually sound better after being on awhile (unlike "break in", the matter of "warm up" is well accepted, amps just sound better warm or hot than from cold, when you turn it on it is cold and will raise temp as it plays). I leave mine on and I use the mute switch when not playing. Anyway you might try leaving it on for 24 hours, then turn off, this will allow the power supply capacitors to fully discharge. Try it a few times over a one week period. After that either leave on or turn on only when in use. Both the matter of component break in and leaving gear on is often debated. Poke around on the net and I'm sure you'll find plenty of opinions. My cd player positively sounds better after being on for a few hours, so rather than wait, I leave it on all the time too.

Thanks for the response. I do know amps sound better when left powered up for a little while. I have never switched off my Plinius amp and leave it on 24 hours a day 7 days a week. That was when I figured out the Plinius needed to be powered up for a long time in order to sound at its optimum. I once tried to listen when the Plinius was on for about 4 hours and detected a breaking of piano sound in one particular CD. The piano note seemed like broken and I thought the tweeter on the speaker was gone or something. The next day I listened the vibrating piano notes were gone. That was when I realised the Plinius cannot be switched off and needed to be powered up all day long.

I tried leaving the Rega on the whole night yesterday and the sound was more or less similar to when it was powered up 1 hour from cold. I believe the Elicit is good to go at about 1 hour after it is switched on.

Just out of curiosity, may I know what speaker cables are you using with the Elicit? Have you tried the Naim Naca5 or DNM Reson with the Elicit? I was just wondering whether the bass performance of the Elicit would improve with the use of suitable speaker cables.