Listening

When we connect our Sonnet Morpheus to the Rega Elex MK4, we are pleasantly surprised. We hear our dac almost at its best. That does say something about the Elex MK4. When you attach a nice, analog source on the Elex MK4 it will not disappoint you.

Isaiah Rashad is an American rapper who made a particularly atmospheric album with “The House is Burning.” We don’t listen to rap music very often but alongside Vince Staples, Kendrick Lamar, Benny the Butcher, and Drakeo the Ruler, we think Rashad is a great talent in the genre. Like a pit bull, the Rega Elex MK4 grabs music by the balls and won’t let go. Small background noises come through effortlessly and the beats bounce around fast and dry. Voices are intelligible but you can hear that this is not an audiophile recording. This amp isn’t going to make things sweeter or softer.

Belle and Sebastian’s “Late Developers” combines kitsch with excellent pop music. The album is full of variety and full of rock-solid lyrics. The song “Evening Star” with its horns and beautiful drum section is wonderfully reproduced by the Rega Elex Mk4. This is clearly a dynamic amplifier we think out loud. The Elex MK4 makes a party of it but does not emphasize anything. Everything is nicely balanced. Bobby Kildea’s vocals sound clean and his voice is just ahead of the instrumentation. Timing and rhythm are clearly a strength of this amp. So is transparency and speed. Impressive.

Listening through the digital inputs

If we use the built-in dac, we lose a bit in terms of tonality and refinement. It’s all a bit more ‘factual and correct’. This implementation does not reach the level of the dual mono version in the Rega Saturn MK3 but if we stop comparing for a moment and consider the price tag there is a lot to be happy about. Lots of rhythm and speed again and above all plenty of ‘chest’ in the midrange so it never sounds chilly or dry via the built-in dac.

The new Deus, “How to replace it,” comes with a lot of power through the Revels. This is a remarkably good recording with the signature solid sound of the top Belgian band. Tom Barman sounds menacing as do the accompanying guitars on the track “Man of the House. The songs are compact and full of instruments and electronic elements but the Wolfson dac keeps everything nicely apart. There is a pulsating drive in the song but the Rega Elex MK4 has no trouble following the pace of the song. Voices sound a little sharper than through the Morpheus but that shouldn’t be surprising.