Description
Not everyone who wants a phono stage equal to the flagship Aura is willing to pay the flagship price. The Rega Aos MC solves this dilemma elegantly: it is a separate, dedicated amplifier-corrector exclusively for moving coil cartridges, built on circuitry that borrows heavily from the award-winning Aura. The result is a reference level of detail and realism without compromise within the budget of the music lover who has already invested in a quality MC cartridge.
The Aos MC is a two-stage "pure analog" amplifier with no digital control circuitry in the signal path. The first stage is built on parallel-connected low-noise field-effect transistors (FETs) in a symmetrical, complementary class A configuration. The use of FETs is fundamentally important: they do not pass bias current through the cartridge coil, and therefore do not violate the delicate magnetic geometry of the generator - something that less carefully designed phono equalizers often ignore.
On the rear panel is a full load adjustment: resistive from 70 to 400 ohms and capacitive from 1000 to 4300 pF, and the input sensitivity can be additionally changed by 6 dB. This means that the Aos MC will equally confidently pick up both low-output reference cartridges like the Aphelion and more "loud" mid-range models - you can find the optimal match for almost any MC generator on the market.
The housing is made entirely of Rega's proprietary half-format aluminum - all-metal shielding effectively protects the internal circuitry from radio frequency interference. The phono equalizer has received self-correcting servo control that compensates for temperature drift, both ambient and operating - a solution carried over directly from the philosophy of the reference Aura. There is also an automatic standby mode that turns off the device in the absence of a signal (it can be deactivated using dip-switches on the rear panel).
The Aos MC is a natural choice for owners of quality MC cartridges such as the Ania, Ania Pro or Apheta 3 who are looking to unlock their full potential rather than settle for the compromises of an integrated amplifier's built-in phono stage. It's an entry point into Rega's world of pure analogue sound for those not yet ready for the price of the flagship Aura.
