Rega Naia Turntable

Skeletal plinth, AC-drive turntable and arm, with external power supply and dust cover that takes Rega’s low-mass, high-rigidity philosophy to an unprecedented height.

In 2010, Rega embarked on a seven-year project to push Rega’s philosophies to the extreme. The goal was to design the ultimate ultra-lightweight, high-rigidity turntable, and the result was a Naiad. This table did not go into full production, but a very limited run of 50 had them sell at $38,000 each. 

The Rega Naia turntable is the result of those years of painstaking development, taking the best of those ideas and transferring it into a production-ready version without compromise, and at under half the cost. The Naia is packed with ground-breaking features, materials and technology developed by Rega over many years to reach new levels of vinyl replay. As Rega says, Mass absorbs energy, lost energy equals lost music.

The Naiad Project

The Naia takes Rega’s pioneering low-mass high-rigidity plinth technology to the next level by using a graphene-impregnated carbon-fiber skeletal plinth with a Tancast 8 aerospace foam core. This ultra-rigid structure is then strengthened further using two ceramic aluminum oxide braces, the same material used to create the redesigned, resonance-controlled ceramic platter with improved flywheel effect.

Rega’s Most Advanced Tonearm

The RB Titanium tonearm is the most advanced and accurate production tonearm Rega has ever released. The entire tonearm structure is designed to have the minimum of mechanical joints whilst using the stiffest materials in all critical areas. The RB Titanium achieves near frictionless movement horizontally and vertically whilst having no measurable free play in the bearing assemblies. It uses a new one-piece titanium vertical bearing housing and titanium vertical spindle assembly. The recommended Rega Aphelion 2 MC is mounted on the unique hand-polished aluminum single-piece arm tube to keep mass as low as possible. The design is completed with a tungsten balance weight shaft and balance weight.

The Stiffest Plinth

To achieve the ultimate balance between low mass and extreme rigidity, Rega has pioneered the use of graphene-impregnated carbon and a Tancast 8 polyurethane foam core. Both materials are widely used in the aerospace industry and provide the perfect platform on which to assemble a turntable. The ultra-lightweight random structure of the foam core helps reduce vibration transmission whilst the stiffness of the skin ensures no microscopic movement of the plinth occurs during playback. The addition of graphene boosts the strength and stiffness of the carbon fiber even further to create the stiffest production plinth Rega has ever produced.

The Most Solid Bearing

The Naia uses a custom aluminum sub-platter with a spindle and central bearing manufactured from ZTA (zirconium-toughened alumina).

ZTA was developed for use in machines for the paper industry. Its resistance to abrasion is much higher than that of alumina oxide, which makes it the perfect material to construct a central bearing assembly. Exceptionally complex to make, production is similar to other oxide ceramics. Starting life as a powder preparation with spray drying, the piece is formed in an isostatic press (which applies pressure in all directions to create even density). The piece is turned, and then fired at 1600 °C for three days. Then it is ground and bored. The spindle and bearing are then kept together as a set to guarantee the perfect fit.

Since both the spindle and bearing are of the same material there is less wear, as they have identical hardness. The spindle runs on an ultra-thin layer of fully synthetic oil which reduces wear even further. The result of this complex engineering process is the hardest, most accurate and longest lasting bearing assembly Rega has ever produced.

A Reference Power Supply

The NAIA reference power supply offers the ultimate in motor-control stability, convenient electronic speed change, and advanced anti-vibration control. Its user adjustable, electronic fine speed adjustment ensures total accuracy and control over the life of the motor.

Housed in Rega’s latest custom-designed case, the reference PSU is dedicated to running the 24 V, low-noise motor as quietly and as accurately as possible. The speed and control of the motor is achieved by using a DSP (Digital Signal Processing) generator built upon a high-stability crystal. 

The DSP core also generates a near-perfect sinusoidal waveform to power the motor. Factory-set vibration removal and fine speed adjustments are then made to the power supply to tune each motor for optimal performance.

Triple Belt Drive

For three years, Rega has been researching and developing with chemists the use of a bespoke new rubber compound for drive belts. Using a special curing system, the new drive belt offers superior consistency of modulus (a constant representing the degree to which a substance has a particular property, especially elasticity).

These new belts are manufactured on Rega-designed, state-of-the-art, super-accurate tools (inspired by working with the manufacturer of high-tech Formula 1 engine parts) which produce perfectly round and dimensionally accurate belts, critical for perfect speed stability.

The Rega Naia comes with a dust cover and a Rega cartridge torque tool.

Specifications

Drive Mechanism: EBLT triple belt drive 24V AC motor with anti-vibration circuit

Speeds: 33 1/3 RPM, 45 RPM

Speed Control: Crystal-based DSP sinewave generator

Supplied Tonearm: Rega RB Titanium, 9-inch, spring downforce

Platter: 12-inch alumina with peripheral weighting and felt mat

Platter Weight: 5.7 lb. (2.6 kg)

Bearing: Zirconium toughened alumina

Plinth: Ultra-low mass foam cored carbon fiber with ceramic bracing

Dimensions w/ Dust Cover (HWD): 125 x 420 x 350 mm

Weight: 10.36 lb. (4.7 kg)