Rega’s integrated amplifiers, side by side. Here is the Elicit Mk5 between the Elex Mk4 and the Aethos and their specifications, showing what your money buys at each step.

The Elicit Mk5 is where Rega’s range stops being about value and starts being about ability. It delivers 105 watts, and more to the point it inherits its preamplifier circuitry directly from the Aethos, the model above it, along with the same Alps volume potentiometer. Rega’s own engineers make the point that the moving-magnet phono stage is unchanged from the previous generation, but that the Aethos preamplifier has transformed how it performs, which tells you where the real work went. Add a proper DAC with a discrete output stage and the Elicit Mk5 becomes the amplifier at which a Rega system needs very little else.

Brief product overview

A Class A/B integrated amplifier delivering 105 watts per channel into 8 ohms, 127 watts into 6 ohms and 162 watts into 4 ohms, with preamplifier circuitry taken from the Aethos and an Alps volume potentiometer. The DAC uses a Wolfson WM8742 converter fed by a Wolfson S/PDIF receiver, on galvanically and optically isolated coaxial and optical inputs supporting 32 to 192kHz at 16 to 24 bits, with output through a Rega-designed discrete line-driver circuit. There is no USB input, a decision Rega puts down to cost and usability. Analogue connectivity is generous: four line inputs, a moving-magnet phono input with earthing post, a record input and output, a preamplifier output, a second fixed line output, and a Direct Input that bypasses the preamplifier entirely for a source with its own volume control or an AV processor. The headphone output uses the output mute relay for speaker switching, keeping the signal path clear. The case measures 432 x 82 x 340mm and it weighs 12.5kg, made in Southend-on-Sea.

How it sounds

The Elicit Mk5 has the drive and timing that runs through every Rega amplifier, but with a grip and a sense of ease that the Brio and Elex cannot quite reach. The Aethos-derived preamplifier is the reason: it lowers the noise floor and lets the amplifier resolve quiet detail without losing momentum, and its effect on the phono stage is obvious, giving vinyl a clean, spacious presentation that belies the fact the circuit itself is carried over. The DAC is genuinely accomplished, with the discrete line-driver output giving digital sources body rather than the flatness that lesser built-in converters can produce. A hundred and five watts, rising to 162 into 4 ohms, means very few speakers at this level will trouble it.

What we’d partner it with

For digital, the Elicit’s DAC is well worth using. We suggest the EverSolo DMP-A8 Gen 2, a streamer, DAC and preamplifier built around AKM’s flagship converters, running Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify Connect, AirPlay, Roon and internet radio through its own large touchscreen interface. It gives you a choice of route: connect it by RCA to a line input and the EverSolo does the conversion, or by coaxial or optical and the Rega’s Wolfson DAC does it instead. Both are worth trying, as the two converters have quite different characters. A Bluesound or Aurender streamer works equally well. Note the EverSolo’s balanced XLR outputs cannot be used here, as the Elicit’s inputs are unbalanced, and the Elicit has no USB input, so a computer would need a streamer or converter in between.

For vinyl, the moving-magnet phono stage means a turntable connects directly. We suggest the Rega Planar 6 RS Edition, supplied with the Nd5 moving-magnet cartridge, which plugs straight in; as a Rega deck it earths through the phono lead, so there is no separate ground wire to attach. If you run a low-output moving-coil cartridge, note this stage is moving-magnet only, so one of Rega’s external moving-coil phono stages would be needed.

For digital, the Elicit’s DAC is well worth using. We suggest the Bluesound Node Icon, Bluesound’s flagship streamer, which runs BluOS with Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify Connect, AirPlay 2 and internet radio and carries dual ESS ES9039Q2M converters of its own. Connect it by RCA to a line input and the Icon does the conversion, or by coaxial or optical and the Rega does it. An EverSolo or Aurender streamer feeding the coaxial input works equally well. Note the Elicit has no USB input, so a computer would need a streamer or converter between it and the amplifier.

On cabling, use a well-made speaker cable of appropriate gauge for the run; the F502S can be bi-wired if you prefer. AudioQuest and Chord are the cable brands we stock.

Who shouldn’t buy it

If your speakers are efficient and your room modest, the Elex Mk4 offers much of the same character with 72 watts for less. If you want Rega’s fullest expression of this circuit, the Aethos steps up to 125 watts, though it does without the DAC and phono stage, so a system built around it needs both separately. And if you run a low-output moving-coil cartridge, the phono stage here is moving-magnet only.

The Elicit Mk5 is a full-width component that wants clear space above and around it. For vinyl, connect the Planar 6 RS to the phono input; as a Rega turntable it earths through the phono lead, so the earthing post is only needed for decks with a separate earth wire. For streaming, decide which converter you prefer: RCA into a line input for the EverSolo’s AKM conversion, or coaxial or optical for the Rega’s Wolfson. If you use the EverSolo’s analogue output, set its volume to fixed so the Elicit controls the level. The F502S is a large floorstander at 111cm tall and 28.5kg each; fit the supplied spikes through the plinth and level it with the thumbwheels, and remember the port fires downwards into the BassTrax diffuser, so the plinth must be fitted for the bass to work as intended. Its presence control lets you lift or soften the upper midrange by up to 3dB once the speakers are positioned. The Direct Input bypasses the preamplifier if you ever integrate the system with an AV processor.