Rega Ania Pro MC Cartridge
Taking inspiration from the Apheta and Aphelion cartridges the new Ania Pro is a brilliant example of Rega taking an already great design and tweaking it to make it perform even better. Oh, and it has a red body now which makes it look way better as well.
The latest member of our Rega's MC cartridge range, the Ania Pro, uses Rega's advanced Vital profile nude diamond stylus. This profile is designed to extract as much detail from the vinyl surface as possible. The Ania Pro delivers tight bass, warm mids and accurate top end frequencies to offer a well-balanced and detailed performance.
Using Rega's unique hand-wound micro coil found in the rest of the MC range, the Ania Pro is housed in a unique PPS highly rigid body, ensuring accurate construction and Rega's three point fixing method which offers the optimum connection to the head-shell while automatically setting overhang. The new body is protected by a CAD designed, red rigid cover to protect the internal fine wires, making handling when fitting, safe and risk free. The Ania Pro features a super high-powered, neodymium magnet and a coil meticulously hand wound on to an iron micro cross. This miniature assembly allows greater freedom to track the vinyl groove, guaranteeing even more detail is extracted from the vinyl. All of these features combine to deliver a balanced and dynamic performance that will engage you with your vinyl like never before. The Ania Pro is the perfect partner for the Planar 3, Planar 6 or Planar 8 turntable.
Rega's Moving Coil cartridge design is unique in its approach to achieving an ultra-low mass generator which is undamped (no tie wire) using a unique rhomboid pivot for the cantilever powered by a purpose designed, exclusive to Rega, Neodymium magnet system.
This type of design requires a zero-tolerance engineered cartridge body which is Rega's area of expertise and with the Apheta 3 and Aphelion products these bodies are machined from one piece of the highest quality aluminium. This is a difficult and expensive process requiring all of Rega's decades of experience to achieve. In particular, "zero" tolerancing of the body is required in the alignment and dimension of the pivot pad mounting hole and the magnet mechanism mounting hole relationship.
The Ania Pro body uses a unique polymer/ 40% glass combination called Polyphenylene Sulphide (PPS-Fortron). The special attributes of this material are its hardness and stability in shape and dimension post moulding, both critical for the performance of Ania Pro. Now came the challenge. Rega designed and prototyped using SLA systems in just a few months, proving the validity of the design direction.
Now Rega had to design a production mould tool capable of extreme accuracy and long life. PPS is a difficult polymer to mould and requires special attention to how the mould tool operates. Couple this to the almost unmouldable complex shape of the Ania Pro body and a very considerable challenge faced the Rega engineers and the toolmakers chosen. The toolmakers are of the highest technical skill level, using the most accurate Swiss EDM CNC machines, their regular customers being the military and medical industries, routinely working down to a micron (one thousandth of a millimetre). To achieve this intricate body shape required the most complex high pressure injection mould tool that Rega has ever designed. The tool has eight major parts, four of which must move in perfect synchronicity with each other to achieve each cartridge body. The design and manufacture of this "work of art" took an entire year to produce and was made exclusively by the most senior toolmaker requiring all his lifetime of artisanal experience.
In The News
"With the Ania Pro Rega have delivered a moving coil with many clear strengths and no obvious shortcomings when used on Rega turntables at least, its relatively low mass means it should work on a good variety of arms but Rega's have the advantage of the third fixing. It brings many of the qualities found in their Apheta 3 and offers a clear upgrade on the Ania." The Ear
Our Take On The Rega Ania Pro
The Rega Ania Pro is really something quite special. Combine the special PPS body with its high specification stainless steel inserts, a unique rhomboid pivot system, a tried and tested high performance, Vital diamond tipped stylus cantilever with a low mass moving coil generator assembly and what do you get? Nothing less than market leading musicality, performance, speed, clarity, and detail never before witnessed at this price. Hat's off to Rega.
Main Features & Specifications
- Design: Moving Coil Cartridge
- Tracking Pressure: Between 1.75 and 2.0 grams
- Innovative & Unique Iron Cross & Coil Assembly
- One of the world's smallest & lightest MC generators
- Cutting-edge high power neodymium magnets
- Coil constructed from 0.018 mm fine wire
- Aluminium tapered cantilever
- Vital profile nude diamond
- Fixing: Rega 3 Point
- Input Load Impedance: 100 Ohms
- Output Impedance: 10 Ohms
- Output Voltage: 350uV
- Channel Balance: ≥ 20μV
- Separation: ≥ -29dB
- Load Settings For Adjustable Moving Coil Phono Stages
- Impedance: 100 Ω
- Capacitance: 1000 pF
- Gain setting: High ('On' position for Rega phono stages)
- Hand Made in England
- Manufacturer's Warranty: Lifetime warranty against manufacture defects. Does not cover normal wear on the stylus through use.
- Learn more about Rega
Note: Specifications Subject To Change Without Notice. E&OE