Having surmounted the challenge of perfecting the original and expanding their horizons, Rega set their eyes on fashioning a moving coil cartridge for less than half the price of the Apheta 3. Now, your first thought might be "there's no way to preserve quality while lowering the price", and if this weren't Rega you might be right. But they are who they are, 40+ year specialists at making things better and more reasonably priced.

Rega leaned hard on its engineers' expertise and that of their suppliers. The first challenge was to construct a new cartridge body that preserved that benefits and lowered the cost from the aluminum-bodied Apheta 3, a marvel in its own right. Here, computer modeling and expert tool making allowed Rega to build a body from PPS-Fortron, a sophisticated polymer-glass amalgam, that has a complex shape, keeping strength high, mass low, and unwanted resonances to an absolute minimum. The result is simply astonishing.

Of course, Ania would not be a Rega moving coil if not for its unique "tie-wire"-less design. The tie-wire was originally conceived as a method to secure the cantilever, but this introduces nasty resonances that have to tuned-out with the undesired after effect of reducing detail and speed, unfortunately. Being the curious types and unwilling to compromise, Rega's engineers sought out a method that eliminates the pesky tie-wire. Thus was born the pivot pad, a rhomboid-shaped device that positively locates the cantilever, adds zero mass, improves strength, and allows free movement so that the stylus can more accurately track the groove. Brilliant!

This iron cross is some 50% smaller than the original Apheta, making it one of the smallest, lightest weight generators in the world! These parts, including the high-power neodymium magnet, are borrowed directly from the doubly-priced Apheta 3. An elliptical stylus tops off the lightweight aluminum cantilever, while a CAD-designed plastic case protects the delicate internals from prying fingers and well-meaning feather dusters.

All in all, the new Rega Ania moving coil cartridge demonstrates precisely what makes Rega great- unique solutions to age-old dilemmas, a commitment to quality, commanding performance, and a reasonable price. Did we mention, it's all still built in the UK?

Specifications:

Tracking Pressure: 1.75 - 2.00g

Input Load Impedance: 100 ohms

Output Impedance: 10 ohms

Nominal Output Voltage: 350μV (.35mV)

Channel Balance: ≥ 20μV

Separation: ≥ -29dB

Iron cross & micro-coil assembly

Cutting-edge neodymium magnet

Elliptical profile stylus

High specification 0.018mm fine coil wire

3-point Rega mounting style, compatible with 2-point style headshells