Well I returned the unit to the dealer who confirmed that the buzzing was clearly audible on various test setups that they tried it on and was beyond what they would consider 'normal' levels.
His view was that all amps create a certain degree of hum through the speakers, although i'm not sure i would agree that this should be the case.
Anyway the replacement is from a newer batch and although it also has a bit of a constant hum through both speakers its only noticeable within an inch or two of the drivers and barely noticeable at all through the headphone jack, so I think i'll be keeping this one for the foreseeable future.
A further update in case anyone is interested.
I've recently been discussing the brio and its hum issue on a different forum site (pfm). Myself and other members were verbally abused and roundly trolled for airing our experiences with Rega products (including by one of the Rega reps) until it got so bad that the thread was deleted by a moderator.
Today I sent the following message to staff member Jo to find out what had happened
Hi Jo,
I'm wondering why the thread I started on Rega Brio hum got canned?
This seems a real shame and a win for the trolls who had set about attacking anyone critical of Rega. I'm sure they will be very pleased to know the thread has been removed and dissenting voices silenced.
I would have been happy for the thread to be locked, is this not an option?
I also added the following to a thread where a member was asking for opinions on the Brio
The Brio has a poor signal to noise ratio and they exclude this specification from their published figures. On some units this can and does translate to a constant audible hum from the speakers (not audible at normal listening distance though) and even through headphones.
Depending on how lucky you are with your unit and how sensitive to these unwanted noises you are will determine whether you find this acceptable.
The sound quality is pretty good though and marginally better than my 10 year old Cambridge Audio amp (the CA amp was a lot cheaper though).
Within half an hour I had been banned from the forum for spamming.
I'm quite shocked at this to be honest and pretty disgusted with pfm and the Rega rep involved. Hopefully venting some frustration here will not get me banned here as well!
As a former forum mod (not on here i might add), you don't just get banned for no reason. Mods/admin are never out to get anyone, unless they're waiting for that one poster (there is always one) to reach their points max, and then down comes the banhammer.
Full story or no story.
I'd love for you to be able to see the entirety of the discussion yourself and make your own mind up but unfortunately they made the entire thread disappear. Perhaps if the staffer on the other site had had the decency to respond to my message but that was just ignored.
I suspect I may well be making a formal complaint to Rega this weekend and see if I can't return the amp and have done with it.
What an unfortunate experience Corum. Best of luck for your next step.
Your story made me go and check my 8 month old Brio (paired with some Monitor Silver 100's)
Being careful to ensure no input I put volume up to max and could hear a slight hiss (no hum).
Below 80% volume I could hear no hiss. I usually listen to my music between 15-20% volume.
I'm very happy with my Brio, the sound being a slight improvement on others I tested at similar prices and my previous cheaper Cambridge. I don't even mind the volume knob data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
Thanks Apollo, glad to hear your Brio isn't affected like both of the ones I've had. Perhaps the higher impedance of the MA's dampens the noise but anyway glad to know it's not audible in your setup.
I really liked the look of the MA Silver 100's myself but in the end went for a pair of Dynaudio Emit M10's and am quite pleased with the result. They are smaller than the MA's would have been but I preferred smaller to enable placement closer to a back wall. They also have a fantastic amount of bass for their size (something I know the MA's have as well albeit with bigger cabinets).
Ok, let me tell you, I appreciate all these great reviews but can you explain one thing to me?
How can most products that you review get a 9/10 rating in Sound Quality? I mean yea sure there are different reasons why somebody would pick a certain component over another and it's all subjective, but seriously come on I'm sick of seeing 9/10 ratings on Sound quality for most components on here.
I am reluctant to take any of your reviews seriously unless this changes.
Apologies but I had to say it.
Mmmm I have just got one of these and had it on for a couple of hours last night and it was very hot to touch at the end of it.I wonder if requires better air flow?
Like any amp it needs good ventilation. I have an Elicit-R that has very good ventilation all around and even after 10 or 12 hours use it's barely warm to the touch. I would imagine the Brio runs hotter because of the small body.
It gets hot very fast so don't put it in a cupboard