The Rega Naia turntable has been around for about 18 months now, so I thought it was high time I gave the Audio T Blogworld a gentle reminder of just how wonderful it is—and why it deserves pride of place right at the very tippy-top of your luxury wish list.

The Secret To Hi-Fi Heaven

The secret to hi-fi heaven is making sure you’ve got the best source material possible—and by now the whole world surely knows that one of those is vinyl. Personally, I’m of the view that the Rega Naia is the finest vinyl spinner I’ve had the pleasure of playing records on. And I’ve heard plenty over the years (some of them ludicrously expensive too), having been part of the hi-fi world for a very long time!

Naiad Gives Birth to Naia

The Rega Naia is what happens when you're the boss of the company (Roy Gandy, in this case) and you give your best R&D team free rein to design a cutting-edge, state-of-the-art creation with absolutely no limits—no holds barred. Admittedly, this approach initially resulted in a beautiful thing called the Naiad, of which only 50 were ever made—and they’re all long since sold.

After seven long years in research and development, the project known as Naiad was finally completed in 2017. It was a product unlike any other, created to push Rega’s philosophies to the extreme and prove beyond doubt that their lifelong mantra—ultra-lightweight, high-rigidity plinths and the use of key materials in key areas—is absolutely paramount when it comes to building a serious performance turntable.

Of course, the Naiad is no longer available—but before it bowed out, it gave birth to the Naia…

Key Features of Naia

Graphene impregnated Carbon Fibre skeletal plinth with Tancast 8 foam core
ZTA Zirconium toughened alumina (ceramic) central bearing
RB titanium tonearm: One piece titanium vertical bearing and Titanium vertical spindle assembly
Tungsten balance weight shaft and weight
Ceramic top and bottom braces
Reference advanced fully adjustable power supply
Resonance controlled ceramic platter with improved flywheel effect and complex profile
Low mass skeletal aluminium feet
Triple Reference drive belts for improved stability and drive characteristics.
Rega Aphelion 2 MC factory fitted (optional)
Lifetime warranty against manufacture defects

the naia is available with the Aphelion 2 cartridge pre-loaded

Kuunatic

Hot off the presses—and sounding rather lush on the Naia—comes the brand-new album from Japanese primal psych rockers Kuunatic. I’ve been following their career for the past few years and have seen them live twice (they were brilliant, by the way), and with this new release, Wheels of Ömon, they’ve really come of age.

Kuunatic is a Japanese trio made up of Fumi Kikuchi on keyboards, synths and traditional Japanese instruments; Shoko Yoshida on bass; and Yuko Araki on drums. All three contribute closely interwoven vocals to Wheels of Ömon, which follows their concept debut Gate of Klüna—a mythical tale set on the planet Kuurandia. This new record expands on that story, exploring its moon Klüna and its sun, Ömon. “Each of its eight songs pinpoints a specific moment from one 45-hour orbit of Ömon”—though if you weren’t told, you probably wouldn’t know!

Fumi, Shoko and Yuko

Wheels of Ömon is a trip-fest fever-dream freakout, with beautifully recorded interplay between bass and drums underpinning the pagan chant vocals and cosmic fusion of keyboards and traditional Japanese instruments. At times, the music becomes a full-blown pagan ritual. At others, it’s a dubby cosmic odyssey. Always psychedelic, always intriguing, and always bonkers—in the best possible way!

Standout track for me is “Yellow Serpent”, with its swirling organ and vocal incantations, and a dreamy, Krautrocky, early-Floyd fuzz bass and drum vibe… totally hypnagogic, and probably like nothing else you’ll ever hear. Give ’em a try—they might just become your new favourite band

In this exclusive interview from the Bristol Hi-Fi Show 2025, we sit down with Roy Gandy, founder of Rega, to discuss the brand’s latest developments and enduring commitment to music playback.

The Bit At The End

All of this is proof that if you want a turntable that makes everything you play sound amazing, then the Rega Naia is, without a doubt, the one to put right at the top of your demonstration list. It has everything you could want from a top-end vinyl spinner—great looks, superb build quality, and it's super-duper easy to set up and install. Best of all, it’ll still be working and sounding brilliant for years to come!

Thanks for reading – Andy, Jon and Farid – (but mainly Andy 😉) – Audio T Cheltenham Store.

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other hi-fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to get in touch.

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