The interconnect cable is very often an afterthought when buying a Hi-Fi system. Sometimes taken for granted or even forgotten about altogether! A good interconnect can make a system sound fantastic, just as easily as a ropey one can ruin the sound completely!

This overlooked gem in the Rega range is quite possibly one of the world's best kept secrets along with the Hapsburg Napkin Fold, the Worcester Sauce recipe and the answer to Fermat's Last Theorem!! Well I think it's time that one of these secrets was revealed and the only one I know anything about is the Rega Couple phono to phone analogue interconnect, so here goes as we attempt to tell the whole world (well the Audio T Blog readers) what this cable can do.

Here at Audio T Cheltenham we have been trying, testing and listening to phono to phono leads for rather longer than it took for life to crawl up the beaches from the primordial oceans in the days before even the dinosaurs had ancestors. We have tried the good the bad and the ugly and have learned how to recognise a gem when we hear it and this one really is flawless.

Obviously it works wonderfully in a Rega system. Whether it is being used with a Rega Apollo CD player and Rega Brio integrated amplifier or going further up the range with the Rega Saturn CD Player + DAC or the Rega Elicit R integrated amplifier, it always sounds great. So a very flexible (in both senses) cable then!

We always keep coming back to the Rega Couple as the phono lead of choice to use in our main demo systems in store and to those doubters who say that cables do not make any difference we say come and try this one and you will be converted.

Build quality is excellent and even has locking phono plugs for a better connection and to make it less likely that the plugs will be accidentally knocked out. Conductors are full of top notch copper of the high purity type and it also uses Rega's own design of gold plated plugs the signal pin and screening clamp of which are joint free which helps to keep the music signal pure.

Choose a well recorded album, (preferably on vinyl of course) such as Radiohead's latest wonderful thing, A Moon shaped Pool - this one happens to be a white vinyl copy.....pick a track....could be any of them because they are all great!

Kung Fu Hamster Highly Recommends The Rega Couple 2

When played using a lower prices cable (better not say which) and then comparing the same track using the Rega couple the immediate impression is that the sound stage now has much greater depth and width. Sounds now come from further left and right of the soundstage and the loudspeaker cabinets just disappear! Rhythms have a greater propulsion, bass is tighter and deeper and it is now much easier to follow all the music and the vocals at the same time. The vocals have also now become more distinct and all the tiny inflections in Thom Yorke's voice now come through....... spine tingling stuff!!

If you are of the Green persuasion you may be pleased to know that the packing is 100% recyclable.

Remember though ...... a phono cable will not improve the signal, it just makes certain that you do not lose information between components! Yes there are better phono to phono leads out there in the big wide wacky wonderful world but that next jump up takes you up to about £200 and that's a whole other blog!

The price of the Rega Couple is £126 for a one metre pair, but remember if you are buying a new system, not only will we make you a cup of tea or coffee, we will do you a bit of a deal on that price too!!

Now it's time to blog off!

Rega Hi-Fi products are available from all branches of Audio T:
Brentwood, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Enfield, Manchester, Oxford, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, Southampton, Swansea, Swindon