Well this is about time! You wait 20 years for a new moving magnet cartridge from Rega and then three turn up all at once! Blogwise this month is all about the middle one of the three, the ND5. So strap yourself in and here we go…..

The Power Of Neodymium

The technology behind the ND5 is pretty radical. Based upon the glass filled polyphenylene sulphide body (PPS) which is a lightweight and highly rigid material that Rega developed for their expensive Moving Coil series of cartridges, the ND5 is actually their first moving magnet design ever to use a Neodymium magnet (that accounts for the ND bit in the name). Neodymium is the world’s most powerful commercially available magnet and is a crucial component that makes this unique design possible by delivering more power than standard bar magnet designs can.

Magnetic Attraction

I was recently lucky enough to be in a position where I could compare the ND5 to the outgoing Exact which up until now has been the top of the range moving magnet from Rega. Both cartridges were mounted on to Rega P3 turntables so the playing field was as level as it’s going to get.

Precision Perfect

I can report back that the difference is not subtle! The new ND5 soundly trouncing the outgoing Exact in every department and the Exact is a pretty capable performer in its own right. What struck me immediately was just how much more open and sweeter sounding the ND5 was and how much more grip and grunt was present. The soundstage window was bigger in all dimensions too. This is partly down to the fact that the ND5 has an aluminium cantilever which is fitted with a precision perfect elliptical nude diamond stylus. This profile provides exceptional tracking accuracy and extracts greater levels of detail from the vinyl groove.

The ND5’s secret weapon is an optimised pole gap which gives superior linearity and cross talk characteristics. This manifests itself in a far wider soundstage than the previous models. It also has miniaturised parallel coils which are wound in house using 38-micron wire with just 1275 turns. This produces a low inductance, low impedance generator giving vastly improved high frequency response.

I also noted that surface noise was also reduced compared to the Exact. I suspect because the ND5 stylus profile is getting more information out of the grooves compared with the clicks and pops. I played a variety of my favourite demo tracks from the likes of Yello (natch), Nils Petter Molvaer (ECM), Alan Parsons Project (I Robot) and Porcupine Tree (prog brilliance), but the biggest difference came when I played the brand new album by Three Quarter Skies (Fade In).

Bubbling and Fuzzy

Three Quarter Skies is the side project of Slowdive drummer, Simon Scott. You may wince at the thought of a solo album by a drummer, but here Scott ably assisted by illusive Flying Saucer Attack main man Dave Pearce, refracts his shoegazy psychyness expertly through a lattice of glitchy drums and buzzing synths. The expected elements - voice and guitar, primarily - are melted into cosmic slop that I can't help but assume Pearce, who assisted Scott with the mixing, had a rather large hand in. There are songs in here somewhere but they are reduced to a bubbling ambience of dreamy fuzzyness.

Particular highlights are the last two tracks on side two. “Pictures Of Roslin” where walls of distortion and feedback are wrapped around a distant drum beat and a ghostly disembodied vocal and then the majestic “In The Night” which is the most overtly Flying Saucer Attack-like and quite possibly the most mind expanding slice of dreamy psychedelia you will hear this side of prime time Popol Vuh. I think that this kind of music only truly gives up its magic when being played at 33/3 rpm on vinyl on a good record deck with a good cartridge….enter the Rega ND5.

that precision perfect elliptical nude diamond stylus in action

The Main Difference

In conclusion I think that the main difference that the ND5 made over the Exact was that sense of three dimensionality became so much bigger. There wasn’t necessarily more bass or more top-end, there was just more music hanging in the air in front of me… a truly mesmerising experience. The performance of the P3 turntable has been substantially improved and it was pretty nifty before!

Get A Demo

If you fancy hearing the difference that an ND5 can make to your turntable or if you are interested in trying it attached to the Planar 3, Planar 6 or your own turntable, please give us a call or pop along to the shop for a demo.