RADAR is a price search engine. We link to the original listing — we never sell direct. Transactions happen on the source site.
This is a buyer’s market for the category, and at £72 this Rega FONO is a strong bargain. It sits well below the £120 25th-percentile figure from 73 recent comparable listings, against a £148 median and £200 upper quartile. Assuming it is functional and genuinely the model advertised, the asking price leaves plenty of room before reaching normal used-market territory.
The FONO is well regarded as a straightforward, musically engaging phono stage: quiet enough for serious listening, rhythmically convincing, and an easy partner for Rega turntables and many moving-magnet cartridges. At this money, it is a particularly sensible way to improve on a basic amplifier phono input without overspending. Check that the power supply is included, the RCA sockets are sound, and there is no hum or intermittent channel, but those are sensible checks rather than reasons to hesitate.
Independent perspective — not a price guarantee. Always verify condition, accessories and provenance before purchase.
Rega Research, founded in 1973 in Essex, England, by Roy Gandy and Tony Relph, emerged from Gandy's lifelong passion for vinyl playback. A Ford engineer and music enthusiast, Gandy built his first turntable, the Planet, in his spare time, blending the founders' surnames to create the Rega name. From humble beginnings in a derelict mill, the company quickly gained traction with early models like the Planar 2 and Planar 3, establishing its heritage as a British hi-fi pioneer dedicated to precision engineering and hand-assembly.
Rega specializes in turntables and tonearms, its cornerstone products, but has expanded into a full ecosystem including cartridges, integrated amplifiers like the Elicit and Brio, phono stages such as the Fono, and speakers like the Ela series. While early efforts included loudspeakers and electronics from the 1980s onward, the brand prioritizes vinyl-centric components over headphones, DACs, or cables, all designed in-house for musical fidelity using specialist materials and tight tolerances.
Rega holds a revered position in the high-end hi-fi market as a niche boutique icon, prized by audiophiles for affordable, lifetime-quality performance that emphasizes music over gimmicks. Globally exported to over 50 countries from its Essex facility employing more than 150, it remains a symbol of British ingenuity, with turntables like the Planar series securing enduring loyalty among vinyl revivalists.
See all Rega listings on RADAR.
