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Compared with the obvious alternative of buying a new budget phono stage, £250 is ambitious for an unspecified used Rega FONO. Your 77 comparable listings put the median at £147, with the 75th percentile at £198, so this is well above the normal used market unless it is a particularly recent, boxed example with warranty or accessories.
That said, the FONO remains a capable, compact stage: the MM version is quiet, straightforward and well matched to conventional moving-magnet cartridges, with a clean, detailed presentation and accurate RIAA equalisation. Confirm the exact version—MM and MC models are not interchangeable—and check that the correct power supply is included. At this price, excellent condition and complete packaging should be expected; otherwise, negotiating closer to £150–£190 would make it a much more attractive buy.
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.
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