Rega clarifies: The tone arm of the Crosley T-150 has nothing to do with Rega

The same and yet so very different, that’s how Rega Research Limited describes that tonearm that would like to look like a model of the specialist, but is ultimately nothing more than a cheap copy, as the English describe it in the case of the Crosley T-150.

The vinyl boom of recent years has led to a situation in which the market is not only served by proven specialists whose solutions are actually capable of bringing out the special charm and quality of vinyl, but unfortunately also by free riders who want to get their share of the cake with mostly very cheaply designed products.

The phenomenon is by no means new and the established manufacturers can usually live with it quite well, because if you want quality, you have to look around in their range anyway. Moreover, if you fall for such a plastic bomber once, you won’t reach for such a thing a second time, because it doesn’t even come close to offering halfway usable quality.

But sometimes manufacturers in the low-cost segment go a step too far, so that established specialists at least feel compelled to clarify the situation. Like the English company Rega Research Limited, for example.

The company Crosley, for example, offers the Crosley T-150, a so-called all-in-one system consisting of a turntable and loudspeakers, which are connected via a bell wire. The “special feature” of this solution is probably a tonearm that, in the view of Rega Research Limited, is all too reminiscent of their solutions, even though it does not come from the designated specialist.

Rega Research Limited therefore now states in a detailed statement, characterised by typical English restraint, but nevertheless very clear:

“At first glance it may look like a genuine Rega tonearm, but we wish to make it clear that the tonearm for the Crosley T-150 is not manufactured, supplied or in any way endorsed by Rega. This tonearm is a purely cosmetic copy that doesn’t come close to meeting our exact, handmade standards and certainly doesn’t function like the tonearm it’s meant to imitate.”

Rega Research Limited

First and foremost, Rega Research Limited must be irritated that the supplier’s plan is working and that potential customers are directly referring to this tonearm as a measure of the product’s quality.

“We don’t want our customers to think that this tonearm is representative of Rega performance or build quality. We have seen several comments on YouTube videos saying “the turntable must be good because it uses a Rega arm”. There is not a single genuine Rega component used in this model, so we don’t want our customers to think that this tonearm was supplied or built by Rega Research Ltd.”

Rega Research Limited

Titled “Is imitation the highest form of flattery?” this statement from Rega Research Limited is a rather rhetorical question, we suspect….

Getting to the point

For years, various manufacturers have been trying to participate in the ongoing vinyl boom with solutions designed to be as cheap as possible, whereby their products are not found in specialist shops anyway, but mostly only online or in electrical wholesalers, at food discounters and even sometimes in DIY stores as “special offers”. Quality does not play a role here, only the lowest possible price, but it helps if you can give the impression of quality at least at first glance. Some companies, however, go too far, as the statement of the proven specialist Rega Research Limited now proves. In the end, it is true once again: if you really want to enjoy music from records, you should look around in the range of products offered by proven specialists, because they too have long since offered a broad product range that also includes fine solutions for beginners at a fair price. This makes vinyl really fun, for years to come.