What do you think?
Rate this book
A Vibration Measuring Machine
Rega Research Ltd, is a UK hi-fi manufacturer who has been making complete hi-fi systems in the UK since 1973. Rega has become known around the world for it's turntable designs based on sound engineering ideals. This innovative new book opens with an in-depth history of the company from the birth of it’s founder, Roy Gandy, to the present day, detailing the key events and the creation of new products along the way. The book also unravels Roy Gandy’s thesis on hi-fi turntable engineering, examining every aspect of the engineering and structure of the component which has always been close to Roy’s heart. Finally, the book concludes allowing central figures from the company to tell, in their own words, their personal tales of commitment to the Rega ideals.This long-awaited book is essential reading for anyone with an interest in music reproduction, written with the home enthusiast, the professional manufacturer, and the hi-fi journalist in mind.
311 pages, Hardcover
Published December 23, 2016
11 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 16, 2021
Quickly and simply: If your into HIFI, enjoy turntables/vinyl, and learning about how stuff works and is developed then you'll probably enjoy this book.
To start with the book is broken into 3 large sections (each of which contains smaller chapters):
Book 1: The Company (173 Pages)
Book 2: The Engineering (93 pages)
Book 3: The People (35 Pages)
Book 1 goes through the full history of the company from start to present day, detailing the products they were releasing and problems/obstacles they overcame. This is by far and away, the longest section in terms of pages but reads well and is very interesting.
Book 2 covers the 'engineering'. As an engineer, I initially found this section to be somewhat lacking in detail, but on further reflection what was I to expect? Data tables, formulas, and expressions based on empirical experiments? I legitimately was imagining a research paper, then I realised how ridiculous that would be. This isn't a fully-fledged guide on how to build your own turntable or start a company, but rather a beautiful homage to about 50 years of being in the turntable building business. A discussion with the community about the general engineering design approach Rega takes to creating its much-adored products, and to some degree, why it takes the approaches it does.
Throughout the book, there is this constant undertone of how much Rega values its people, and Book 3 is where some of the staff and suppliers are asked a few questions on certain topics. It gives an insight into the company culture and grounds the whole endeavor of bringing reproduced music to life is very much a people-focused approach at Rega.
Is it for everyone? No, but if you are someone who enjoys listening to music, is into hifi, collects vinyl, and wants to learn about an awesome British company that makes all its own stuff in-house then you'll probably enjoy it.
To start with the book is broken into 3 large sections (each of which contains smaller chapters):
Book 1: The Company (173 Pages)
Book 2: The Engineering (93 pages)
Book 3: The People (35 Pages)
Book 1 goes through the full history of the company from start to present day, detailing the products they were releasing and problems/obstacles they overcame. This is by far and away, the longest section in terms of pages but reads well and is very interesting.
Book 2 covers the 'engineering'. As an engineer, I initially found this section to be somewhat lacking in detail, but on further reflection what was I to expect? Data tables, formulas, and expressions based on empirical experiments? I legitimately was imagining a research paper, then I realised how ridiculous that would be. This isn't a fully-fledged guide on how to build your own turntable or start a company, but rather a beautiful homage to about 50 years of being in the turntable building business. A discussion with the community about the general engineering design approach Rega takes to creating its much-adored products, and to some degree, why it takes the approaches it does.
Throughout the book, there is this constant undertone of how much Rega values its people, and Book 3 is where some of the staff and suppliers are asked a few questions on certain topics. It gives an insight into the company culture and grounds the whole endeavor of bringing reproduced music to life is very much a people-focused approach at Rega.
Is it for everyone? No, but if you are someone who enjoys listening to music, is into hifi, collects vinyl, and wants to learn about an awesome British company that makes all its own stuff in-house then you'll probably enjoy it.
May 18, 2021
La macchina per misurare le vibrazioni del titolo non è altro che il giradischi, che, come questa insolita definizione dice, serve per misurare le vibrazioni della testina che percorre i solchi del disco in vinile con la massima accuratezza possibile.
La Rega è infatti una casa inglese nata nel 1973 per produrre, quasi come hobby, degli ottimi giradischi che continuano ad essere sul mercato, naturalmente con tutte le evoluzioni operate nel corso degli anni.
Il libro ci parla della storia della Società, dell’ingegneria dei giradischi e di alcune persone che hanno contribuito al successo del marchio, sicuramente agevolato dalla recente riscoperta del disco nero e dalla ripresa delle vendite di questo supporto che sembrava spacciato dopo l’avvento del Compact Disc negli anni ’80.
Una lettura per me interessante (sono un felice possessore di una di queste macchine), ma certamente destinata ad un pubblico abbastanza specializzato.
The Vibration Measuring Machine on the title is none other than the turntable, which, as this unusual definition says, is essentially to measure the vibrations inside a vinyl groove with as greater accuracy as possible.
Rega is in fact an English company founded in 1973 to produce, almost as a hobby, excellent turntables that continue to be on the market, naturally with all the evolutions made over the years.
The book talks about the history of the Company, about turntable engineering and about the people who contributed to the success of the brand, certainly facilitated by the recent rediscovery of vinyl and the consequent growth of sales of this support that seemed dead after the birth of the Compact Disc in the 80s.
An interesting reading for me (I am an happy owner of one of these turntables), but certainly intended for a fairly specialized audience.
La Rega è infatti una casa inglese nata nel 1973 per produrre, quasi come hobby, degli ottimi giradischi che continuano ad essere sul mercato, naturalmente con tutte le evoluzioni operate nel corso degli anni.
Il libro ci parla della storia della Società, dell’ingegneria dei giradischi e di alcune persone che hanno contribuito al successo del marchio, sicuramente agevolato dalla recente riscoperta del disco nero e dalla ripresa delle vendite di questo supporto che sembrava spacciato dopo l’avvento del Compact Disc negli anni ’80.
Una lettura per me interessante (sono un felice possessore di una di queste macchine), ma certamente destinata ad un pubblico abbastanza specializzato.
The Vibration Measuring Machine on the title is none other than the turntable, which, as this unusual definition says, is essentially to measure the vibrations inside a vinyl groove with as greater accuracy as possible.
Rega is in fact an English company founded in 1973 to produce, almost as a hobby, excellent turntables that continue to be on the market, naturally with all the evolutions made over the years.
The book talks about the history of the Company, about turntable engineering and about the people who contributed to the success of the brand, certainly facilitated by the recent rediscovery of vinyl and the consequent growth of sales of this support that seemed dead after the birth of the Compact Disc in the 80s.
An interesting reading for me (I am an happy owner of one of these turntables), but certainly intended for a fairly specialized audience.
May 28, 2021
As a record collector and Audiophile, this book was somewhat of a no-brainer for me. I have owned a Rega turntable in the past and I've always been interested in the different way they do things. I can't think of another HiFi brand that divides opinion more than Rega. In one corner you have the Rega die-hard fans who will defend the brand til death and in the other corner you have people who just don't understand what the appeal is. I sit somewhere in the middle, neither loving nor hating the brand. I will explain why below.
As a Book, A Vibration Measuring Machine isn't particualrly good. It's not very well written, seems to repeat itself a lot and is quite poorly laid out. There are some nice colour photographs throughout and it is quite well made in a nice hardcover format.
In terms of engineering, I disagree with just about everything in here. Rega talk about how a plinth has to be as light as possible and also as stiff as possible to stop motor vibration reaching the stylus. If that's the case then why has testing from Stereophile revelaed audible motor noise when using a stethescope on the plinth? Compare this to a suspended table such as a Linn which is silent when the same test is done. It just doesn't make sense that Rega continue making this arguement and continue trying to reduce the mass of their turntables when testing reveals it has the opposite effect they desire.
Next we get onto stiffness. Rega use bracing of various materials to make their designs more rigid but there have been several reports of Planar 6's literally sagging in the middle of the plinth. Seems this bracing doesn't work too well or else it would surely stop this from happening.
Rega chooses to use glass for their platters. Another decision that is somewhat baffling when you consider how poorly damped these platters are and how they ring like a bell if you give them a tap. Add the "static magnet" wool mat that's provided and you end up with a pretty strange combination of materials that is both extremely lively and attracts static which is probably enemy number one when playing a record.
What surprises me most about the information in this book is that there seems to be little in the way of objectivity in regards to design. If Rega had done proper objective testing they would know that their platters don't work as intended. They would know that their turntables have a reputation for running faster than 33.3 RPM. They would know the braces do little to reduce sag. I'm not even going to touch on the quotes regarding speakers being "the least important part of a HiFi system" because that is complete and utter nonsense.
Overall, an interesting look into how a popular HiFi company develops products and the challenges they face. It's just a shame it's so poorly written and, at least in my case, it certainly doesn't give me a lot of confidence in the brand.
As a Book, A Vibration Measuring Machine isn't particualrly good. It's not very well written, seems to repeat itself a lot and is quite poorly laid out. There are some nice colour photographs throughout and it is quite well made in a nice hardcover format.
In terms of engineering, I disagree with just about everything in here. Rega talk about how a plinth has to be as light as possible and also as stiff as possible to stop motor vibration reaching the stylus. If that's the case then why has testing from Stereophile revelaed audible motor noise when using a stethescope on the plinth? Compare this to a suspended table such as a Linn which is silent when the same test is done. It just doesn't make sense that Rega continue making this arguement and continue trying to reduce the mass of their turntables when testing reveals it has the opposite effect they desire.
Next we get onto stiffness. Rega use bracing of various materials to make their designs more rigid but there have been several reports of Planar 6's literally sagging in the middle of the plinth. Seems this bracing doesn't work too well or else it would surely stop this from happening.
Rega chooses to use glass for their platters. Another decision that is somewhat baffling when you consider how poorly damped these platters are and how they ring like a bell if you give them a tap. Add the "static magnet" wool mat that's provided and you end up with a pretty strange combination of materials that is both extremely lively and attracts static which is probably enemy number one when playing a record.
What surprises me most about the information in this book is that there seems to be little in the way of objectivity in regards to design. If Rega had done proper objective testing they would know that their platters don't work as intended. They would know that their turntables have a reputation for running faster than 33.3 RPM. They would know the braces do little to reduce sag. I'm not even going to touch on the quotes regarding speakers being "the least important part of a HiFi system" because that is complete and utter nonsense.
Overall, an interesting look into how a popular HiFi company develops products and the challenges they face. It's just a shame it's so poorly written and, at least in my case, it certainly doesn't give me a lot of confidence in the brand.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews