Rega Aphelion 2 Reference Moving Coil Cartridge

The Aphelion 2 is the fourth generation of Rega's handmade moving coil cartridge programme. It develops the technology created for the original Aphelion and Apheta 3, with every part of the generator, cantilever, stylus and body refined for reference-level vinyl playback.

Each cartridge is assembled by hand in England using specialist winding equipment and digital microscopes. The miniature iron micro cross and coil assembly is built directly onto a boron rod cantilever and partnered with a powerful neodymium magnet system.

A fine-line nude diamond is mounted at 90 degrees to provide exceptional stiffness and control at the stylus tip. The complete assembly is housed within a graded, black-anodised aluminium body machined to extremely tight tolerances.

Fine-Line Nude Diamond Stylus

The Aphelion 2 uses an advanced fine-line nude diamond stylus. Unlike a bonded stylus, the diamond is mounted directly to the cantilever without an additional metal shank, helping reduce mass at the end of the cantilever.

Its narrow contact profile is designed to follow very small groove modulations accurately and make contact with a greater vertical area of the groove wall.

This allows the cartridge to retrieve fine detail, ambience and texture while maintaining control during demanding or densely recorded passages.

Boron Rod Cantilever

The stylus is mounted to a boron rod cantilever. Boron combines very low mass with exceptional rigidity, allowing movement from the stylus to be transferred to the generator with minimal flexing or energy storage.

The hand-wound micro cross and coil assembly is built directly onto the cantilever, creating a compact and highly responsive moving system.

Rega describes the resulting generator as one of the world's smallest low-mass moving coil assemblies.

Hand-Wound Micro Coil Generator

The Aphelion 2 uses an iron micro cross wound by hand with 0.018 mm fine wire. This is positioned within a powerful miniaturised neodymium magnet system developed specifically for Rega's moving coil cartridges.

Reducing the mass of the moving assembly allows the stylus and cantilever to respond rapidly to changes within the record groove.

The cartridge produces a nominal output of just 350 µV, so it requires a low-noise moving coil phono stage with sufficient gain.

Undamped Rhomboid Pivot System

Many conventional moving coil cartridges use a steel tie wire and foam damper to control the cantilever suspension. Rega takes a different approach.

The Aphelion 2 uses a unique rhomboid cantilever pivot without a conventional tie wire or foam damper. Rega developed this arrangement to avoid the resonances and variations that can be introduced by traditional damping materials.

The design relies on extremely precise alignment between the pivot, generator and magnet mechanism, placing considerable demands on the accuracy of the cartridge body.

Zero-Tolerance Aluminium Body

The cartridge body is machined from a single piece of high-quality aluminium before being graded and black anodised.

Its main purpose is to hold the magnet mechanism, pivot and generator in the correct relationship with one another. Even very small dimensional variations could affect the operation of the low-mass generator.

The rigid aluminium construction also provides a secure connection to the tonearm headshell, helping prevent musical energy from being lost within a flexible cartridge body.

Rega Three-Point Mounting

The Aphelion 2 uses Rega's three-point cartridge mounting system. When all three fixing points are used with a compatible Rega tonearm, the cartridge overhang is established automatically.

The three mounting bolts also provide a firm and evenly distributed connection between the cartridge body and headshell.

Conventional two-point fitting is possible on other compatible tonearms, but the cartridge must then be aligned using the appropriate turntable alignment method. The front third fixing is intended for Rega tonearms only.

Designed for Reference Rega Turntables

The Aphelion 2 can also be fitted to other suitably capable turntables and tonearms, provided the cartridge mass, mounting arrangement, geometry and phono-stage requirements are compatible.

Moving Coil Phono Stage Matching

The Aphelion 2 is a low-output moving coil cartridge and cannot be connected to a standard moving magnet Phono input.

Rega recommends an input load impedance of 100 O, capacitance of 1000 pF and a high gain setting on a compatible adjustable moving coil phono stage.

Suitable moving coil phono stages from other manufacturers can also be used. At this level, a demonstration is strongly recommended because the final result depends on the turntable, tonearm, phono stage and wider system.

Apheta 3 or Aphelion 2?

Key Features

• Reference low-output moving coil cartridge
• Handmade in England
• Fine-line profile nude diamond stylus
• Boron rod cantilever
• Diamond mounted at 90 degrees for increased stiffness and control
• Hand-wound iron micro cross and coil assembly
• High-specification 0.018 mm coil wire
• Powerful miniaturised neodymium magnet system
• Ultra-low-mass undamped generator
• Unique rhomboid cantilever pivot
• No conventional tie wire or foam damper
• Graded black-anodised aluminium body
• Rega three-point fixing system
• Automatic overhang when fitted to a compatible Rega tonearm
• Factory-fitted option for the Rega Planar 10 and Naia

Technical Specifications

Frequently Asked Questions

Rega's lifetime limited warranty covers confirmed manufacturing defects. Normal stylus wear, accidental cantilever damage and other consumable wear are not covered.