Different price classes - Rega Elex Mk4 costs roughly 1.7x what Rega Brio does. Expect it to lead on paper; the question is whether you will hear the difference through the speakers you own.
| Area | Better | Why |
|---|
| Power | A | Rega Elex Mk4 has more power - 72W against 50W into 8 ohms. That is about 1.6dB, which is a small step in loudness but real headroom on peaks. |
| Room size | depends | We rate Rega Elex Mk4 the better fit for a mid-size room, a large room and a very large room, and Rega Brio for desk or near-field listening and a small room. Match the amplifier to the room you actually have, not the one you want. |
| Built-in DAC | A | Rega Elex Mk4 has a DAC on board; the other needs an external one, which is another box, another power lead and another purchase. |
| Analogue inputs | A | Rega Elex Mk4 takes more analogue sources - 5 against 4. |
| Room to grow | A | Only Rega Elex Mk4 offers preamp outputs - which decides whether you can add a subwoofer or a power amplifier later without replacing the box. |
| Shelf space | depends | Rega Brio takes up about 49% less shelf area (745cm² against 1469cm²). |
| Price | B | Rega Brio costs less - $1,100 against $1,895 at list. |
A Rega Elex Mk4 B Rega Brio
depends neither is better in the abstract - it turns on your room, your system or how you will use them. Only specs published for both amplifiers are judged; anything missing on either side is left out rather than guessed.
Which should you choose?
The usual trade-off: Rega Elex Mk4 measures better, Rega Brio costs about 42% less. With most speakers in most rooms that gap is smaller in practice than it looks here. If you already own a DAC or a streamer, the built-in one is money you are paying twice for, and Rega Brio becomes the more rational buy. Think about the whole system: the roughly $795 saved by taking the cheaper one would buy better speakers or a subwoofer, which does more for the sound than the difference between two competent amplifiers.
What a spec sheet cannot show: how either sounds with your speakers, how the controls feel day to day, and what the app is like to live with - which is where most all-in-one amplifiers are actually won or lost. Power figures are the manufacturers' own and are not measured to a common standard, so treat small differences as noise. If you can hear both, that will tell you more than any row above.