Different price classes - Rega Elicit MK5 costs roughly 2.4x what Rega Elex-R 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 | B | Rega Elicit MK5 has more power - 105W against 72W 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-R the better fit for a small room, and Rega Elicit MK5 for a large room and a very large room. Match the amplifier to the room you actually have, not the one you want. |
| Built-in DAC | B | Rega Elicit MK5 has a DAC on board; the other needs an external one, which is another box, another power lead and another purchase. |
| Analogue inputs | evenly matched | The same number of line-level inputs (4). |
| Room to grow | evenly matched | The same expansion options on both. |
| Price | A | Rega Elex-R costs less - $1,395 against $3,345 at list. |
| Watts per dollar | A | Rega Elex-R is the cheaper watt - about $19 per watt against $32. A blunt measure, and it says nothing about how either sounds, but it is the honest one for raw output. |
A Rega Elex-R B Rega Elicit MK5
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?
Rega Elicit MK5 is ahead, but on only 1 of the measured areas, and it costs about 140% more. That is a lot of money for a narrow margin - Rega Elex-R is the sensible buy unless a specific feature above decides it for you. If you already own a DAC or a streamer, the built-in one is money you are paying twice for, and Rega Elex-R becomes the more rational buy. Think about the whole system: the roughly $1,950 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.