We’ve waited six long years for the successor to one of our favourite budget amplifiers – the Award-winning Brio-R – and Rega has come back with a redesigned Brio that is every bit as exciting as its predecessor. And more.

Now in its sixth generation (the original Brio first launched in 1991), the new Brio feels both familiar and completely new.

It’s been redesigned, but in a way that harks back to the retro style of the older Brios. It remains an analogue-only amplifier, but it now, finally, has a headphone socket. And, crucially, it sounds terrific.

Everything we loved about the Brio-R is here: its incredible sense of rhythm, the punchy dynamics; the agility, detail and fun.

The new Rega Brio takes all of those prime qualities and hones them even more finely. As a result the sound it produces is clearer, more detailed and more muscular.

If we had one issue with the old Brio-R, it’s that its lean character meant it had an excitable treble that needed careful matching with the rest of your kit.

So we’re particularly delighted to report the leanness has been filled out by the new Brio, making it much more forgiving than its predecessor when it comes to pairing with speakers. It has a fuller, richer sound that also has a gorgeous solidity running through every single note.

The same 50W per channel (into 8 ohms) runs through the amplifier’s veins and, while that may not sound like much, you only have to crank up A Perfect Circle’s Pet to feel the sheer force of wailing guitars and thunderous drums from the second you hit play.

It goes loud. And it’s thrilling.

But the Rega hasn’t transformed into some muscle-bound heavyweight.

Despite the satisfying oomph that accompanies weighty music, it’s this amp’s nimble footing and rhythmic prowess that’s the true highlight and the thing that makes us play song after song through it.

It ducks and weaves its way around tricky compositions, tying all musical strands together in a way that’s authoritative and skilful without ever losing its sense of fun.

The sustained build up of tension in Arvo Pärt’s Fratres is a real test of the Rega’s talents: the strings are light but urgent, and you can hear the screechy texture of the bow scraping across them.

The piano notes are pleasingly solid, and the sudden drop into silence after it ratchets up the tension is handled masterfully.

The leading edges of notes are stunningly precise, and there’s a depth to the quieter moments that’s as impressive as the crescendo is controlled.

You can lose yourself in the way the Rega handles whatever song you throw at it, regardless of the source.

It’s not so analytical that it comes over like a clinical lecture in how music should sound, but it is revealing enough to expose the differences in recordings and the atmospheres of songs.

The dreamy, melodic tones of Alt-J’s Breezeblocks comes across all fluid and delicate through our streamer, while the playing of Alice in Chain’s Unplugged album on vinyl conveys the live audience, the much bigger scale and the deliberate roughness of the production.

Listen to the same songs through the Brio’s new headphone