Rega - Nd5 Moving Magnet Cartridge

The Nd3’s tip mounted nude instead of bonded — a true ellipse from an elliptical grinding process.

Every Nd cartridge shares the same generator. Rega spent ten years developing it and has a patent pending: an ultra-high-powered neodymium magnet, a new generator geometry Rega describes as having perfect symmetry for accurate channel balance, an optimised pole gap for linearity and crosstalk, and miniaturised parallel coils wound in-house from 38-micron wire at just 1275 turns, which gives a low-inductance, low-impedance generator and improved high-frequency response. Output is 5 to 6mV, tracking force is a fixed 1.75g, and the body is injection-moulded glass-filled PPS. What changes as you climb the range is the diamond and the cantilever — nothing else.

The step from Nd3 to Nd5 is the diamond and nothing else. Where the Nd3 bonds its elliptical diamond to a titanium shank, the Nd5 mounts a nude one — what Rega calls a perfect elliptical, a true ellipse created by an elliptical grinding process from polycrystalline manmade diamond. Mounting it nude removes the shank and the mass that goes with it.

Rega credits the range’s new generator geometry with perfect symmetry for accurate channel balance and an optimised pole gap for better linearity and crosstalk, claiming a considerably wider soundstage than the cartridges it replaces. Identify it by the clear smoked window.

Features

• Nude perfect elliptical diamond — a true ellipse from an elliptical grinding process
• Polycrystalline manmade diamond on an aluminium cantilever
• Generator geometry with perfect symmetry for accurate channel balance
• Optimised pole gap for superior linearity and crosstalk
• Neodymium magnet generator, patent pending, developed over ten years
• Miniaturised parallel coils wound in-house from 38-micron wire at 1275 turns
• Injection-moulded glass-filled PPS body — lightweight and highly rigid
• 5 – 6mV output at a fixed 1.75g tracking force
• Rega three-point fixing — sets overhang automatically on a Rega tonearm
• Clear smoked window for identification at a glance
• 100% recyclable packaging; Lifetime Limited Warranty

Specifications

• Type: Moving magnet cartridge
• Output Voltage: 5 – 6mV nominal. Note Rega publishes a range rather than a single figure and states no measurement condition, so it is not directly comparable with other makers’ 1kHz / 5cm per second figures
• Stylus: Perfect elliptical nude diamond — a true ellipse created by an elliptical grinding process, from polycrystalline manmade diamond
• Cantilever: Aluminium, per Rega’s feature list
• Magnet: Neodymium
• Coils: Miniaturised parallel coils, wound in house from 38-micron wire at 1275 turns
• Body: Injection-moulded glass-filled polyphenylene sulphide (PPS)
• Tracking Force: 1.75g — a single figure, not a range
• Fixing: Rega three-point fixing. The cartridge has the two conventional rear holes plus a third at the front, and Rega is explicit that the front third fixing is for use on Rega tonearms only. Fitted to a Rega arm this bolts the cartridge rigidly into a fixed position and, in Rega’s words, automatically sets overhang — no sliding adjustment and no protractor required. On a non-Rega arm the two rear fixings are conventionally spaced and are what would be used, but Rega publishes no compatibility statement for other tonearms and we are not going to make one on its behalf. Ask us if you are unsure about your arm
• Window Colour: Clear smoked
• Stylus Replacement: Rega does not offer a user-replaceable stylus for the Nd range and sells no replacement part for it. That is the verifiable position — Rega has never actually said the stylus cannot be replaced, so we would rather state what is documented than guess
• Mounting Guidance: Rega’s own guidance is worth passing on. It recommends a dealer fit the cartridge; it says to use only the supplied 90-degree allen key, which is designed to reduce the risk of overtightening; and it warns that incorrect mounting hardware will destroy the internal wires. One point catches people out regularly: the three-point spacer in the box is there for packing purposes only and must not be used to mount the cartridge
• Origin: Made in England. Rega Research Ltd, Southend-on-Sea, Essex
• Warranty: Lifetime Limited Warranty against confirmed manufacturing defects. It expressly excludes wear and tear and parts considered consumable — so a worn stylus is not a warranty claim — and Rega states that unauthorised modification or failure to follow its guidelines may invalidate it
• Not Published: Stylus tip radius (except on the fine line profile); input load impedance and capacitance; cartridge weight; frequency response; channel separation and channel balance as figures — Rega claims both qualitatively but never quantifies them; compliance; output impedance; inductance; and whether the stylus is user-replaceable, on which Rega is silent
• Note: Rega never actually states that Nd stands for neodymium — it is the chemical symbol and the derivation is obvious, but we are reporting it as evident rather than as a Rega quotation. Rega’s own claim, with its hedges intact, is that the Nd range is patent pending and that the company believes it to be a world first moving magnet using ultra-high-powered neodymium magnets