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Rega RB880 is an advanced tonearm with low-mass aluminium arm tube, aluminium vertical support, stainless-steel sleeve and spindle, hand-selected bearings and low-capacitance phono cable.
RB880 is the result of almost forty years of Rega tonearm design experience and uses CAD and CAM tools to optimise every structural element. The vertical bearing support is aluminium, while the sleeve and vertical spindle are stainless steel to improve rigidity and mounting stability. The arm tube redistributes mass along its profile to reduce stress and resonance and works with bearing assemblies selected and matched by hand.
Key features
- Redesigned aluminium vertical bearing support
- Redesigned sleeve
- Integrated arm clip
- Improved spring housing
- Low-mass Rega aluminium arm tube
- High stability with movement that is almost free of friction
- Hand-selected bearings
Pivot structure
The new aluminium vertical housing works with the stainless-steel sleeve and spindle to increase rigidity in the tonearm's most critical area. Pivot precision allows the arm tube to move freely vertically and horizontally without measurable play. The bearings are selected and matched by hand so that each assembly can achieve the level of stability required by the design.
Redistributed-mass arm tube
The arm tube is designed with different profiles and tapers to place mass where it is most useful and limit potential resonance points. This geometry increases overall rigidity without making the tonearm unnecessarily heavy. Reduced mechanical stress and low mass help the system follow cartridge movement without converting part of the energy into structural vibration.
Dedicated phono cable
RB880 uses a low-capacitance Rega phono cable with connectors designed to reduce the number of electrical joints. The connector locking system maintains stable contact and helps preserve the signal generated by the cartridge. The combination of wiring, pivot structure and low-mass arm tube makes RB880 suitable for high-level turntables and cartridges.
Geometry and precision
Effective mass is 11 g and effective length 236.5 mm. These values are shared with other Rega tonearms, but in RB880 they are combined with a stiffer vertical assembly, stainless-steel components and individually selected bearings. The aim is extremely free movement without sacrificing the stability required to keep the cartridge in the correct geometry during playback.
