Take a look through Rega’s website and you’ll find the following quote.
“So, history shows that I could have been a mechanic, a builder, a guitar maker, continued working at the Ford Motor Company or maybe even a restaurant owner, but instead, turntables happened.”
Those are Roy Gandy’s words, and we at What Hi-Fi? are mighty pleased that turntables won out in the end. Gandy co-founded Rega Research in 1973, and since then has been on a mission to deliver high-quality specialist audio equipment to the masses.
His first real product was the Planet turntable, with its unusual platter-less design and minimalist appearance. However, it was the arrival of the Planar 3 record player in 1976, and subsequently the rest of the Planar family, that really set the foundation for Rega as we know it today.
The company is best known for its turntables, of course, with the various Planar decks dominating our Awards for more years than we (or the competition, we suspect) would care to remember.
But the brand’s distinctive electronics have never been far behind, with various phono stages and integrated amplifiers proving to be leading contenders at their price points too. The likes of the Fono, Brio and Elex have long become go-to recommendations for us, and justifiably so. When it comes to the all-important performance-per-pound ratio, they, like the turntables, have proved hard to better.
Roy Gandy’s focused approach to engineering and the strong desire to provide real value to customers can be seen as a strong thread that passes through the multitude of Rega components he has been involved with. These components have tended to be characterful, obviously prioritising the musical experience over flashy casework cosmetics and features that don’t contribute to sound quality.
Given the success of the brand and its prominence in the pantheon of British hi-fi manufacturers, it is important to note that Roy Gandy’s main focus of interest has always been music rather than the equipment that reproduces it. The equipment appears to be merely a means to an end in his view, and the kind of products Rega has become known for reinforces that point.
To quote our interview with him in 2020: “I don’t think I’ve ever been interested in hi-fi as such. The concept of high fidelity seems a bit strange to me, but I am passionate about music.”
If that sounds like an unusual point of view from a man who founded one of the most successful British manufacturers of recent times, we learned even more about his character by his actions at the tail end of 2024.
At that point, Rega announced that Roy Gandy had gifted 100 per cent of his shares in the company to its employees. In making it an Employee Ownership Trust, he has provided long-term protection for the brand’s unique culture, prioritised employee job security and also preserved the decades of hard work.
We can’t think of a more deserving candidate to win What Hi-Fi?’s Outstanding Contribution Award for 2025. Roy Gandy, we salute you.
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