Rega Planar 3 Turntable Review - review discussion

Ah, Rega. Fond memories.

Way back, the Planar 2 was the starting point for many serious hi-fi enthusiasts. Who ended up going the route of either Pink Triangle (PT1), Michell (GyroDek) or Linn (LP12).

I made it up to the Linn Axis with Akito Arm. But Rega deliver serous value for money. You can't help but love them.

All it used to take was a Planar 2 and a vinyl copy of Dave Lee Roth's Crazy from the Heat to stop the naysayers dead in their tracks.
 
Ah, Rega. Fond memories.

Way back, the Planar 2 was the starting point for many serious hi-fi enthusiasts. Who ended up going the route of either Pink Triangle (PT1), Michell (GyroDek) or Linn (LP12).

I made it up to the Linn Axis with Akito Arm. But Rega deliver serous value for money. You can't help but love them.

All it used to take was a Planar 2 and a vinyl copy of Dave Lee Roth's Crazy from the Heat to stop the naysayers dead in their tracks.
I currently have an early 90's Linn Basik with an Aikito arm but this has me drooling for an upgrade.
 
The speed controller gave up in my Linn Basik many many years ago, started playing everything at around 34-36RPM. It made playing along to music I knew to have standard tuning impossible! I do have pretty fond memories of that deck up until that point. I bought an RPM4 to replace it, but thereafter is a void that still hasn't been filled.

It's reviews like this that really whet the appetite. Thanks for this Ed. As soon as I've got the room and the rest of the hardware set up, this very well might be the next venture.

I wonder what other finishes might be in the pipeline...
 
"the RB330 has no vertical tracking alignment adjuster which means that the cartridge you choose for it must have the same basic dimensions"

Not entirely true, as the original RB300 had spacers which could be supplied by Rega if you informed them of the cartridge you were intending to use. However, I'm a little out of touch with the new models and not sure if this is still available from them.
As long as the arm was dropping down onto the record a little extra height was ok. Must say that the Elys was an excellent match for the arm though.
 
Yes- Rega have been in touch to confirm this. It's a solution but I'd still prefer to have adjustment built into the arm where possible. Still an exceptional piece of kit though and there are quite a few cartridge types that will straight swap the Elys without adjustment.
 
Yes- Rega have been in touch to confirm this. It's a solution but I'd still prefer to have adjustment built into the arm where possible. Still an exceptional piece of kit though and there are quite a few cartridge types that will straight swap the Elys without adjustment.

It's never really been a handicap Ed, and I've sold more Rega's in my lifetime than any other turntable.
Albeit a few years ago now. ;)
 
This is my second rega, moving from the 2 to the P3. That was 16 years ago. I fitted a Bias 2 cartridge a month or so ago. My Naim Nait XS 2 amp now fitted with the Naim XS flatcap The sound quality is superb. Listening to Patricia Barber Modern Cool on vinyl along with Blade Runner by Vangelis also on vinyl The sound is pure ambiance, lovely clear clarity of vocals by Patricia and wonderful spaciousness of instruments on both albums.

I think I will just keep my Rega P3 at least for another few years. Buy one you will not regret it.
 
Wish I could be brave and swap my old Goldring GR2 for this deck but it was put back into use after giving up with my RP6. Tracking was never correct, bias was on as near to zero as possible yet the arm continued to swing out even with 1.7g of stylus pressure. Platter was spirit level flat yet the plinth was out one side to the other, I thought the brace was meant to stop that. My speed box would never ground, constant buzzing on right channel, Rega couldn't cure it. Imagine my surprise to find it was a common problem cured by a YouTube video by simply earthing the box to my phono stage. After that I lost confidence with it and sold it.

I find it ironic that my GR2 is basically a Planner 2 but never had an issue. Maybe I was unlucky and just got a bad one but I clearly wasn't alone. Pity this new 3 still has manual speed change and why don't Rega fit the white belt to all their TT's if they improve things so much? It wouldn't add much to the price. This seems like a rant but I love their sound and would love another Rega deck.
 
Great review. Much as I would love the Planar 3 I think my budget will ultimately only get me as far as the new revision of the Planar 2 in a couple of months time when I'm able to make the purchase.
 
i'm looking to pull the trigger on one these, it will be my first trip back into vinyl since I was a teenager. I was thinking of hooking the Planar up to my Denon 4306 unless someone has a better suggestion??
 

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