New turntable from REGA

Chris Munden

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Any one seen the new REGA "PLANAR" 3 turntable, I had a quick look at one in my local dealer, new glossy finish, but not sure what other upgrades there are, I can't see it being much different from the RP3 underneath
 

Harper100

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Brought the new Turntable from Scotish dealer but very disappointed with the Rega quality control, especially as its a new launch model.

Finish very nice and clearly quality components been used but upon installing dead Eyls2 catridge.

Was wary about getting an Elys2 due to the amount of horror storys you read on the internet, but thought Id give it a go because it seems if you get a good one, they work well.

Very distored sound coming from the catridge after playing a few tracks.

No issues with the Bias Tracking Arm setup so duff catridge. Sent back to my dealer for refund.

Will avoid any Rega products in the future.
 
Al ears said:
plastic penguin said:
Chris Munden said:
Any one seen the new REGA "PLANAR" 3 turntable, I had a quick look at one in my local dealer, new glossy finish, but not sure what other upgrades there are, I can't see it being much different from the RP3 underneath

Too late. Already been reviewed by WHFI.

Clickety.

And there's a new Planar 2 coming.

I heard you the first time. *biggrin*

2 or 3 does it matter? They all look the same. That's why I'm fed up with budget Pro-jects. There's little or no distinction.
 

Chris Munden

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It makes you wonder just how much further REGA can take this design, its seen many changes over the years since I bought my Planar 3 from the first batch with the RB300 arm. I suspect that all these upgrades as each new model comes out is probably more subtle than dramatic, although the manufacturer will have us believe its dramatic, even the reviewers get seduced into the dramatic camp on occasions, come down to earth chaps.

I think if Rega wants to go to the next level, it needs to be new from the ground up rather than tinkering with a 30 year old design. I have no intention of 'upgrading' my old Planar 3, it plays records very nicely and may be a cartridge upgrade later.
 
plastic penguin said:
Al ears said:
plastic penguin said:
Chris Munden said:
Any one seen the new REGA "PLANAR" 3 turntable, I had a quick look at one in my local dealer, new glossy finish, but not sure what other upgrades there are, I can't see it being much different from the RP3 underneath

Too late. Already been reviewed by WHFI.

Clickety.

And there's a new Planar 2 coming.

I heard you the first time. *biggrin*

2 or 3 does it matter? They all look the same. That's why I'm fed up with budget Pro-jects. There's little or no distinction.

No idea why that posted twice.

Agree they look the same but that's pretty much true of all turntable marques, they just tinker with the basic concept. Think Townshend Rock and others, the overall design hasn't changed much over the years, maybe a better motor or something, but they don't need to reinvent the wheel.
 

BigH

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Chris Munden said:
It makes you wonder just how much further REGA can take this design, its seen many changes over the years since I bought my Planar 3 from the first batch with the RB300 arm. I suspect that all these upgrades as each new model comes out is probably more subtle than dramatic, although the manufacturer will have us believe its dramatic, even the reviewers get seduced into the dramatic camp on occasions, come down to earth chaps.

I think if Rega wants to go to the next level, it needs to be new from the ground up rather than tinkering with a 30 year old design. I have no intention of 'upgrading' my old Planar 3, it plays records very nicely and may be a cartridge upgrade later.

Looking at all the 3rd party upgrades you can do to Regas then I think there is quite a bit they can do but then a lot is built to a budget. WHF state "Just about every part has been revised to give a proper jump up in sound quality"

I would keep what you have, consider a few tweaks, ceramic ball bearing, white belt? What cartridge do you have?
 

thescarletpronster

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chrisr1718 said:
Harper100 said:
Will avoid any Rega products in the future.

Seems a bit extreme, just because the cartridge was duff.

Absolutely. The phrase 'throwing the baby out with the bath-water' comes to mind.

The same happened with my RP3. It's apparently a known fault with cartridges – can't remember how they described the problem. However, it was easily dealt with – the dealer fitted a new cartridge and I had superb sound.
 

stevebrock

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Was reading on PFM about a guy who bought a Rega RP10 with a few quality issues with !

Jesus its a £3k turntable you should NEVER expect this spending that amount of money its just obscene
 

Chris Munden

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BigH, I was a precission engineer working in the model industry, now retired, but I could see several places the Planar 3 could be upgraded, the platter bearing was basically sound with very little play, so I fitted a new tungston carbide ball bearing from Lotus engineering, some special lube we used in the model industry, I first lapped in the base of the platter spindle where it meets the ball (it was dreadfull under the magnifier) and let the platter sink down under its own weight, I kept the old motor but mounted it with the Rega sticky pads as the old suspension system was just not hacking it. I fitted a DECO audio ally pully, and one of their 'little green belter' belts and damped down the plastic pulley with felt. I have mixed feelings about heavy glass platters.

Next I fitted an Ortofon Red 11, and then raised the arm at the pivot end with home made 1-mm wooden spacers made out of Obeche to get the arm horizontal in playing position. I fitted an Origin Live mat. That's it really, can't see any more need to do anything else, if you want a very good medium to isolate the deck feet from the surface, Balsa Wood, medium soft grade! It works trust me and it costs eff all. Upgrades are in my opinion subject to the deminishing return for the money you spend. I now play records rather than trying to listen to the record player if you see what I mean.
 

BigH

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Chris Munden said:
BigH, I was a precission engineer working in the model industry, now retired, but I could see several places the Planar 3 could be upgraded, the platter bearing was basically sound with very little play, so I fitted a new tungston carbide ball bearing from Lotus engineering, some special lube we used in the model industry, I first lapped in the base of the platter spindle where it meets the ball (it was dreadfull under the magnifier) and let the platter sink down under its own weight, I kept the old motor but mounted it with the Rega sticky pads as the old suspension system was just not hacking it. I fitted a DECO audio ally pully, and one of their 'little green belter' belts and damped down the plastic pulley with felt. I have mixed feelings about heavy glass platters.

Next I fitted an Ortofon Red 11, and then raised the arm at the pivot end with home made 1-mm wooden spacers made out of Obeche to get the arm horizontal in playing position. I fitted an Origin Live mat. That's it really, can't see any more need to do anything else, if you want a very good medium to isolate the deck feet from the surface, Balsa Wood, medium soft grade! It works trust me and it costs eff all. Upgrades are in my opinion subject to the deminishing return for the money you spend. I now play records rather than trying to listen to the record player if you see what I mean.

I see. Well I'm not sure where Rega can take without spending more money then if they make too good users won't want to upgrade to their more expensive Turntables. I agree listen to the music.
 

Chris Munden

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I suspect Rega don't have too many options left and their route mapping might be coming to an end for that format, There is only so much more you can do with a design that's almost perfect. I'm open minded and I have heard a couple of friends Project turntables, namely a Expression Carbon and Experience basic, both to my ears sounded just as good as the Rega with similar Ortofon cartridges and they seem to be a more progessive company.

I'm sure Roy Gandy is not standing by idle, he will for sure be planning his next project, but it may not be a turntable in the style we know. There may well be totally new technology being used, and that may be a good thing as the next step up, watch the price though Roy!
 
Chris Munden said:
I suspect Rega don't have too many options left and their route mapping might be coming to an end for that format, There is only so much more you can do with a design that's almost perfect. I'm open minded and I have heard a couple of friends Project turntables, namely a Expression Carbon and Experience basic, both to my ears sounded just as good as the Rega with similar Ortofon cartridges and they seem to be a more progessive company.

I'm sure Roy Gandy is not standing by idle, he will for sure be planning his next project, but it may not be a turntable in the style we know. There may well be totally new technology being used, and that may be a good thing as the next step up, watch the price though Roy!

Agree. The basic design of the cheaper Rega decks has been much copied of late so there cannot be anything basically wrong with it. The tonearms are very good. I think the quality control issues need addressing but you are going to find these when items become so popular you might be pushing the envelope when it comes to production rates. They have to be very careful they don't overstretch themselves and get a bad name. Their cartridges are hit and miss, and most are not actually made by them. If they are falling down in this department maybe they should go less idiot-proof and sell their decks without the usual cartridges.

Whilst there is no excuse for sloppy workmanship their decks are obviously built to a price point. I've always said if you want to hear vinyl at it's best, and as it should be, you cannot do it on the cheap.
 

Benedict_Arnold

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Let's be honest chaps...

There's only so much tinkering you can do with a technology that's been around for a century. And if they ("they" meaning all turntable and cartridge manufacturers) haven't got it right by now, it's time to invent something new.

I know! How about a laser reading a digital signal off a spinning mirrored disc? Oh wait.... 40 years too late on that one....
 

NSA_watch_my_toilet

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Hello Chris Munden. Good to have a knowledgeable member more in the forum.

I share your opinion. Rega's could be upgraded, there are things to do. The problem is, that the costs related to those improvements will probably be too high and the product will loose his appealing price.

As an other member mentionned it. This design is copied through the whole industry. Specially on the cheap hifi turntables. And there is a reason for that. -> It's the less costly for a good efficiency in reproduction quality. If you want to top that, you need thicker plinths, better shells, better bearings, better regulated motors and thicker platters. But I would like to see Rega introduce a RP8 that goes exactly that way.

75d0daaf2034ee9eb946e06bb3cc88d9.jpg


In fact, if they had done something like that, I would probably be a Rega user now.
 

Frank Harvey

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There's only so much a manufacturer can do at any point in time with a budget to meet. As time moves on, research allows better designs to be realised, and sometimes a material not used or realised before can come into play with better characteristics for the job in hand.

As for the Planar 3, there is very little that hasn't changed over the RP3. Off the top of my head, only the cartridge, the belt, the lid, the lid hinges, and the basic plinth material remain, but I'm happy to be corrected if I have given any wrong info there. A fair jump in performance as a result.

With regards to the rest of the range, we've hosted many demos between various models throughout the range, and very rarely has anyone not realised a major step up between models, and equally rarely not plumped for the superior model, usually within a few bars of any track they care to play.

As for reliability, there's bound to be one or two cartridges/decks that get through with a minor issue. Anyone who knew how many decks Rega are currently making would fully appreciate that not every single deck can be tested before shipping. We've been ordering RP1s in batches of 30-50 at a time, and that's usually a weekly thing, and we're just a single dealer - imagine how many are being sold globally! Rega's back up service is top notch, so in the unusual situation anyone has an issue, it will usually get a pretty swift solution (more than can be said for one or two manufacturers we no longer deal with).
 

jamesrfisher

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NSA_watch_my_toilet said:
Hello Chris Munden. Good to have a knowledgeable member more in the forum.

I share your opinion. Rega's could be upgraded, there are things to do. The problem is, that the costs related to those improvements will probably be too high and the product will loose his appealing price.

As an other member mentionned it. This design is copied through the whole industry. Specially on the cheap hifi turntables. And there is a reason for that. -> It's the less costly for a good efficiency in reproduction quality. If you want to top that, you need thicker plinths, better shells, better bearings, better regulated motors and thicker platters. But I would like to see Rega introduce a RP8 that goes exactly that way.

In fact, if they had done something like that, I would probably be a Rega user now.

Nice pic of the Inspire Quest upgrade for a Rega, i have one and it is very good.
 

NSA_watch_my_toilet

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jimbofisher said:
Nice pic of the Inspire Quest upgrade for a Rega, i have one and it is very good.

I'm absolutely sure of that. A really stunning beautiful TT. As said, if I had knew this before I get my Sota Sapphire, I probably would have gotten the rega+Inspire upgrade. Even if I'm absolutely happy with the Sota.

sota_002.jpg
 

Chris Munden

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NSA, My old original Planar 3 with the RB300 arm still remains the thickest plinth Rega made and I suspect that later models the plinths were chosen from what was available on the commercial market., nothing wrong in that, but if you had a decent solid mass plinth to start with you wouldn't need to brace it up for more rigity.

On an earlier post a CD was mentioned, well here goes, A CD has better performance than a vinyl system no matter how expensive your turntable, but when it comes to sheer sound quality in dynamics and ambience, snap crackle and pops included, Vinyl is the clear winner. If you have a faint whisper of wow or some other fluctuation such as rumble coming out of your speakers at high volumes, so be it thats part of vinyl, its the whole package you should be listening to not just that tiny bit of hardly detectable wow on the inner track of an album. If you took a great digital picture then started to anilyse each pixel on 100% crops on the computer, then you need councelling, Lol. I agree, the basic Rega design has been copied to death, the Edwards Audio version in my view the best. Rega are moving, albiet slowly but I don't think they have much further to go before a completely new design is needed to further the brand in the market place. You can only throw so much technology at a product thats available and affordabe, its a fine balancing act and i'm sure people like Roy Gandy are fully aware of that.
 

Chris Munden

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NSA, what a lovely picture of the turntable, is it a SME arm and a suspended sub chassis. in the 70's I had a Thorens TD160 with a SME arm, I wish I still had it as in my view It produced a superior sound. I am very tempted to go back to a suspended chassis deck. Their rumble figures and acoustic signature are in my opinion superior to a rigid non suspended deck and are less critical of what surface you place them on. I wonder if Rega ever thoughy about a suspended chassis deck, too expensive these days I expect to tool up for. May be a used Linn Axis on E bay?
 

CJSF

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. . . ? Why not get stuck in and ad the after market goodies to your Rega, I did it to my P5, plus a few tweaks of my own, a lot of listening and adjustment (that cost nothing) produced a wonderfull sound with an investment of around £250, it also ment I understood how the TT produced that sound and where to go next. Be carfull, only some of the aftermarket goodies are worth the effort IMHO . . . The cherry on the cake, an Audio Modes Classic arm and a used Sumiko Pearwood cartridge which I had retiped. A fair bit of tweeking was involved, some worked, some were a disaster but all was recoverable and I learned a lot. Took time and dedication over 3 years, I still do the od adjustment but overall I am happy with the end result now some 5 years down the line.

Would have cost a lot more to equal the performance of my 'P5 CJS Style' and I would not have the satisfaction of 'almost all my own work'. Many say they cant do it, its to difficult, I'm a simple sole, I keep things very simple. Its something I have learned over a lifetime of modeling and self tought enginering, patience, look for the simple rout, and refine it later if you need to? Profesionals get there quicker, I get there eventualy*smile*

CJS
 

Chris Munden

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Sounds like you had some fun CJS, It was a long learning curve for me back in my Thorens days, some mods worked others actually made things worse. Its helpfull if you apply some science to the work you about to undertake. You can spend an awfull lot of money on after market add ons , but where do you draw the line? difficult, because we blokes are natural 'fiddlers'. or as one German HI FI mag said, you can fiddle till the doctor comes, (rough translation) I love that, so very German in their logic.

I would certainly like to do another turntable enhancement project, but it won't be on a Rega, more probably a second hand Linn or early Thorens. Good subject lads, and thanks for all the great posts, keep them coming.
 

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