cheap secondhand price, great tonearm, easy setup, "musical", good soundstage/imaging

mechanical noise from motor, hum from cartridge & motor, platter ran slow at 33 1/3 r.p.m.

I like listening to records. Noises like clicks, pops and scratches don't bother me, but eventually I could no longer stand the hum & rumble.

I believe there is now a motor upgrade available. Other reviews mention damage to the spindle bearing, but my motor seemed to vibrate badly and its rubber band suspension did little to isolate it no matter what I tried.

The motor is very close to the spindle and only 90 degrees round from the tonearm base so the cartridge gets closer as the record plays and the hum gets louder. The effect is worse in some cartridges than others.

I fixed the platter speed by building up the 33-motor pulley with masking tape (100 revs took 3 minutes & 5 seconds instead of 3 minutes and I'm afraid that I could hear the slowness). Changing belts made no difference.

Replace the wiring in the RB300 tonearm for more transparency.

Spikes and a heavy isolating base also helped sound quality and can be done cheaply.

BUY A USED/SECONDHAND ONE CHEAPLY and find out how enjoyable vinyl is. The money you save can upgrade the cable or the cartridge or go towards a more expensive but better engineered 'table if in the long term you can't cope with the weaknesses. What bothered me might not affect you.

FIVE STARS value if bought used/secondhand.

Good value for money

Quality depends a lot on the tt's position: additional tweaking can be very effective

I notice some people 'complaining' about the Planar's belt. Please follow this tip: help the platter to gain speed (momentum) at the moment you press the ON switch, just by using your hand, so that it doesn't have to do speeding up itself. This will prevent wearing out of the belt tremendously. For its price, it's a killer. I use it with the Sumiko BP Special (MC).

no comment

I have bougth the Rega Planar 3 in 1997. I sold my Rega in 1998. The sound lacks clarity and the amount of wow and flutter was to great. The last thing irritated me very much. I think that all the Rega planar 3 suffer from pitch instability. I can not believe why people buy a Rega planar 3.

Simplicity for one,My planar 3 is equiped with a benz micro silver cartridge and i,ll never replace it.The sound is better than more expensive setups.I GUARENTEE IT!!!!

tHE only thing is you can,t change the interconnects that come with it.THAT,S MY ONLY GRIPE....

I can,t see myself ever changing tables, NOT even for the planar 9 because of yhe price,Its simply unbeatable!!!!!

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nothing compares to the sound you get when listening to a REGA PLANAR 3....

Cost, looks (especially with flet mat removed), quality product, RB300, resolution, detail - Out-performs turntables costing 3 times the price.

For the money - don't be stupid !

I've had this turntable now for 3 years and am very happy with it. I've heard Linn LP12's and more exotic turntables that don't sound as detailed or fluid.

My only slight reservation is that the lid is smoked and therefore you cannot see how lovey it looks (I have a blue one).

Highly recommended especially if you love music over hi-fi.

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Linn Axis, PT little pink thing, planar 2, Linn Basik.

Great Arm, Simple Set-up, New looks are more appealing then the older style.

Dust Cover has very very sharp edges, be very careful if you take the cover off and put it on, I cut my finger.

I just bought Rega Planar 3 turntable(now called P3) and it is special indeed, the arm on it is really great, it came with a rega's own super bias cartridge and it is still in break-in process, but sound is improving by the hour, the music seems very solid, but since it is not completely broken, it sounds kinda boring, it is the cartridge I am refering to, not the P3. If after a week of break-in, the sound does not improve much, I will change the cartridge. The P3 itself, well, like I said, new looks, simple set-up, great arm, hum/noise free, what is not to like, there is nothing close to this price in the market or even costing more, that will give you the performance of this turntable. Apart from the dust cover having sharp edges, I have no compalins about this TT. Highly Recommended.

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Systemdeck IIX, Linn Axis

It plays music seriously. A complete TT for the price of a tonearm.

Basic suspension (the price goes almost entirely to the tonearm).

I consider the new Rega P3 the main front end of my system. Instead of going for a costly CD player (something like Mark Levinson or SimAudio) I chose to fit the turntable with an amazingly precise, powerful, dynamic MC cartridge like the Dynavector 10x4. It’s a perfect match. With an energetic, musical phono pre-amp like the Black Cube, it’s a system to die for. Sonically, it can easily be compared to some very expensive digital sources. It’s high-end for a very friendly price.
A good MC cartridge can deliver the environment of the recording session with a warm feeling of reality, while missing nothing in the highs nor losing bass extension and control. Of course, it must be coupled with revelatory electronics. Some defend that a cartridge like that and a tube amp are the closest to the real thing. May be so, but there is quite a lot of solid state gear that can sound highly musical too. A good phono stage (not cheap ones like NAD or Creek) is the way to go.
The bottom line is that, if you choose the whole system wisely, you don’t need to worry about such petty matters as the cable attached to the turntable. Just consider what the P3 can do, as opposed to the average CD player, and the only thing to be concerned with is how to get more and more vinyl records to feed the hunger for real music.
I don’t consider the turntable an accessory to play old records occasionally. Not with the very good vinyl pressings being done presently. I’d rather see it as the means to musical satisfaction.

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Thorens; Rega Planar 2.

Simplicity in design.

Having to get up to remove the arm from the record.

I've had this turntable for about 7 years now and still love it to bits. I can never see a time where I might consider getting rid of it.

Excellent RB300 arm but the deck is best on a solid shelf.

I've got a v expensive Rotel CD player 965 BX LE Discrete (a bit old now but still excellent) and the Rega blows it away every time with far better soundstaging, better timing, better dynamics and a far more involving sound altogether.

My mates love comming to my place to listen to the Rega as they can't believe its presence. We all seem to stop talking and just listen to it.

Why would you need anythig else I ask?

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Pioneer turntable (cheap and nasty when I didn't know any etter)

Stellar sound, good build quality, fine arm

Ran a bit fast (fixed through tweaking) ... also, removal of platter for switching between 33- and 45-rpm operation is cumbersome.

I bought my Rega Planar 3 from a fellow audiophile and turntable enthusiast who had had the P3 2000 motor modification done on it. When I received it, I noted it ran slightly fast, as many Rega owners have discovered before. I was able to fix this by applying layers of thin tape to the larger belt pulley (under the platter), so that I could fine-tune the speed. Worked like a charm and haven't had a problem since.

I use a Benz-Micro MC20E-2 high-output moving-coil cartridge, and the sound I get is phenomenal. Rich bass, smooth highs, and excellent mids -- all the pieces of the sonic puzzle are pleasing and just "right." I hear details in the music I missed with other tables.

The Rega is bare-bones as far as features are concerned, and to switch between playing LPs and 45s you need to remove the glass platter and switch the belt's position on the smaller pulley. My old Luxman's simple 33/45 switch is the only thing I miss ...

But that's a minor quibble, as I in truth seldom play 45s. The Rega Planar 3 is a truly high-end turntable that, properly set up with a good cartridge, will bring forth beautiful sound from your records.

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Luxman PD-264 (direct-drive)