looks, sound stability, quietness

arm is a bit flumsy and needs continuous reudjestment

This P3 has its wooden plinth substituted by a granite-plith.
This change made it much quiter and the sound really stable. I have heard the bass being very, very black and firm, and the notes jumping out of so, so, so quiet background - it was amazing.
Now i am using the recommended Goldring 1012 which sounds as round and smooth as i was used to already before on the Thorens. But with more stability as i said but with the same boring and uninvolving manners as before.
This comes with the pick-up i know but the great EMT is to expensive. I would appreciate your suggestions, Benz Gold, Ortofon something or Sumiko or....
The system should be able to work with most type of cartridges:
Audiolab Inegrated
Rogers 4/1p
Kimber cabled
As said, I am not happy with the built-quality of the arm. The sound is good! A change of cable would be worth a consideration if i could get told how to handle that. Better idea would probably changing to an SME 3009 type. Has someone made experience with that?

Similar Products Used:

Thorens TD 280

- Simple, well built arm and solid plinth.
- Colours available.

- Partnered with Elys cartridge is seriously lacking.
- Where are the upper frequencies ?
- Hum
- Motor pulley is thrown together. Misaligned.
- Paint finish chips easily.

I've used this turntable for nearly 1000 hours since I bought it and must say I've become more and more disappointed as time went on. For too long I have justified my purchase against reviews and the Rega name in the belief that I have a quality product.

On it's first ever play it seemed to lack crisp treble compared to other TT listenings. I put it down to a mismatch with my other components but after recent detailed listening tests against my old Technics Linear Tracking TT with P4 mount cart ($80), I can hear that it is lacking.

The Technics TT blows the Rega away for midrange to high range frequencies while lacking a little in bass and impact against the Rega. Vocals sound distant and muted on the Rega and show it up for how weak it really is. The Rega should blow the Technics out of the water, or so I thought.

I'm using a quailty Musical Fidelity X-LP phono stage and listening through Sennheaiser HD600 headphones and just can't believe the difference I hear. Listening to the Rega in isolation makes it sound okay but very few get the chance to make deck-to-deck comparisons to be able to get a benchmark.

I'm seriously considering selling the Rega as I'm starting to think that I'm getting less than I had before. And that shouldn't be the case.

Oscar.

Similar Products Used:

Technics SL range of TT's.
Technics SL J300R Linear Tracking TT

For the money the Rega 3 is a very good buy,the tonearm alone is it's greatest feature. It is slightly on the lean,cool side with somewhat compressed dynamics,but thats only in comparison to the $$BIG BUCK$$ stuff. Can have a very nice sound when used with the latest GRADO REF.cartridges.Have owned one in the past and I still say BEST BUY.Also check out new MUSIC HALL.

I'm a quite young analog-fan from Switzerland with not to much money. O.K. for that I'm driving the Rega Planar 3 since about 5 years. Other components had come and gone, but the turntable was a constant in my growing system, which contains today VR-4, Aronov Integrated, Metronome Tube CD-Player and other tasty components. My personal history with the Rega went like this: In the beginning I drove it as normal turntable with a Roksan Corus Blue MM. This combination made music even when there were different faults and lacks, but the transfer of emotion already functioned. When I changed speakers and the amp I decided also to make a better analog sound. Now the system is a Transfiguration Esprit (a high output version of the Spirit) which contains to the best systems available. And it plays music: WOW. Better than each CD-Player!!! But don't forget the three Marigo Gemp-Stones (special spikes out of stone) under the table, because the three rubber-feet are real shit. And don't forget a good table under the player - or you will miss a lot of the extended sound.Conclusion: Don't play the Planar3 with cheap MM-systems, you will miss a lot! Try expensive ones, but don't forget the tuning!
I will keep my Rega3 a long time...

The Rega Planer 3 is what analog means and will BLOW YOU AWAY. For the money spent, it is a TRUE investment. Pair it with A Benz Glider and you get what went into the grooves, I assure you. End of side distortion? forget it. Sell the CD player, dude, and experience what music is all about: absolute feel, groove, heart, soul, warmth, and PUNCH. It all adds up to music in the very true and emotional sense.

I reently got a Rega Planar 3 turntable & agree with the previous comments. It is an excellent turntable & the RB-300 tone arm is easily its bet feature. I'm using a Shure VR15 xMR moving magnet cartridge (recommended by dealer) & this is a good match. The turntable sounds great & is a great introduction to analog. I have a bunch of lp's that are easily 30-40 years old & they sure sound good.

The Rega Planar 3 was my first good turntable, after years of BSR McDonald, Pioneer, etc. I never realized that records were capable of such top notch sound quality. I really prefer my Rega to my CD player, and as a result am now upgrading my CD player in hopes that I will be able to stand listening to CDs.Anyhow, the Rega is a great entry level table (probably the least expensive table which is still worth listening to) and is built like a tank. Mine doesn't hum at all and is not sensitive to room vibrations, etc. Place it on a heavy table behind the plane of the speakers, or better yet in another room.
Am considering upgrading to a Michell Gyrodeck next year.

This table has to be one of the greatest achievements since the progression from monophonic to stereophonic sound.Initially equiped with a Nagoka MP-11 Gold, I was pleasantly surprised at how much detail I heard; since the Nagoka was also on my previous Rega Planar 2/RB-250. For years I was vehemently against all things Sumiko; because I found that they were either overpriced, or those in my price range that I did audition sounded absolutely awful! The first time I experienced a Sumiko Blue Point Special on a Planar 3/RB-300, I couldn't get over how horribly gut-wrenching the shrill, CD-like sound was that emanated from a pair of (usually) neutral KEF C60 speakers. That was before KEF stooped to integrating the Uni-Q driver in all their speakers. It wasn't until I read a rather informative review of the Planar 3 that I decided to try other cartridges.
In my opinion, the two best suited to this turntable are the Goldring 1042 MM; and the Blue Point Special MC.
With the correct spacer installed, the Sumiko was a charmer! A bit shrill at first; but after 20 hours of use, I didn't want to get out of the chair. Talk about imagery and depth of field! Worth every penny I paid!
When paired with the Goldring, I was equally pleased! Although different with it's subtle, hot butter-rum ambience, it offers all the detail audible to the human ear... and then some. It isn't as dynamic as the Sumiko, but the RB-300 arm squeezes the best out of each. That's the key! Rega built it's name on the quality of their turntable arms.
Overall, with the simplicity of design and the quality of components, this table will make just about anybody happy. (Unless you have money burning a hole in your pocket!) If you don't believe me, just ask yourself why there are so many Rega clones out there... and some are more expensive!

Hello,
once upon a time I have a Linn Sondek LP12 (Valhalla, Ittok LV III/2, K 18/II). Because of financial problems I have sold it. It was replaced (for one weekend) through a Thorens TD 166 MK VI with TP 50 and a Linn K 9. Unfortunatly this machine sounded so horrible compared with the sound of the LP 12 that I was very happy to bring it back to the dealer.
Now I own a Planar 3 (only the black version is really cool) and use a Dynavector 10x4 MK II with it. I changed the original felt mat against a ringmat MK II and the standard RCA-Plugs of the tonearm cable against Neutrik plugs. It sits on the Rega wall shelf (called "tit").
The Planar 3 sounds far better than the classic Thorens. Naturally not as good as the LP 12. In my opinion it probably the best sounding and looking turntable in its price region. Some of the superdecks sound often worse because they are somtimes very hard to set up correctly. This is one explanation why so many LP 12s sound not as good as they could (and should).
The Planar has a lack highest treble and deepest bass. But between the mediumtreble and the upper bass the is a lot of dynamic, color and engagement that make this turntable really sing.

The Rega Planar 3 is a classic (build with RB 300 tonearm since 1984), the most elegant, one of the easiest to set up turntable of the world.
However, it is not all humankind salvation and strictly not the best sounding turntable of the world. And there are some rich audiophiles with to much money who needs a Planar 9, Well Tempered, Roksan Xerxes, Platine Verdier, Linn Sondek or something else.
For music lovers and audio enthusiasts with a normal income it is the best solution and it owns in comparison with the Thorens and Project rivals a 5 star rating.

Uwe

Ability to reproduce wide range of music, whether the music is of a background nature, or that of a serious nature * Ease of use, maintenance * Appearance and styling that won't date * Solid straightforward construction (well looked after the dust cover will look fine, and the surface won't chip * Incredible trade or resale value *

It is not a Linn LP 12/Sondek (just being facetious!)

I experience consumer dissonance when I bought this deck - I was still in shock that I had spent that much money. I needed to find things wrong with the Rega, and so I found one small flaw. I was doing a lot of recording onto cassette, and being fussy to the point of obsessiveness, used stopwatch to fill those cassettes as full as I could. It seemed the Rega was either fast or slow (I can't remember which), and so I fussed and fussed. I was told the only remedy was to wrap tape around the drive spindle. When I realized how pointless it was complaining of speeds off less than a percent, I then sat back and began to relish the music making qulities of the Rega, especially after upgrading to an Elys cartridge.
Since then the results have been uniformly pleasing, whether I am playing the likes of Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown live in Switzerland; Ben Webster live in Europe; Ennio Morricone and any of his 350+ scores, and classical from every time period.
I would just ask that anyone interested in a Rega work towards an amp or receiver with a good phono stage. I thought the one in my Audiolab to be very good, until I audutioned the Musical Fidelity A3. Wow, the component that seemed to profit best from this recent addition to the MF lineup was my turntable, rather than my CD player!
PS if you are someone who has invested in a CD changer, you may want to reconsider buying something that you have to get up and change every 20-25 minutes (but I wonder how intently one can listen, actually listen, to music, in the 78 minutes blocks that are becoming more and more in evidence on CD?)

Similar Products Used:

Philips; Dual; Technics Direct Drive 1600SL