I did buy myself a Planet two weeks ago as a replacement for my Yamaha Cdx580. I was satisfied with the Yamaha until the laser broke down (after only 3 years). The first week I was not so impressed by my Planet but I like it more and more. I believe that the machine need some time to sound good. Otherwise I am getting used of it. But still my Rega Planar 3 with Ortofon MC 15 Super sounds more natural and more dynamic. My speakers are Carlsson OA 50.2 (very good Swedish speakers) and I use a Nakamichi reciever. Next thing to change is the reciever.

I just set up and broke in a Pioneer DV-414 DVD Player/Musical Fidelity X-24K DAC, and have now carefully played a half dozen Chesky and Classic Audio DVDs. I got the DV-414 for $359 from SoundCity, and the X-24K for $399 (after a $100 trade-in on an old Audio Alchemy DDE1 DAC) from Audio Advisor. I used an Illuminations D-75 digital cable to the DAC, and an Audioquest Ruby analog interconnect to the preamp. I am also using the Musical Fidelity X-PSU upgraded power supply which powers both the X-24K and the Musical Fidelity X-DAC that I am using with my Rega Planet. The X-PSU can power four of the Musical Fidelity units, and is powering only these two units.
Comparisons to CD are via my Rega Planet/Musical Fidelity X-DAC (HDCD Compatible), which uses the same quality digital and analog cables as listed above for the DVD rig. Clamp-On Cylindrical Ferrite RF Chokes are at each end of every wire and cable in both digital setups, to reduce the liklihood of common mode RFI.

Comparisons to Analog LP are via my vintage Thorens TD-125 MKII (Wein-Bridge Oscillator for Freq. Stability) which has an upgraded power supply, a Thorens Acrylic Platter, a Thorens "Stabilizer" Record Weight, a custom acrylic armboard, a Helius Aureus Tonearm and a Sumiko Blue Point Special HO Moving Coil Cartridge. The Helius Tonearm utilizes Pederson wiring and cables. The Analog LP rig is mounted on a custom isolation wall shelf, and LAST products are used for record care.

My preamp is a Classe Audio Thirty and has a built-in phono amplifier section. Its source selector is configured with the Analog LP rig on "PHONO", the CD rig on "CD", and the DVD rig on "VIDEO".

My bi-amped Power Amplifiers are a home built Push-Pull 6550C Vacuum Tube PA for the tweeter amp, and a home-built Push-Pull MOSFET PA for the woofer amp. The interconnects are Audioquest Ruby. The Loudspeakers are Sonus Faber Concerto, with two runs of Kimber speaker wire to each. The medium size listening room has excellent acoustics, with varied reflective/absorptive surfaces, and dedicated 20 ampere service for the hi-fi equipment.

On the CD rig the addition of the Musical Fidelity X-DAC to the Rega Planet improved both the smoothness and presence of the mid-highs/highs and also the image height. The addition of the X-PSU to the X-DAC improved the bass impact and depth and also the soundstage width. The X-DAC/X-PSU also added full HDCD compatibility to the Rega Planet, which when playing HDCD encoded discs adds some additional improvements. I now own over 35 HDCD encoded CDs. There are over one thousand HDCD encoded CDs out there (just check http://www.hdcd.com), with many more being added each month. The improvements that HDCD gives are very worthwhile, and include generally better soundstage imaging, harmonic texture, and bass.

I needed to drag a TV set with a video input into my listening room to set up the DV-414. It comes with some of the wrong audio settings, including one which outputs no higher than 48 kHz data from the digital output. Once I got everything set up I noticed that there is an added value to leaving a video monitor connected in a high quality two channel hi-fi system. The "Super Audio DVDs" all include a still image for each track and text showing the track title and menu. The DV-414 also has some text of its own on the screen to tell you what's going on. When I finally had to return the TV set to its normal room I actually missed having the video monitor capability. I am considering adding a small video monitor to my hi-fi system in the future to return this capability. Maybe this would be a good application for a little flat screen LCD computer video monitor…

I compared my half dozen new "Super Audio DVDs", to some well recorded/mastered HDCD encoded CDs, some well recorded/mastered standard CDs, and to some well recorded/mastered LPs. All CDs were played on the CD Rig, and not on the DVD rig, since the X-24K cannot take full advantage of the HDCD encoding. Generalizations are somewhat difficult since so many recordings were listened to, but here we go:

1. All well recorded/mastered recordings on all three formats are worthwhile to own, worth having in a music library, worth maintaining playback equipment for, and are enjoyable to listen to.
2. LPs have a "you are there" transparency which is only matched by, and sometimes exceeded by, DVDs.
3. LPs fall short of the bass response of HDCD CDs, standard CDs, and DVDs. LP bass is generally somewhat lacking in impact and depth, and somewhat fuzzy when compared with the other formats.
4. LPs have an inherent element of noise that we have trained ourselves to listen through, but objectively this noise is a shortfall when compared to the digital formats. This noise also draws attention to the lower dynamic range of the LP format, as compared with the digital formats.
5. HDCD CDs fall somewhere in-between standard CDs and DVDs, with respect to transparency, imaging, and detail in the midrange and high frequencies.
6. HDCD CDs and DVDs both have better bass impact and depth than standard CDs.
7. HDCD CDs sound noticeably better overall than standard CDs. This improvement is about the same order of magnitude incremental difference as how DVDs sound noticeably better overall than HDCD CDs. This order of magnitude incremental difference is clearly noticeable, and much greater than the perceived difference I have ever heard between digital cables, analog interconnects, and speaker wires. LPs fall somewhere in between DVDs and standard CDs, overall.
8. Standard CDs and HDCD CDs are the most pleasurable to operate, jump between tracks, program, etc. DVDs are a step backwards in user friendliness, since some of the now very familiar CD maneuverability is missing. LPs are clearly the least user friendly.
9. DVDs present greater detail and soundstage imaging than HDCD CDs and standard CDs.
10. DVDs combine the "you are there" transparency of LPs, with the low noise, dynamic range, and full frequency response of the other formats. In essence, DVDs give you the best characteristics of all three formats, without any of the negative characteristics.

In conclusion, the new "Super Audio DVDs" offer a very high level of resolution that is very enjoyable to listen to. This $760 DVD rig was capable of outperforming my more expensive CD and LP rigs. There is unfortunately not much DVD music available to pick from yet, and there are still some risks as to what will happen with the DVD audio format, but as far as the technology goes the future is now for audiophiles. I can't wait to pick up some more "Super Audio DVDs". DVD has not, however, rendered my CD and/or LP rigs obsolete, since I will need them for a long time to listen to the bulk of my music library. Now, do I really want to put a small video monitor in my hi-fi system? I guess it wouldn't be so bad if it was small and unobtrusive enough…

Kind Regards, Chris Fagas

Touted by some reviewers as having an "analog-like sound". If by that, they mean as good as LP's-not really! With well recorded CD's (like HM, PopeMusic, etc.)it does have a grain free, relaxed sound. But with your more typically recorded(read:mediocre mainstream labels)CD's, it passes thru the high jitter and crud inherent in the studio's signal chain.Guess that means its highly re-vealing,and just doing its job. It won't make crappy sounding CD's (most of 'em!) sound better, but will let the well recorded ones bloom in all their glory. If it sounds like I'm being too hard on this player, I'm not. It does
its job as well as any all-in-one CD player I've heard under 1K. But with the
high jitter encoded right into most CD's datastream due to inattention/
ignorance of mainstream studios, you ain't gonna fix that with any all-in-one CD
player. Or maybe its just the digital format. Doesn't matter how expensive a digital front end I hear, I keep wishing it was an LP. Even now. Think I'll wait until 24 bit becomes standard before I upgrade again. Until I do, the Planet's probably as good as any, and better than most in its price range. Built
like a brick, it'll last many years into obsolence.

I've owned this player for over two years. I read the reviews and couldn't pass the chance. I bought it without a listen (there aren't any local Rega dealers) so I knew it was a major risk. My first day with the Planet was my worst. It was as cold as my 1990 Denon DCD-1560. However five days later I found myself feeding the player CD after CD in awe of it's presentation. This player is just fun to listen to.
There are those who saw the Planet as an upgrade over a Sony ES, Marantz, Rotel, Pioneer, etc. Those who call this player "laid back" or "dark" must own
mid-fi components that either veil the Planet or cannot capture it's full potential. They need the digital sharpness of other players to bring out the sound of a NAD, Sony ES, or even worse Pioneer and JVC amp/receiver. The reason this player is so loved by audiophile's is it pays dividends with amps and preamps above $1000. There is also a break-in period which I believe is pretty extensive. Reviewing this player after only 24-48 hours of break in time will not give you the full potential. I've read opinions of this player that reflect my own in it's early days. I was using an NAD 114 pre/Acurus A150 combo when I bought the Planet. The only change in my system was it's presentation, and not much else. It's hard to improve upon a preamp that has zero soundstage. When I upgraded to the Anthem Pre-1/McCormack DNA 0.5 Deluxe two months later, it was as if I bought three new components instead of two.
I finally had that musical sound.


Until last night, I thought my pre/amp upgrade was the only credit to my drastic facelift. My friend just upgraded his system to a Classe CAP-80 int amp and AMC CD-8A cd player. The salesman told him the AMC was the cross between a Sony XA2ES and a Rega Planet. It's obvious he never heard the Rega.
The AMC has two tubes in it's output stage, which rolloff the highs and mush the bass. After extensive listening, I told my friend that this player lacks midrange and does not present instruments with a realistic interpretation. From that I suggested that I bring over the Planet to test the saleman's claim.


With my Nordost Black Knights, I hooked the Planet to the Classe. There was an immediate difference. The presentation was more up front (expected) and there was a bit more detail. This was not the "dark" player the salesman explained to my friend. On a hunch my friend took his audioquest ruby's out of his player and hooked them into the Planet. For his system (Vandersteen 1C's Cardas cables) this was the home run. The same musical sound I hear in my system came forth through his. There's a deeper bass, a definate midrange, and sharper highs than the AMC player. It was the first time I began to really appreciate the true diamond in the rough this player is.


Two words, giant killer!

After reading all the below reviews I had VERY high expectations of the Rega PLANET. I am in the process of purchasing a completely new system (my old one being absolutely terrible..) and as a student finances were limited somewhat.
I listened to the Planet in conjunction with the Rega Luna amplifier and Krix Lyrix (an Australian floorstanding loudspeaker which for the price they are available here are an incredible bargain). For comparison I started with the Marantz CD-67MkIISE and Arcam Alpha8 integrated amp.

Let me first point out that ALL the components I was listening to had come out of the box that morning and therefore had no real break-in period.

The Rega system initially did not impress me at all. The marantz and alpha combo seemed far more powerful and an overall much better sound. This opinion did not last long at all though (by the way, either of the rega components matched with anything else sounded absolutely terrible in comparison). After about 45 minutes the Rega began to sing. The mids and highs (especially vocals) were absolutely stunning and me and my friend could not help but emit a sigh when Beth Gibbons begins singing on Roads by Portishead (Portishead).

I then moved to the Arcam Alpha 8 Cd player with the alpha 8 amplifier and once again, although it was definitely a marked improvement over the marantz (as it would want to be) it just didn't quite have the sheer beauty of the Rega.

Another point is that the Rega's soundstage and imaging is far superior and overall provides a far less cluttered and open sound.

Definitely a must audition for anyone looking for equipment in this price range but make sure you listen to it with a Rega amplifier.

I've listened to the Arcam's, the Rotel's, the Marantz's etc.The Rega Planet is the most musical player at this level especially teamed with one of Rega's excellent amps [ Brio, Luna, Mira ]I use mine with the Brio amp & Rogers LS3/5A speakers and find this to be the most enjoyable combination I've owned in over 30 years of this fabulous hobby!HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

After many years saddled with old equipment I finally had the cash to buy a decent starter system. I had shortlisted Arcam CDPs but top of my list was the Marantz63KIsig (UK version of the 63). I would have walked out with the KIsig and Arcam amp but wanted to listen to the CDP with the Musical Fidelity XA1 and how glad I am that the next dealer suggested I listen to the Rega Planet with the XA1 before I settled on the KIsig.
The difference was startling and I could use a number of adjectives like smooth and warm that mean different things to different people. All I will say is that with both the XA1 and with the Arcam 8 amp the Rega Planet was better. It has since given me many hours of listening enjoyment.

Whatever you listen to in the price range (450UKP), listen to the Planet in the same set up. It's great!

I own a Rega Planet. It is FANTASTIC. Sounds so much like a turntable that I've been rediscovering the pleasure of hearing all that glorious indie music of the '80s I used do hear in my old turntable. It's smooth, involving and tremendously dynamic. Wonderful. I can't understand why some people say it's lifeless, or that it has a dark sound and no detail or bass slam. Either I have an improved version of the Planet or they're partnering it with the wrong components. But yes - it is highly fussy about interconnects. I use a Nordost Black Knight interconnect and the results are superb: it sounds crisp and detailed, with a fabulous midrange and great bass. It's a great match for my Creek 4330 R and my ProAc Tablette 50's. A really great buy!

I submitted a review for the Planet a long time ago as I loved this machine. But, I've had a few upgrades since I bought it and for the past 5 months I've used it as a transport only (using a great tara labs air digital cable and letting my classe pre handle the d/a.) Yesterday, I had decided that me and the planet were going to part ways as I've had my eye on the classe 201 amp(still do) and was going to trade in the planet & get $750 off the amp. I figured I'd move the digital cable to my Sony Dvp7700 and let it function as my cd transport- the decision had been made. So, I called my dealer informed him of my intentions & he said that I might just want to compare the sound quality of the 2 macchines since it really only involved moving a cable around. I really didn't think I'd hear any difference.
Low and behold, with my wife also assisting me in the listening room- I was absolutely amazed at the diference in sound quality between using 2 probably relatively equal priced transports! The Rega killed the Sony, not slightly but almost unconditionally. I could not believe it. I'm still amazed that little experiment made me love this cd player even more!! Vocals on the rega (especially anything lennon sings on disc 2 of the white album) were so much more clean and focused. The soundstage on eric claptons unplugged (one of my favorite cd's to listen for a soundstage) was so much larger and deeper than the sony. I am shocked there is a difference. TO think rega designed this transport years ago and the sony is the newest dvd model- I really thought the sony might be even a little better.

the unfortunate news, is now I don't have and extra shelf for the amp or a $750 trade in. the great news is I fell in love with this player all over again and I know I'm not giving up any music performance. So, I guess I'm in the market for a new stereo rack (if there are any used Billy Brags out there)and I have a 6 shelf Target rack I bought a year ago for $500 that I need to unload. I'll give the rega at this price point 10 stars.

I won't comment on the build quality of the Planet or it's unique construction or handsomeness of the component. But in a head-to-head versus the Rotel RCD-971, it didn't hold up well. The Planet sounded warmer, but that was because the highs weren't as well defined as with the Rotel. The Planet sounded laid-back, which may be fine for electronics with have too much emphasis in the top octaves or to cure digital hashiness...or if that kind of presentation is your sound preference.