I can understand why this player is so controversial. On it's own the player sounds very different to the Arcam, Marantz, Rotel, Sony ES etc., in its price range. To call it "overrated" is a bit extreme. No other CD player on this site has as many listings vs. positive response. Since this player is almost three years old, you'd think that overhyped products would be yesterday's news after six months, but not this player. The Rega Planet comes down to the old adage in audiophiles, "system matching". The previous reviewer claimed to have heard this player through a Linn AV51 system. Well, that explains everything. For instance a Vandersteen or Thiel speaker matched with a McCormack amp (or Classe' or Bystrom) would reveal the Planet moreso than any Linn "system".
I chose the Planet because it is a cut above the sonys, rotel's, arcams, and marantz's in realism. My favorite test song is "Blue Seven" from Sonny Rollins' "Saxaphone Colossus". If Max Roach's tom tom's don't sound like tom tom's, the player isn't worth a damn. For players under 1K, the Planet was the only one who could achieve that feat. With proper system matching, this player has plenty of detail, more than I need for my ears. Why would anyone choose the Sony 2ES player over the Planet? So they can hear artificial interpretation's with digitized high's and no bass?

The Planet just plays the music, that's all I care about.

Boy Al was hard on the Rega...I have no complaints other than the long "burn" in--around 3 months and its finally peaking. Maybe it requires a great power source and the right interconnects and decent speakers (Al must not have had any of the above). All I can say is WOW!!! Don't buy this unit if you plan to wire it to a 50 dollar boom box using straightened out clothes hangers. It seems to be everything an enthusiast would want and plenty to keep even the most finicky Audiophile from complaining the way Al did.

After spending five weeks with this player and four others. I cannot at this time write four more. Anyone Interested see my AH!Tjoeb'98 review.

Didn't have a lot of money. Had to sell CAL/XLO combo. Bought used Planet in pristine condition. Beautiful looking player. Cool design. Hooked it up. Bunch of static noise in one channel under the music. Piece of junk. Should have kept my old Ultech for the same money.
-- John

I currenly have a Rega Planet on loan from my dealer. Based on all the reviews I have read about this player, I would probably have bought one site unheard! I am ecstatic that I was able to listen to this player before buying it! It's not that the planet is a bad reproducer of music, it's just that it isn't any diferent sounding than what I have. In fact the Planet seemed to me to have a very slight loss in the lower midrange compared to my 12 year old JVC XL-V450. The way I came about this conclusion is by puting the same recording in each player and doing the good old A/B test, virtualy no difference between the two. My reasons for writing this are to save someone from possibly making a bad purchase, It may be that my JVC is a fluke, and happens to sound as good as the $795 Planet. You be the judge! The Planet is certainly a stunner in appearance, and has an extremely solid build, and the remote is better than most found in this class.
Related Equipment consists of
Audio Research SP5
Audio Research D-75
PSB Gold I's
JVC XL-V450
I won't get into cables, but suffice it to say, both players were using
identical interconnects.

I have owned a Planet for 18 months now...it looks good,runs great and sounds same.I have heard some much more costly players (ie:YBA,Audio Refinement,Micromega,Copland,Naim..and more) and I will acknowledge some superiority within these players in SOME aspects, but none have made me want to sell the farm to upgrade my CD player.I wish I could say the same for the majority of my 'other' past and present components. It is important to judge the Rega when connected with top notch interconnects. A 1000$ Planet with a 500$ JPS Labs Superconducter will MORE than hold it's own along side players costing 1.5 to 2 times the cost.EASY to listen to for LONG periods of time...isn't that why most of us sit in front of 2 boxes? Good timbre,great pace,wide staging(a little shallower than I would like),and very 'tweaking friendly' (BDR Racing cones,putty's,weight's etc.). This player can sound GREAT in all systems if given proper attenton(and likely even without).four speakers because there really shouldn't any fivers out there..nothing's perfect.

The Planet gives more detail, range, musicality, natural tones, resolution and just plain enjoyment of music than any player in its range. Why are there dissenting voices out there? There are several likely explanations: A lot of modern music is by its nature bright and edgy, while the Planet is somewhat "analog" or "laid-back" by design. Players that have a bright, edgy bias will sound more "normal" to people accustomed to the bright, edgy sound. The laid-back nature of the Planet is seemingly enhanced DRAMATICALLY if the Planet does not have extremely excellent interconnects. Seriously, it makes a night and day difference if you get it right.

I see where the poor reviews of the Planet come from. I spent days listening to the Planet matched up with various amp/ pre-amp combinations from Linn, Marantz, Arcam and Rotel. None of them lived up to the glowing reviews I'd read in trade magazines or on this site. I tried different dealers, swapping interconnects, bringing components home, while breaking in the same Planet for weeks - all to no avail. I even had the Planet matched up with the Rega's Luna integrated amp at home for a few days. For the price, it sounds great with gorgeous mids, tight lows and decent staging; But I wasn't getting the experience I was looking for. For instance, some of my favorite Motown songs sounded a hair slow, the Chemical Brothers still rocked (but didn't R-O-C-K), and everyone from Fionna Apple to Tom Waits sounded like they could use a cup of coffee.
Finally, one frazzled dealer strongly "suggested" (translation: said look you cheap @#$%&!) that if I wanted more music then I'd have to step up to the next level. We plugged the Planet into a Naim Nait 3 integrated amp and strapped ourselves in for a ride. The haze lifted, the music opened up and I was in musical Nirvana. I heard sounds, notes, and entire instruments that were previously just muddied tones. For those that think the Planet is laid back, Naim provides crystalline detail and peerless rhythm. If you're like me and find Naim's trademark precision fatiguing, the Planet complements with more emotion and musicality than any player in its class. Its like having George Clinton sitting in your lap (scary thought) - and when Sarah Vaughn winds up for a scat, you'd best hide behind the couch because she'll knock your shoes off…

As reliability goes, all I can say is my Planet tracks flawlessly after constant (and I mean constant) use. In its price range , the Rega Planet/ Naim Nait 3 synergy liquefies the competition. I may never leave the house again.

I've spent the last couple of months upgrading my system, which has been more or less stable for the past couple of years, except for an upgrade from B & W CDM1's to the newer SE version.The first upgrade was to the new Paradigm Reference Studio 100 v2 speakers, a substantial improvement over the CDM's. Bigger, more full bodied sound (both have been augmented by an M & K V125 sub), more detailed and more dimensional.
The next upgrade was to Audiodyne cables, Benchmark bi-wire speaker cables, Benchmark interconnects, Benchmark Reference Datalink digital and Powertap power cord. A substantial increase in transparancy, detail and overall smoothness from top to bottom.
Next came an Anthem AMP2, which I have reviewed recently here. This hybrid tube/solid state power amp added a liquid smoothness to the system and is truely a great value in high end amps.
Today I added a Rega Planet cd player, used solely as a transport, to replace a Marantz CD63SE which has been my transport for the past couple of years.
I use a Proceed (baby Levinson) DAP dac which has variable output, eliminating the need for a preamp.
I have read all the reviews here on the Rega, as well as all the others I could find on the net. It's humorous to see a "one star" rating given to this player, or even 2 or 3 stars. Out of the 85 reviews prior to this one, 18 are 3 stars or below and the remaining 67 are 4 or 5 stars. I guess this ratio probably follows the law of averages somewhat concerning most any question one might ask another person. Regardless of the real "true answer", a certain percentage will give you the wrong one.
So what's the "true answer" to the question of whether the Rega Planet is a "good" cd player? While I cannot attest to it's performance as a standalone cd player, as a transport it is one fine sounding piece of audio gear. With only about 15 hours of break-in (not sure how much may actually be needed if only used as a transport before reaching peak performance)this was the "upgrade icing on the cake".
Compared to the Marantz as well as a Rotel RCD975, the Rega has a very noteworthy combination of positive attributes. Much more detailed. More dimensional, with the most noticable aspect being much improved image specificity. Minor movement of vocalist's, such as occurs on the new 8 1/2 Souvenirs cd, "Twisted Desire", where in one song the two vocalists move slightly to the left of center and then back to center in turn, was never noticed before the Rega. The simply rock solid image specificity allowed that to become perceptible. By the way, you should check out that cd, very good recording, kinda Texas swing sorta style. Fun music.
Dynamic contrasts also improved as compared to the Marantz as did definition in the lower frequencies.
As a transport, even as this early stage of usage, I have to wholeheartedly recommend that you give it a listen. To my mind, I made a very worthwhile upgrade to my system.
I find it most humorous to read the negative reviews posted here and see comments made indicating performance deficiancies in areas that I, at least in comparison to the two players mentioned above, find strengths.
There are many reasons this could be the case. More than likely it is because I am evaluating only as a transport.

The Rega Planet as a transport - 5 stars.

Hi from Moscow, folks !Rega Planet, certainly, a miracle ! Very soft, detailed sound, true bass and soundstage. I never tired, when hearing this cd player. If you like music, you'd like Rega Planet. My old cd player was Audio Innovations Alto - piece of sh** (comparing with Planet). Planet have very useful controls and full functionality. I purchased Planet only for 630 $ - brand, new !
Go to Moscow and buy Rega :-))).
For experiment, I bought CD-RW (Rewritable) and record music on it. Any cd player (YBA, Denon professional.....) don't recognized this CD-RW, but REGA Planet did it and play it !!!
It's truly miracle !
My system :
CD player - Rega Planet
AMP - Aura Evolution VA 100 II
Speakers - Tannoy Profile 637
Interconnect - Esoteric Audio Musica 500
Acoustic Cables - QED Qudos Bi-wiring (very good cables)

Best Regards and sorry for poor english !