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Editor's Choice Award - Hi-Fi Choice Magazine
Best in Class Award - avsforums.com
"A Triumph of Analogue Audio Engineering"
The Planar 8 was inspired by the ultimate Rega turntable, the Naiad. Rega decided early on that instead of an evolution of the previous RP8, the new Planar 8 was to be developed and engineered to encapsulate the essence of the Naiad at an affordable price. The company's aim was to deliver a level of performance far beyond what has been achieved at this price point before.
Every aspect of the Planar 8 has been engineered to extract as much detail from the vinyl surface as possible. Rega used the most advanced materials and engineering solutions built around a supremely lightweight plinth to ensure the greatest level of performance.
The Planar 8 is supplied with the new RB880 tonearm and Neo PSU as standard, which offers electronic speed change, advanced anti-vibration control, and user adjustable electronic fine speed adjustment to ensure total accuracy and control over the motor. The outer frame of the previous model has now been removed and a new stylish, removable, single-piece dustcover has been introduced, further reducing the overall mass of the turntable.
Order the Planar 8 with a factory-fitted Rega phono cartridge, or order it without a cartridge and use your own personal favorite.
Award-Winning Performance
Hi-Fi Choice magazine honored the Planar 8 with an Editor's Choice Award, noting "Rega’s Planar 8 really advances the idea of what constitutes state-of-the-art vinyl playback at this price. Fitted with the Ania moving-coil cartridge it really hits the sweet spot of the format while the saving allows you to pick up the exceptionally talented Fono MC phono stage. Almost regardless of the cartridge you end up choosing, it has the remarkable ability to thrill and entertain and is an exceptionally well thought out design that really delivers."
The Planar 8 also snagged a Best in Class Award from avsforums.com. According to reviewer Ed Selley, "It is capable of performance that it is very hard to challenge for the same money but does it from a compact footprint, with logical assembly and some well thought out accessories. This is a phenomenal turntable and one that makes a justifiable claim to being state of the art at the price point. When all this is taken into account, the Planar 8 has to be seen as the current Best in Class."
"Maximum Musical Intensity"
"I’m not sure if anything in the $3000 price point provides better value than Rega’s new Planar 8 both for how it's made and especially for how it sounds," raves Michael Fremer, analogplanet.com, March 6, 2019. "It’s not quite built like the Naiad, but then it doesn’t cost $40,000 or whatever that unbuildable design costs. Thankfully much of the R&D applied there has been brought down to earthly prices. If your goal is to play and enjoy records and not worry about 'tweaking,' the Planar 8 is easy to recommend."
"If you are looking for maximum musical intensity for your pound, dollar, or euro you will be very hard pressed to find a better turntable at anywhere near this price," reports Jason Kennedy, Editor of the-ear.net in an October 2018 review. "I am a Rega RP10 user myself but I’ve been hearing new things on this newcomer at nearly half the price, it truly is a triumph of analogue audio engineering."
Ultra Lightweight Plinth
The Planar 8 is the second Rega turntable constructed using the company's latest ultra lightweight Tancast 8 polyurethane foam core (a material developed for the aerospace industry). This material is sandwiched between two layers of HPL (high pressure laminate). HPL is exceptionally thin and extremely rigid. This new construction makes the new Planar 8 skeletal plinth 30% lighter than the original RP8, while offering increased rigidity over the previous model.
DB Technology (Double Brace Technology)
It's been said, "Mass absorbs energy, and lost energy equals lost music." A super lightweight plinth combined with a phenolic resin double brace mounted specifically where the increased rigidity is required (between the tonearm mounting and the main hub bearing) forms a structurally sound “stressed beam” assembly. This rigid plinth design prevents energy absorption and unwanted resonances which will add unnatural distortions to the music.
Equally, heavier mass can transfer more unwanted energy such as motor or bearing noise directly into the rotating record. The use of braces instead of the complete skin allows double thickness phenolic resin in these key areas, while providing further weight reduction to the plinth which directly addresses the issue of mass absorption and unwanted energy transmission.
RB880 Tonearm
For the new RB880 tonearm, Rega introduced an improved vertical bearing assembly constructed using an aluminum and stainless-steel, low mass assembly with vastly improved stability and rigidity. This tonearm uses Rega's advanced preloaded zero-tolerance bearing assembly adjusted to less than 1000th of a mm, giving friction-free movement and zero levels of unwanted play. This subtle but effective new structure is only visible via small windows at the rear of the new bias housing assembly. A thinner stainless steel balance weight is used, allowing greater adjustability and compatibility. Finally, the RB880 is terminated with a redesigned, low capacitance phono cable terminated with high quality, locking phono plugs to ensure the best possible connection.
Hub Bearing Assembly
The Planar 8 uses a new low mass central bearing assembly. A single piece machined aluminum sub-platter and hardened tool steel spindle run inside a custom brass housing which is cleverly mounted within the chassis. This new mounting is designed to eradicate unwanted potential energy being transferred or stored in the plinth.
Super Flywheel Effect Triple Layer Glass Platter
The Planar 8 uses a three-piece laminated glass platter, which is the result of collaboration with a British glass engineering company. This platter is constructed from two different high quality Pilkington glasses. As a general rule, the only part of a turntable that requires extra mass is the turntable platter in order to achieve constant rotational speed. However, a heavier platter creates more problems for the main bearing design, so again an ideal compromise creates the best solution. Practically speaking, this means keeping as much of the mass to the outside rim of the glass platter to create more flywheel effect but keeping the inside of the platter as light as possible without sacrificing stiffness.
24v Low Noise Motor Assembly
The Planar 8 uses Rega's latest generation, 24-volt synchronous, low vibration motor technology. Uniquely mounted, it uses the highest level of coupling while retaining higher vibration isolation than any previous model. This new motor mounting technique (mounted from the bottom) has been taken directly from the ultimate Rega turntable, the Naiad. This unique mounting method removes all stress on the motor body. The reduced vibration and more rigid mounting deliver superior drive from the new EBLT drive belts. Each motor is hand tuned to match its own custom Neo power supply before fitting to the turntable to optimize the anti-vibration circuit.
EBLT Drive Belts
For three years Rega has been researching and developing with chemists the use of a new bespoke rubber compound for drive belts. Using a specialized curing system, the new drive belt offers superior consistency of modulus (a constant representing the degree to which a substance has a particular property, especially elasticity). These new belts are manufactured on Rega-designed, state of the art, super-accurate tools that produce 'perfectly round' and 'dimensionally accurate' belts, which are critical for perfect speed stability.
High-Stability Neo PSU with Electronic Speed Change
The Neo PSU offers a smooth power supply, an advanced anti-vibration circuit, and fine electronic speed adjustment. It uses the RP10 DSP (digital signal processing) generator built upon a high stability crystal. The DSP generator will divide the accurate signal from the crystal to the exact frequency required to turn the platter at the selected speed. The DSP generator will also produce a near perfect sinusoidal waveform to drive the motor. This, along with an efficient drive amplifier, generates a 24-volt, AC-balanced signal of less than 0.15% distortion, which is completely unaffected by any changes in the mains/line voltage and conditions. This then drives the turntable's anti-vibration circuit, which is situated beneath the turntable.
Optional Ania Pro MC Phono Cartridge
The optional Ania MC moving coil phono cartridge is the flagship partner for the Planar 8. As the latest member of Rega's MC cartridge series, the new Ania Pro uses Rega's advanced Vital profile nude diamond stylus. This profile is designed to extract as much detail from the vinyl surface as possible. It delivers tight bass warm mid-ranges and accurate top end frequencies to offer well-balanced and detailed performance.
Using Rega's unique hand-wound micro coil, the Ania Pro is housed in a unique PPS highly rigid body, ensuring accurate construction and Rega’s three point fixing method. This offers the optimum connection to the head-shell while automatically setting overhang. The new body is protected by a CAD-designed, red rigid cover to protect the internal fine wires, making any necessary handling safe and risk free.
The Ania Pro features a super high-powered, neodymium magnet and a coil meticulously hand wound on to an iron micro cross. This miniature assembly allows us greater freedom to track the vinyl groove guaranteeing even more detail is extracted from the vinyl. All of these features combine to deliver a balanced and dynamic performance that will engage you with your vinyl like never before.
Zero-Tolerance Engineered Cartridge Body
The Ania Pro's design required a zero-tolerance engineered cartridge body, which is Rega’s area of expertise. With the Apheta 3 and Aphelion products these bodies are machined from one piece of the highest quality aluminum. This is a difficult and expensive process, requiring all of Rega’s forty-four years of experience to achieve. In particular, the 'zero' tolerancing of the body is required in the alignment and dimension of the pivot pad mounting hole and the magnet mechanism mounting hole relationship.
The Ania Pro body uses a unique polymer/ 40% glass combination called Polyphenylene Sulphide (PPS-Fortron). The special attributes of this material are its hardness and stability in shape and dimension post molding, both critical for the performance of Ania.
"Fine Value for Money"
"Rega has every reason to be proud of the new Planar 8. A quality record player really makes you forget checking your subscribed YouTube channels and social media messages once the stylus is in the groove (okay, maybe not for all of us!), and the 8’s simple form, easy set up and infectious performance mean that even though it is far from cheap, it is arguably fine value for money for what it brings in terms of musical enjoyment," observes Lim Juan, audiofi.net, May 28, 2019
"I really enjoyed my time with it, and I believe you will, too, if you are looking for a record player in this price class."
