Description
The Rega Planar 8 vinyl record player replaces the Rega RP8. But to call Rega Planar 8 a new generation of RP8 would not be quite right - in many ways these two turntables are different. First of all, of course, you pay attention to the external differences. The manufacturer has abandoned the version of the case with the usual rectangular table (albeit folding) and the same rectangular dust cover, leaving only the supporting frame on three conical supports.
Product information
Rega's engineers, led by founder and mastermind Roy Gandhi, remain committed to the company's signature approach to resonance and vibration control. While competitors rely on a large mass of the housing and platter, as well as complex spring, liquid and even magnetic suspensions, Rega strives to maximize the overall rigidity of the structure, which increases the efficiency of vibration damping and reduces resonance phenomena. This concept has allowed the company to create compact and lightweight turntables without compromising on sound quality.
The company believes that the heavier a turntable is, the more it is able to transmit parasitic energy and noise from the motor and platter to the cartridge, which makes it difficult to play back properly and requires additional countermeasures to compensate for such effects.
When developing the Planar 8, Rega engineers managed to reduce the weight of the turntable by 30 percent compared to the RP8 model while increasing the rigidity of the structure.
As with its predecessor, the table is a sandwich, with a thick layer of Tancast 8 polyurethane foam framed by two thin layers of HPL phenolic resin molded under high pressure, which provides increased structural rigidity.
At the same time, the Planar 8 base weighs 9 times less than, for example, the body of the popular Rega Planar 3 turntable. As in the previous model, the main load-bearing function is provided by the proprietary Double Brace plate connecting the tonearm base and the support bearing.
The plate is double-layered, made of magnesium alloy and phenolic resin, which provides high rigidity and vibration damping efficiency due to the mutual damping of the layers. Where increased stiffness is required, a phenolic resin suspension is used, for example, at the points where the support bearing cup and tone arm are attached.
The passive drive of the platter uses an aluminum subdisc and a steel bearing in a brass cup. The glass platter is three-layer, made of two types of Pilkington glass. The lightweight center part reduces the load on the support bearing, while the weighted outer part effectively stabilizes the rotational speed. The support disk is a massive part of the entire Rega Planar 8 structure.
Media
