Rega Planar 8 Turntable

Rega don't make turntables like other manufacturers. Mr Gandy has a fundamentally different approach to the conventional record player design where more mass is added as the price goes up. Rather Rega products use a mix of materials and precision to shed vibration like water off a ducks back. The approach is to lower the internal noise levels and not store energy within the record player so as to make it a better vibration sensing machine.

People used to talk about "the vibe " a lot in the seventies but one might say Mr Gandy was strongly in denial that there were good vibrations in his turntable designs ... it's all about lowering the internal noise floor.

There is a very top of the range Rega product called the Niaid that is vailable for $50K Aus. The Pl8 is actually derived fro that product rather than being an upwardly specced lower model. To this aim the Pl8 has a skeletal minimalist appearance that is in keeping with its trend of minimisation. Please note that while it comes with a dust cover it is not the hinged lid of mere mortal designs but is rather a perspex moulding that must be physically lifted off to play the device.

The plinth is has an ultra lightweight Tancast 8 polyurethane foam core sandwiched between two layers of HPL (High Pressure Laminate). This new plinth is 30 per cent lighter than that used on the last model and more rigid with it. Rega believes that mass absorbs energy and that ends up taking the life out of the music.