Rega Planar 2 Turntable Review
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Rega Planar 2 Turntable Review
The new Planar 2 was developed over the past two years alongside the recently released Planar 3. Featuring the brand new RB220 tonearm which is packed with groundbreaking new features.
A new 24v, low noise motor, acrylic laminated plinth, newly designed central bearing and so much more. Every feature of this innovative new turntable is designed to extract the maximum amount of information and detail from your vinyl collection.
Spinning my cherished pressing of Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral’ Symphony [BPO/Karajan; DG 2531106], I found myself engrossed in the pleasing spread of sound that the little Rega served up. It was detailed and engaging, and well able to communicate the physical presence of the orchestra’s massed strings within the venue. Earlier generations of the Planar 2 were more opaque and rhythmically ponderous, without the greater insight offered by this newer model. That’s not to say this current deck is beyond reproach, however, for you can easily hear its limitations against a good £1000 turntable. In absolute terms it is a little dynamically compressed, spatially constrained and deserves a stronger and more tangible bass, along with more insight up top. Nevertheless, the fundamentals are pretty close to being right. Spatially, it’s a decent performer too. Playing Herbie Hancock’s ‘I Have A Dream’ [from The Prisoner; Blue Note BST 84321] – a classic slice of late 1960s ‘progressive’ modern jazz – the deck delivered a pleasingly wide soundstage, inside which instruments were accurately located. This is one of the real strengths of vinyl and I find it hard to imagine an equivalently priced CD player and/or streamer doing anywhere near as well.The bundled Carbon MM isn’t the world’s most expansive-sounding cartridge but it was still well able to give the sense of a group of superb musicians playing together brilliantly within a wide recorded acoustic. Depth perspective was also good, compared to rivals at the price, so everything sounded open and enjoyable. With this new Planar 2 it’s all too easy to forget that you’re listening to a humble budget product that costs less than an armful of audiophile LPs. Therein lies its strength, for the Planar 2 is simply better than it has any right to be at this price.
Tonearm – Featuring the brand new RB220 tonearm which is packed with groundbreaking new features. Incorporating new ultra low friction, Rega designed, bespoke, zero play ball bearings (Patent Pending), housed within a brand new, stiffer and lightweight bearing housing which was developed with a new automatic bias setting negating the need for the user to set bias, making it almost completely plug and play apart from simple arm balancing. The new housing also includes an integrated arm clip and uses Rega’s latest custom aluminium arm tube.
Hub bearing – The Planar 2 has a new 11mm self securing brass bearing (Patent Pending) offering improved fit and less stress on the bearing preventing the transfer of potential energy.
Plinth – High gloss acrylic laminated plinth, stiffer and vastly improved appearance with ergonomically positioned power switch. Three plinth finishes available, high gloss black, white or red.
Motor – New 24v low noise, low vibration motor assembly and new PCB.
Platter – New float glass ‘Optiwhite’ 10mm – Improved accuracy platter.
Other features :
Re-designed feet – New improved foot assembly to increase stability and reduce vibration transfer.
Carbon cartridge – supplied as standard on all Planar 2’s for simple plug and play convenience.
Motor cover tray – with integrated cooling.
Optional lid / plinth protectors – supplied to prevent marks on the plinth and keep it looking its best.
Instructions – Easy to use multi-lingual quick start guide for easy set up.
Packaging – New improved packaging.
Dimensions (lid closed) H 11.7 x W 44.7 x D 36 cm
Weight 5.5kg
GTIN Codes:
Planar 2 BLACK GTIN 5056186702103
Planar 2 RED GTIN 5056186702196
Planar 2 WHITE GTIN 5056186702295
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