Rega Announce New Planar 3 Turntable At Bristol Sound&Vision Show

But not muddy

 

It doesn't track as well as the AT or the Bronze as the stylus isn't as fine, so it might sound muddy to you or it might sound full. The HF is really the issue for me when I hear these cartridges. To my tastes, the Rega smooths things out a bit, the AT is too bright for many systems, and the Bronze excels full range over the others. The drawback of the Bronze might be for some that it is also very revealing of recording anomalies. It is good at rejecting surface noise when set-up correctly though. I'd say the Rega is best at not presenting surface noise and being overly analytical, also being nicely dynamic and having good bass performance. So it's easier to listen to the flow of the music without concentrating on the gear. The drawback to it is that you'll not get as transparent a window onto the recording or the disc quality. I mean, disc quality isn't important unless it sucks, and the Elys will cover some of that but of course there is nothing to hide on a good clean disc, so it's silent there. You'll have to decide if you like the raw, warts and all presentation of the finer cartridge tips or the cover girl performance of the Elys. I like the Bronze best for it's balance of traits, but of course it comes at greater cost. Double the price again and you get rid of most of those flaws as well. I usually run a $1k+ cartridge on my Rega and it is of course better. I also have an Elys for back-up and have used it quite a bit. I am never dissatisfied with the system when it is in use. It's just not as revealing as my more expensive cartridge.
-Bill

 

Many thanks, Bill!
The AT is indeed too bright (It gets fatiguing sometimes), with weak bass, but tracks like no other cart. Zero IGD. If the Elys has recessed highs and powerful bass, I'm ok with that. My main concern is IGD. I don't believe that a Rega cart on a table like the Planar 3 will have this flaw.

 

Very interesting info. How does the Exact fit into this picture?

 

Re: the new adjustable psu:

That sounds sexy, but I doubt it'll come cheap... and the current TT-PSU is already super expensive (especially here in the States, where it's seriously around $140 more than in the UK). I'm still considering this:

It doesn't seem like the Cruise Control 2.0 should work with my 2016 P3's 24v motor... but several years back this guy claimed to've made one work with his P3-24:

Rega p3-24 with Music Hall Cruise Control 2.0 - It Works! - Vinyl Engine

Anyone tried the Cruise Control with the 2016 P3?

 

The speed of the motor is dependent on the power frequency fed to it. There wouldn't seem to be any reason for the Cruise Control to not work by plugging the P3 into the 120V outlet.

That outlet says "3W" on it, so I wonder if it might do any long term harm to the Cruise Control to draw a little more power than that.

 

I've used both the exact and the 2m bronze on a p3. The bronze sounds great--clear, detailed and full--but I found that it really emphasized surface noise. The Exact provides me the levels of clarity and detail that I want while surface noise is better pushed to the background. I only play nm to ex condition records on this system since anything less is unacceptable sounding to me, even with the exact. (VG+ or especially noisy 70s vinyl gets played on my secondary system with a nagaoka mp 110 with excellent results.)

 

Sorry that it took so long to answer. I lost track of the thread. The Bronze is perhaps technically better, but the Exact is certainly next in line for all around sonic bliss here. It has a dynamic and resolving sound, yet is overall warmer than the Ortofon carts. I agree with dbsea that the Exact really helps keep surface noise from being distracting, as does the Elys BTW. If you have the budget for the 2M Bronze or the Exact, don't go cheap here and you'll be rewarded with great sound. Go for the Bronze if you want a more matter of fact, neutral presentation, or go with the Exact if you want a detailed but a bit more warm and easy listen that allows you to more readily forget about record condition or the stereo in general.
-Bill

 

Out of curiosity, is it possible to get the Planar 3 to play at 78 RPM with the TT PSU and a pulley change? I know many of the Pro-Jects allow this.

 

No, just 45 and 33. Rega does sell a table specifically for 78 RPM discs:

http://www.rega.co.uk/rp78.html

 

IIRC, it would require a pulley change AND a sub-platter change.

 

So anyone out there try the new Neo PSU with the Planar 3?

Tempted to order one, but $549 cdn is pretty steep.