Rega Planar 8 announced!

I am more and more impressed with this turntable every time I use it. The Apheta 2 cartridge is definitely not bass light. It is pretty much perfect to my ears. Plenty of warm heft and weight but it does not overstay its welcome. Some of the deep bass notes it plucks out are startling. On my old system, many of the bass notes all sounded the same. With my new turntable, I am discovering all manner of different shades that i had never heard before. It is a revelation. Its been a long time since I was as happy with a purchase as I am with this.

 

Still loving the Planar 8 but one thing I will say - the advice by Rega of setting the antiskate to the same as the tracking weight appears to be way off. I was listening to The Who's The Who by Numbers last night and I noticed that on the last track on side one (Imagine a Man) that Roger Daltreys vocals were horribly distorted. After checking that the album was not suffering from groove wear I decided to check the anti skate setting on a blank piece of vinyl and the stylus shot back towards the outside of the record! I did not have much time to adjust last night but a quick fiddle with the anti skate setting showed that it needed to be set a lot lower to counteract this. Around 1 and the needle stays stationary on the blank vinyl and a bit lower and it starts to drift towards the inside. I assume this is roughly where it needs to be? I quickly listened to the track again with it set thus and it seemed vastly improved but will carry out further tests this evening.

 

It should drift slowly towards the outside of the record on a black vinyl surface. That isn't really the proper way to measure it though. It can't be measured accurately other than with a test disc and a scope, but it will only be accurate at the frequency on the test disc, even then. The trouble with skating forces as created by records is that they are dynamic. That is, they change across the surface of an Lp, and they change from track to track, and from segments in tracks based upon the groove modulations. So any setting will be a compromise, best average. The Rega AS mech has a force which is stronger at the beginning of an Lp side and less strong at the end of a side. That corresponds with the speed of the Lp against its groove modulations (outside has greater speed, thus greater skating force that needs to be opposed) so they cover that part. The other good thing that Rega does where most do not, is that the mech is frictionless, so it doesn't impede the arm in any other way. All of this leads to a more stable platform for the cartridge to do its job without interference. The tricky thing is that you can't visualize this in real time; it's a mind's eye thing. If you try to visualize it on a blank surface, you don't get the same results that are being yielded in real play. You really do just have to set it and forget it. Otherwise it'll drive you crazy. I'm not saying that you can't get better results by lowering the AS setting a bit, you may. It's just that you can't really verify it is better at all times, on all Lps. The other trick is the mech has a smooth and seamless adjustment that you have to just eyeball its base setting and then sit back and listen, so you are doing the right thing there.
-Bill

 

Fantastic information, thanks you!

Just to confirm, you say the stylus should drift to the Outside of the record? I am not doubting your information, its just that some folk say it should drift to the inside and others say it should stay still and not drift one way or the other! I guess the ultimate test with these things is listening and seeing what sounds good.

 

Definitely to the outside. You don't have the full amount of skating force on a blank side as you would in a modulated groove. So if set so that it stays put, you have nearly enough, better at the center than the outside of an Lp. If you set it so that it drifts slowly outside, then that would approximate more closely the added friction and proportionate skating force of the stylus in the groove. Here is some basic info: Turntable anti-skating - Wikipedia
-Bill

 

KT88 offers some interesting info regarding Rega anti-skate and I don't think he'd say I was to far off to suggest that Rega's anti-skate recommendations are fairly accurate for their cartridges. I've owned three and they all seemed to work best having the AS set the same as the tracking force.

Something I discovered with the Apheta 2 shortly after acquiring it is that the stylus should be kept very clean. I purchased a DS Audio stylus cleaning gel thinking it would be safer since there is no base to rest your hand on with the P8 when using a stylus cleaning brush and a liquid cleaner. Turns out the gel was totally inadequate. During a passage on side 2 of Dire Straits Communique I encountered gross distortion and wasn't sure of the reason but after a clean with LAST cleaner and their stylus brush the distortion was gone. Since, as a general rule I clean the stylus before every record I play and I've never experienced the problem again.

I found resting my left hand on the platform the P8 sits on and using it to support my right while brushing is safe and effective.

 

I recommend using dry Magic Eraser on a regular basis. Liquid cleaners only when necessary, as they contain solvent which can loosen the bond of a stylus into a cantilever. The Aheta and many higher end cartridgges use a nude mount stylus, which is a better fit, but they still use a bit of glue on the back side at least for added security. None are just bare diamond and aluminum AFAIK. Using a solvent based liquid cleaner on a bonded stylus as used o cheaper cartridges can result in styli that go MIA. Don't ask me or my old Denon MC how we know...
-Bill

 

I’m now considering getting the new 8 as an upgrade from my 2016 p3 (and skipping the 6) but I really enjoy my Exact cart. The dealer’s told me that to use an MM cart on the new 8 rather than an MC would limit the deck and I won’t be realising it’s full capabilities.

Does anyone have experience of using the 8 with an MM cart or non-rega one?

 

It'll sound amazing with your Exact. He's just saying that the Planar 8 is capable of even better sound with even better cartridges. No harm done using the Exact, and it'll sound better on the Planar 8 than on the Planar 3.
-Bill

 

Is the Exact tall enough to be used on the 8? Rega via their twitter account claimed it was, however, to cut a long story short, I bought an 8 with an Exact (as I only have an MM phono preamp). It was installed by the dealer. When it arrived, I tried to play some records and the needle wouldn't "nestle" in the groove. The arm lifter was was stopping it from making full contact. The dealer then said he had tried it in presence of Rega distributor in Spain and that it wasn't actually compatible. In the end he swapped it for a 2M Black stylus as I had a Bronze cartridge lying around at home.

Thanks
James

 

I have an RP8, and the Exact with my Aria stage sounds much better than the Ania did with it. However, I did have one of their Ania carts from a bad batch which apparently have since been fixed. There were a bad batch from the company last year. They discovered an issue and health with it.

I'm sticking with the Exact for now (and it sounds great) until I probably upgrade to a Hana MC after the Exact runs it's life.

 

Unless Rega has changed their VTA measurements that as far as im aware have remained unchanged since 1983 then something mustve been misaligned on that P8 for the Exact not to be compatible. Apart from the P9 and RP10 that have thinner mats (to achieve the same VTA) all other Regas since the original RB300 P3 have the same VTA. If im wrong please educate me but thats my understanding of it.

 

Rega's MC carts are a few mm taller than their MM carts. Have always been (goes to show how they feel VTA adjustment is not important). The arm lifter is adjustable to cater for different cartridge heights (e.g. if one installs a Rega Ania on a P3 previously used with an Exact, the arm lift may not lift the tonearm high enough at the end of a side on a 180gm record. The reverse is true if one installs a Rega MM cart on a P8 adjusted to cater for an Apheta). Strange that the Rega distributor in Spain didn't know such a basic feature of their tables. Rega Arm Lift Height Adjustment - Audio Appraisal

 

Rega mentioned this via twitter, but it didn’t look like I could lower it any further. I’ll try and find a photo of it later on.

Thanks
James

 

Granted, the P8 is not sold with an Exact as a bundle anymore, like the RP8 used to be. However, the Ania didn't exist at the beginning of the RP8's commercial life, so the Exact bundle was the low-cost package. Please keep us posted. Thanks!

 

On fb it was mentioned there may be a preview of the new P10 at the Aethos launch event in Sept.

 

Yes, there’s a Rega dealer in London saying they hope to show both in early Sept.

 

That is true about the Aphetas and Anias being taller... still ive had an Apheta 1 and an Exact on a P5, P7 and P9 (has a brand new rb2000 on it) with no issues.

 

I guess there may be be slight tolerances in the way the arm lift is built. Here is an example of a similar story: New RP8 - some teething problems- Vinyl Engine

How nice your P9 must sound with an RB2000!

 

Interestingly I just placed one of my old Exacts next to the Apheta 2 on my P8 and the Apheta is considerably taller than the Exact. I've also noted that from memory the Exact rode about 1 to 1 1/2 mm above the record surface and I've notice the Apheta at about 2 or 3. I haven't observed how parallel the arm is to the record while playing (I'll look at this eventually) but I would assume Rega made some significant changes to the arm height for the Planar 8. I wonder how this bodes for trying non Rega cartridges without any shims?

 

Interesting, indeed—I've been curious about trying an Exact on my P8, and just assumed it would be a quick swap. Thanks for all the info!

 

As a VPI loyalist, this table looks kind of flimsy.

 

Yeah, well... Melissa McCarthy looks less flimsy than Aubrey Plaza, but I'm not gonna make any assumptions on performance based solely on that.


-Bill

 

Lol, fair enough. I do have a ancient Planar 2, and was very happy with it until I heard a VPI.

 

would love to hear one compared to a Rega P9!