Rega Planar 3 RS Edition Turntable – Quick Look
All Image Credit: Rega
Rega have launched a special premium edition of the Rega Planar 3 turntable, the Planar 3 RS edition. This latest belt drive design has been manufactured using a special High Pressure Laminate (HPL) which is usually reserved for Planar 6, 8 and 10 models to improve rigidity over the standard model. The new premium finish has a brushed metal dark aluminum skin with a satin finish, with the plinth edged with high gloss black, and is supplied with a smoked dustcover. The Planar 3 RS comes with a factory fitted ND5 moving magnet cartridge to the RB330 tonearm and an external “hand tuned” Neo MK2 PSU.
According to Rega the use of a light weight particulate core now with a highly rigid HPL phenolic resin skin that “prevents energy absorption and unwanted resonance, which will add unnatural distortions to the music.” Its lower mass is said to inhibit the transfer of vibrations such as those from the motor and bearing and rigidity is added where required using braces and double thickness phenolic resin in key areas (3 mm phenolic bottom brace and metalized skin phenolic top brace.), which directly addresses the issue of mass absorption and unwanted energy transmission.
Their double brace system is employed to increase rigidity between the tonearm mounting and the main hub bearing while the low resonance plinth supports the patented brass main hub central bearing that contains the belt-driven phenolic sub platter on top of which sits the 12mm glass platter with felt mat.
A 24 VAC low noise, low vibration motor with CNC custom machined pulley drives the reference EBLT drive belt that attaches to the sub-platter. The motor receives it’s 24volt bi-phase power from an external Neo turntable PSU MK2.
This “hand tuned” power supply supports both 331/3 and 45RPM electronically switchable speeds with incremental adjustments of +-0.001 rpm using the supplies rear panel buttons. The speed maybe measured/checked using the supplied stroboscopic disc and free iPhone ‘RPM’ app developed by Philip Broder.
The RB330 precission tonearm features Rega’s latest bearing housing and aluminum tonearm tube designed using intelligent redistribution of mass, that “ensure this arm will exhibit fewer points of possible resonance”. Extreme stability, zero play in the bearings and almost friction free movement from the new high precision bearing assemblies complete its design.
Completing this package is the hand made Nd5 moving magnet cartridge that uses a perfect elliptical nude diamond attached to an aluminum cantilever. The design uses brand new generator geometry with perfect symmetry to achieve accurate channel balance. The Nd5 also has an optimized pole gap for superior linearity and cross talk characteristics. This is said to provide a far wider soundstage than the previous models. This new cartridge is created with miniaturized parallel coils which are wound in house utilizing 38-micron wire with just 1275 turns and sit within Neodymium magnets. This low count produces a low inductance, low impedance generator creating an improved high frequency response.
Features At A Glance:
- Turntable:
- Brushed metal dark aluminum HPL laminated plinth
- Neo turntable PSU MK2 included (speed control + anti vibration circuit)
- 24 V low noise, low vibration motor, hand tuned to the custom Neo PSU Mk2
- CNC machined custom pulley
- Reference EBLT drive belt fitted as standard
- Double brace technology
- 12 mm float glass opti-white polished platter
- Supplied with a smoked dust cover as standard.
- Lifetime warranty against manufacture defects
- Tonearm RB330:
- Redesigned vertical bearing housing
- Integrated arm clip
- Improved spring housing
- Rega’s award winning low mass aluminium tonearm tube
- Extreme stability and almost friction free movement
- Hand selected bearings
- Lifetime warranty against manufacture defects
- Nd55 Cartridge (factory fitted):
- Design: Moving Magnet
- Perfect elliptical nude diamond profile stylus
- Aluminum cantilever
- Neodymium magnet
- Unique generator
- Rega 3 point mounting system
- Highly rigid lightweight PPS body
- Handmade stereo cartridge
- Lifetime warranty against manufacture defects
Specifications:
- Turntable:
- Type: Belt drive
- Motor: 24 VAC low noise motor
- Platter: 12 mm glass polished edge
- Connectivity: RCA – Phono
- Power: Via Mini DIN from Neo PSU
- Dimensions (lid closed): 447 x 117 x 360 mm
- Turntable Weight: 6.0Kg
- Tonearm: Hand assembled RB330 precision tonearm
- Neo PSU MK2:
- Output to motor: bi-phase 24V AC protected by resettable fuse.
- Power consumption: 7.2W
- Speed control step size: 0.01 rpm
- Stroboscopic disc: 100Hz, 180 marks 331/3 rpm
- Voltage: 24V AC
- Power supply: Rega PS1 only.
- The basic one bar per minute drift resolution: 0.016%
- Neo PSU Dimensions: 180 x 150 x 50 mm
- RB330 Precession Tonearm
- Effective Mass: Low / 11 g
- Mounting Distance (platter centre to arm hole centre): 222 mm
- Effective Length: 236.5 mm
- Offset Angle: 21.55°
- Overhang: 14.5 mm
- Nd5 MM Cartridge:
- Nominal output voltage: 5-6mV
- Stylus: Perfect elliptical nude diamond
- Aluminum cantilever
- Neodymium magnet
- Fixing: 3-point fixing
- Coils: Miniaturized parallel coils
- Tracking pressure: 1.75g
MSRP:
- US: $1,795.00
- UK: £999.00
- EU: €1,340.00
Read the Rega press release here.
For more information visit the Rega web site.
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