Stereophile republished another set of reviews from their archive today. This time, it’s the Rega Planar 3 turntable that gets the time lapse treatment. The following are excerpts from reviews spanning over a decade:
Here is what had to say about the Rega Planar 3 turntable back in 1984:
The Rega is a good-sounding turntable and a good value—at the UK price. Someone once said that the Rega, which has no suspension, is a triumph of engineering over the laws of physics.
And in 1985:
The Rega certainly sounds different from most other tables, but different is not necessarily better. The Rega gives you a very dynamic sound with powerful, punchy bass… But there is too much emphasis of the mid- to upper-bass for my taste, and the table tends to sound a little muddy in bass detail, even when I exchange the felt mat for something like the excellent Audioquest sorbothane mat.
Here’s Michael Fremer on the Planar 3 in 1996:
My conclusion from all of this playing around is, if you’re on a limited budget, better to get a Rega 3 and an expensive cartridge than an expensive turntable with a cheap cartridge…
Read the entire review, and check out Stereophile blogger Stephen Mejias’s recent post about his love for this venerable turntable.