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Rega Planar 1 versus Planar 2

N

nbaptista

pfm Member
I want a turntable for ocasional listen. I know the Planar 3 is the best bet, but I don´t want top spend so much money.So the alternatives are the Planar 1 and 2. According with the Rega dealer, there is no much difference between the two.I would prefer to spend a bit more, and buy the better one. So what can you tell me?The phono stage is going to be the Rega fono mini
 
There is a fair difference between the two and well worth the extra if you are playing more than an occasional LP.
 
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I think it has now been discontinued but Flexson were selling a starter turntable called VinylPlay. It was based on the Rega Planar1 with some improvements including a better plinth and the Rega Fono Mini A2D circuits attached to its underside. My guess is that it was made by Rega on an OEM basis. Some months ago they were widely available on a discounted end-of-line basis. A quick Google found this which appears to be available in the white finish only at a bargain price of £199.99:

http://homeavdirect.co.uk/flexson-v...tvu0STYZE6SsTDG11wRs878K-qe7yDSMaAorLEALw_wcB
 
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The Planar 2 has an RB220 arm. Those arms are Rega's classic one-piece design and will certainly outperform the arm on the Planar 1.
 
The tonearm in the linked pictures appears to be an RB100 which was introduced with the RB1 turntable. RB101 replaced RB100 and was included with the prior to current version P1. The current P1 tonearm is RB110.

The Flexson VinylPlay does appear to offer a lot for the discounted price. I wonder how long it will be before Rega release something similar under their own brand?

xvinylplay-gallery-3_2.jpg.pagespeed.ic.6sSxFBGLf8.jpg
 
Craig B said:
The tonearm in the linked pictures appears to be an RB100 which was introduced with the RB1 turntable. RB101 replaced RB100 and was included with the prior to current version P1. The current P1 tonearm is RB110.

The Flexson VinylPlay does appear to offer a lot for the discounted price. I wonder how long it will be before Rega release something similar under their own brand?

xvinylplay-gallery-3_2.jpg.pagespeed.ic.6sSxFBGLf8.jpg
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I doubt they will. They already sell the Fono mini and the Planar one and whilst it will cost a little more than the Vinylplay (£339 for the pair), it will outperform it. BTW, the Vinylplay originally cost more than £199, iirc it was £249
 
I don't think that they will either. Rega have had cheaper options in the past - look at the Goldring and NAD badged Planar 2 variants with a cheapened arm and MDF platter. They didn't sell these under their own brand because they wanted to maintain Rega as a premium brand. This is why food manufacturers make cheap own label versions of their products, they go out under the supermarket brand and so (say) Weetabix can carry on charging top price for branded material while filling up the factory and sweating their assets. Marketing people call this "secondary market discounting" and the key to it is making sure that the primary market isn't (too) tempted to go to the secondary market. Hence restaurants will do a 2-for-1 deal on a midweek night before 7, or a pensioners lunchtime special, knowing that their core market 8-10 brigade won't want to eat so early and that the pensioners will all be off the premises by the time the rush starts up.

VW group have long been using Skoda to shift the value range, and Ford used the Ka to dispose of their stocks of crappy old 1300 crossflows and superannuated bits of Fiesta. None of this detracts from their core businesses of selling the latest all singing and dancing versions of their cars, because the manufacturers made damn sure that the core market were deterred by the badge, cheaper interior trim and, in the case of the Ka, keep-fit windows.
 
Craig B said:
The tonearm in the linked pictures appears to be an RB100 which was introduced with the RB1 turntable. RB101 replaced RB100 and was included with the prior to current version P1. The current P1 tonearm is RB110.

The Flexson VinylPlay does appear to offer a lot for the discounted price. I wonder how long it will be before Rega release something similar under their own brand?

xvinylplay-gallery-3_2.jpg.pagespeed.ic.6sSxFBGLf8.jpg
Click to expand...

I'd imagine another reason Rega won't release such thing is all currently Rega amplifiers allready have a built-in phonostage

That said I believe there's a market niche for such product
 
PerF said:
I'd imagine another reason Rega won't release such thing is all currently Rega amplifiers allready have a built-in phonostage

That said I believe there's a market niche for such product
Click to expand...

Their amplifiers having built in phono stages hasn’t stopped them having four standalone phono stages (Fono Mini A2D, Fono MC, Fono MM & Aria in their catalogue.

I don’t think the Osiris has a phono stage, nor does the Ear. Of course the Osiris was not designed to be used with budget sources.
 
But he will need interconnect between Fono stage and amp

The Rega Klotz or eqvivalent types are fine
 
nbaptista said:
Anyone knows wich year is this model(Rega Planar 2)?
https://www.olx.pt/anuncio/gira-dicos-rega-planar-2braco-rb250-IDB5POB.html#d354dd3a4f
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After November 1983 (because of the RB arm) but still 1980s given the logo colour & font and smoked lid. Stupid price.

Save up a little and get a new Planar 2 from an authorised dealer with factory aligned cart and proper dealer warranty.

EDIT: A closer look at the vendor photos seems to show significant paint loss around the (corroded) cartridge fixing nuts. I don’t like it.

This one looks much nicer ...

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-5...0001&campid=5338728743&icep_item=122930812983
 
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What I did when I found myself in a similar position, was to buy a used Rega RP3 off a reputable dealer. I have never looked back since :)
 
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