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Rega Planar 2 advice / question please

N

neilm

pfm Member
Hi All,

A friend of mine has a a circa 20 year old Rega Planar 2. It works fine, I have not heard it for a while but know it will be in a good condition but could almost do with a new cartridge at least.

I suggested he has a bit of fun and tweaks it, maybe new arm, plinth, and who knows what else.
Understandably he is not so keen on that, so is probably going to get a new turntable.

My question is simple.

Is there any demand for such an age turntable and what sort of price could be expected if he decides to sell it (I will probably look to advertise it for him on this website if the moment/need arises)?

any thoughts would be much appreciated, please don't see it as a subterfuge advert (or at least not yet anyway:D) as no decision has been made on a new acquisition.

thanks in advance,

Neil
 
There will be many who know far more than me but why sell it and buy something new? Those old Regas just keep on going.

Rega, to their great credit, seem to be one of those companies that strongly support old products so any bits it needs should be readily available, plus a service if required.

There is strong demand for old Rega Planar decks - best thing to do is a search on a well known auction site for sold prices.
 
Agreed, keep it, an upgrade would be a P6 at least, the older Regas are workhorses and still sound great, new cartridge is all that's needed and a clean up of the bearing if at all.
 
There were two editions of (Planar) P2 back then if my memory serve:

The original 90'ies with rb250 tonearm and glass platter
A later version, maybe 2000 year P2 with HDF platter and possible a cost down tonearm ?

I'd expect a new P3 will wipe both away, new Planars are really good, even the lowly P1 is such a nice thing.
 
It’s probably worth £200 as is, pretty much what they were new. A decent TT but loads of options for betterment, none of them include messing around with a design classic, IMO.

2nd hand P8 can be had for circa £1200 & plenty of other good TTs for £500 or so.
 
I wouldn't bother replacing an old Planar2 unless you're moving up to at least a modern Planar3, or a used Systemdek or other turntable that was noticeably better than the Rega in its day.
 
If you fit a new arm and plinth, it will be like Trigger's broom.

Does not make sense to do that. Just a clean and re-lube. New belt. New cartridge (maybe Exact?).

Then, if you want to spend more, a 24V motor kit. Add PSU, if you can pick one up cheap enough.

The maybe arm re-wire?

Law of diminishing returns applies.
 
gregory lynch said:
Agreed, keep it, an upgrade would be a P6 at least, the older Regas are workhorses and still sound great, new cartridge is all that's needed and a clean up of the bearing if at all.
Click to expand...

A new planar 3 would be a considerable upgrade! But that would involve a significant cash outlay, I agree that you could have a lot of fun upgrading the p2.
 
Whichever P2 he had, it will have a 10mm glass platter, not HDF. Some OEM decks such as the NAD had those platter though. I would fit a 24v motor upgrade kit from Rega and a new cartridge and enjoy it. It’s capable of very good performance. A Rega Exact or Nagaoka would be my choice. I wouldn’t sell it and I wouldn’t bother mucking about with different platters or arms. The “trigger’s broom comment is apt and it’ll not help resale value if he does come to move it on.
 
PerF said:
There were two editions of (Planar) P2 back then if my memory serve:

The original 90'ies with rb250 tonearm and glass platter
A later version, maybe 2000 year P2 with HDF platter and possible a cost down tonearm ?

I'd expect a new P3 will wipe both away, new Planars are really good, even the lowly P1 is such a nice thing.
Click to expand...
The RB250 on P2 ('italic', aka P2 2000) was merely cosmetically changed back to the look of the first RB250.

P2-med.jpg


As to service, after 20 years, a new belt, main bearing clean/re-lube, and a drop of oil into the motor bearing(s) are all due. Likely a 'tyre' rotation or replacement too.

If the deck is pre-2000 then recommend inspecting motor suspension alignment/motor suspension 'O'-ring condition (spares still available from Rega, last time I checked). The motor pulley should locate level and centred within the plinth hole when under tension of a fresh belt.

Before advising on cartridges, it would be prudent to find out what he currently has on, as it may well be a good'un with replacement and/or upgrade styli still available.
 
Jamie said:
If you fit a new arm and plinth, it will be like Trigger's broom.

Does not make sense to do that. Just a clean and re-lube. New belt. New cartridge (maybe Exact?).

Then, if you want to spend more, a 24V motor kit. Add PSU, if you can pick one up cheap enough.

The maybe arm re-wire?

Law of diminishing returns applies.
Click to expand...

It really depends on the context, what Neil's friend have, setup, budget, expectations..

Fun and tweaks fine with me, soon outlay is closing the gap to a new P3 (hope these will change from gloss black to matte black) or a s/h RP6 and so on.
 
Hi All,

really appreciate your responses and thoughts. My friend, Toni, has come to the view of maybe upgrading the cartridge and new drive belt initially and see how he gets on.

choice of cartridge is perhaps the bigger challenge now of course :)

Neil
 
I've got an old Moth badged P2 in my bedroom system and I suspect it's got a lot of years left in it. It has an RB300 and an AT-OC9 cartridge and sounds very decent.
 
neilm said:
Hi All,

really appreciate your responses and thoughts. My friend, Toni, has come to the view of maybe upgrading the cartridge and new drive belt initially and see how he gets on.

choice of cartridge is perhaps the bigger challenge now of course :)

Neil
Click to expand...

Audio Technica AT3600L, AT95 or VM95C, more refined stylus available if higher budget.
 
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