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Good Points of Rega Turntables

Dean Jordan said:
Now Rega is a Big player in the HiFi world and a massive player in the Turntable world. They must be doing something right but I don't know what it is.
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If you had a Planar3 and it didn't sound very good you were doing something wrong. They don't sell for more than they cost new for no reason. I think there are several things Rega do which set them apart.

Focus.

My first Rega purchase was a brand new Planar3/RB300 when I was about nineteen. At that time Rega had a waiting list for them and only fifty UK dealers, one of which had just opened up in Glasgow. It was massively better than my Dual 505, despite not costing that much more, and I loved it. After thinking about it for a bit I realized that it was one of the most perfect products of any kind I had every seen. I think about that kind of thing. Apart from the badges, there was no part of it that did not serve a purpose or was there for purely cosmetic reasons. It was form following function yet still resulting in a sleek, elegant aesthetic. Yeah, we're all used to turntables that look like that now but back then it was cool. They had spent money on performance, not party tricks to sell to the gullible, and that's still what they do today.

Value.

The RB300 alone illustrates perfectly where Rega are coming from. They developed that revolutionary arm tube when most experts said it could not be done, a component that gave such a lift in performance the arm was compared to the top arms of the day. Had any other manufacturer achieved that they would have dressed the arm up in shiny chrome or stainless and sold it as a premium product. What did Rega do? Made the bits that weren't important out of plastic, finished the tube as cheaply as possible and sold it at the budget end of the market. The aim could not be clearer. Give the best possible performance for the lowest possible price. Rega arms quickly obliterated the UK tonearm market and dominate it to this day. Forty years later and still no one has beaten them.

Innovation.

While other manufacturers have been happy to CNC or cast everything, Rega have constantly sought out new technologies in order to deliver greater performance at a lower price point. The cast armtube and ceramic bearings are good examples but their drive is relentless. No one else does anything like what Rega do at the same price points. There is nothing about the Karousel that could not have been manufactured thirty years ago.

Commitment.

Every Rega product carries a lifetime warranty against manufacturing defects. Think about that. You buy a Rega turntable for £200 and they promise that if it stops working in twenty years they will fix it free of charge. And they mean it. I have had loads of things fixed by Rega over the years, these guys really care and are great to deal with. Or you could spend tens of thousands on a turntable from Linn which is only covered for five years.

What amazes me is that Rega have grown into quite a large manufacturer but have managed to keep these values in the process. They are not alone in being a great UK manufacturer but they are certainly one of the very best and now you do know why.
 
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Excellent post Pig.

One point that's worth adding is that Rega pride themselves on not only being an excellent engineering company, but one which sponsors excellence and innovation among other British engineering companies - many elements of the upper decks (not least ceramics) spring to mind. They keep a lot of other firms going.

And it's not just about the decks. The post-Bateman amps are fabulous. I'm sitting here listening to a Brio-R and I just can't get enough of it.
 
I can confirm this at least from my experience
I had a P3 until recently & found it superb
Only sold it as I was disappointed by the quality of new vinyl!
Have reverted to CD but wouldn’t hesitate to buy Rega again
 
My experience of Rega is largely with their mid to higher end designs. One thing worth bearing in mind is that Rega do make quite a large range and although many design principles carry through there are significant engineering improvements as one moves through the models. In general I would describe the Rega sound as ‘toe tapping’ and fleet of foot - but perhaps at the expense of some tonal density and ‘richness’. But that’s not to say that they aren’t engaging, they certainly are.
 
Tim Jones said:
Excellent post Pig.

One point that's worth adding is that Rega pride themselves on not only being an excellent engineering company, but one which sponsors excellence and innovation among other British engineering companies - many elements of the upper decks (not least ceramics) spring to mind. They keep a lot of other firms going.

And it's not just about the decks. The post-Bateman amps are fabulous. I'm sitting here listening to a Brio-R and I just can't get enough of it.
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Does Terry Bateman not work at Rega anymore?
 
It's been many a year since I've listened to a Rega deck. Back in the day I always thought the equivalent Pro-ject was preferable.
 
One sign of a good hifi company is how well they look after their dealers.

I suspect he still does, but Roy used to visit dealers in person. He popped into my friends hifi shop when I was covering, so I ended up having a chat with him. I know he always used to go for a curry with Julian at Jeffries in Brighton. He is quirky, passionate and loves his music.

Roy regularly holds live music evenings (free) for friends, staff and dealers. How many other hifi companies do that?

In terms of his turntables, I’ve always felt they are musical devices but have limited experiences of higher end models.
 
DEK said:
I was disappointed by the quality of new vinyl!
Have reverted to CD
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I've been into vinyl for more than I can remember.
Have thousands of vinyl records, gave up counting long ago.
Had more Rega decks than I can count.
Among other of their kit.

I've decided no longer buying new vinyl - take years to play through my current collection - new vinyl is too expensive and in generel lousy quality.
I buy a CD if I need a new record, latest Rolling Stones for example.
 
pfbaat said:
I've decided no longer buying new vinyl - take years to play through my current collection - new vinyl is too expensive and in general lousy quality.
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I kinda agree and usually buy new albums on CD as the vinyl is expensive and not any better anyway. I still buy vinyl but mostly used. Years ago I started giving records away or trading them in as I realized I was never going to play all the records I have. And I have hundreds, not thousands.
 
pfbaat said:
I've been into vinyl for more than I can remember.
Have thousands of vinyl records, gave up counting long ago.
Had more Rega decks than I can count.
Among other of their kit.

I've decided no longer buying new vinyl - take years to play through my current collection - new vinyl is too expensive and in generel lousy quality.
I buy a CD if I need a new record, latest Rolling Stones for example.
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I totally agree that new vinyl is silly expensive but have to say I have bought some really well pressed and packaged new albums.

Entertained by the fact that new cd’s are now way cheaper than the equivalent vinyl. I remember it always being the reverse. Guess a cd is massively cheaper to produce!
 
the thing that slightly disturbs me about regas is how dependent on the belt they are. The RPM app on a phone is useful for this. Buy an 'upgrade' white belt from ebay for your planar 3 and watch the w/f go to about 0.5% (terrible). Buy the bast rega one and it'll hit 0.15-0.2%. That's great, but it worries me that you have to get everything right, and such variations are not engineered out...
 
I find it practically impossible to break the record-favouring compulsion of a lifetime. I bought a new record today that I haven’t put on the Planar’s platter yet. It better sound a million bucks cos it felt like it didn’t cost much less!🤞
 
I have an RP10. Amazing piece of kit but doesn't sound "turntable enough" for me being an ex LP12 owner so I'm probably going to sell it!

Excellent decks though :)
 
I had a Rega Planar 2 when I was younger. I found it too fast and etched in its presentation. It was great for the price but never satisfied me really.
 
badger748 said:
£19m is bloody impressive given they only do niche sector products.
I would be bloody chuffed if my company was turning over a piffling £19m !
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Absolutely agree .. especially since at one time turn tables looked to be obsolete, but they soldered on and stayed in the market and benefited !.
Any company that continues to be successful in this crazy over regulated country that thought it was a good idea to brexit !!…has to be givern respect !.
 
Tazio said:
Absolutely agree .. especially since at one time turn tables looked to be obsolete, but they soldered on and stayed in the market and benefited !.
Any company that continues to be successful in this crazy over regulated country that thought it was a good idea to brexit !!…has to be givern respect !.
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'...but they soldered on', that was a good one.
 
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