Rega Planar 8

The Planar 8 sits at the top of Rega's lightweight-chassis turntable range. The British manufacturer has distilled into it the principles developed for the Naiad, its reference turntable, rather than simply updating the RP8 model it succeeds. The stated aim: to bring these engineering choices to a machine accessible to a wider range of listeners.

The technical approach can be summed up in one word: lightening. The chassis combines polyurethane foam and HPL to produce an assembly that is both ultra-rigid and anti-resonant, a combination that limits stray energy from reaching the stylus tip. The outer frame of the previous model has disappeared, replaced by a removable one-piece lid, further reducing overall mass. At 4.2 kg on the scale and measuring 420 x 315 x 125 mm, the turntable remains easy to install on a piece of furniture or a wall-mounted shelf.

Drive is provided by two belts and a 24 V synchronous motor, an arrangement that spreads the load and stabilises rotation of the three-layer glass platter. The external Neo PSU power supply, included as standard, handles electronic speed changing, anti-vibration control and fine speed adjustment accessible to the user. On the playback side, the straight RB880 tonearm, with a low-mass aluminium and stainless steel tube, completes this pursuit of rigidity without added bulk.

This model is aimed at the listener who already has experience with vinyl and wishes to take a step up without moving to a large, bulky turntable. It is intended for a carefully assembled stereo system, on a stable support, and requires a phono preamplifier suited to the chosen cartridge: Rega offers the turntable on its own or paired with its Nd7 and Nd9 moving magnet cartridges, or its Ania Pro and Apheta 3 moving coil cartridges.