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"A Triumph of Analogue Audio Engineering"
The Planar 8 was inspired by the ultimate Rega turntable, the Naiad. Rega decided early on that instead of an evolution of the previous RP8, the new Planar 8 was to be developed and engineered to encapsulate the essence of the Naiad at an affordable price. The company's aim was to deliver a level of performance far beyond what has been achieved at this price point before.
Every aspect of the Planar 8 has been engineered to extract as much detail from the vinyl surface as possible. Rega used the most advanced materials and engineering solutions built around a supremely lightweight plinth to ensure the greatest level of performance.
The Planar 8 is supplied with the new RB880 tonearm and Neo MK2 PSU as standard, which offers electronic speed change, advanced anti-vibration control, and user adjustable electronic fine speed adjustment to ensure total accuracy and control over the motor. The outer frame of the previous model has now been removed and a new stylish, removable, single-piece dustcover has been introduced, further reducing the overall mass of the turntable.
This version of the Planar 8 comes with Rega's new breakthrough MM phono cartridge, the Nd7 with fine line nude diamond stylus. This factory-fitted package is offered at a discounted rate compared to purchasing the Planar 8 turntable and Nd7 cartridge separately.
"Maximum Musical Intensity"
"If you are looking for maximum musical intensity for your pound, dollar, or euro you will be very hard pressed to find a better turntable at anywhere near this price," reports Jason Kennedy, Editor of the-ear.net in an October 2018 review. "I am a Rega RP10 user myself but I’ve been hearing new things on this newcomer at nearly half the price, it truly is a triumph of analogue audio engineering."
Ultra Lightweight Plinth
The Planar 8 is the second Rega turntable constructed using the company's latest ultra lightweight Tancast 8 polyurethane foam core (a material developed for the aerospace industry). This material is sandwiched between two layers of HPL (high pressure laminate). HPL is exceptionally thin and extremely rigid. This new construction makes the new Planar 8 skeletal plinth 30% lighter than the original RP8, while offering increased rigidity over the previous model.
DB Technology (Double Brace Technology)
It's been said, "Mass absorbs energy, and lost energy equals lost music." A super lightweight plinth combined with a phenolic resin double brace mounted specifically where the increased rigidity is required (between the tonearm mounting and the main hub bearing) forms a structurally sound “stressed beam” assembly. This rigid plinth design prevents energy absorption and unwanted resonances which will add unnatural distortions to the music.
Equally, heavier mass can transfer more unwanted energy such as motor or bearing noise directly into the rotating record. The use of braces instead of the complete skin allows double thickness phenolic resin in these key areas, while providing further weight reduction to the plinth which directly addresses the issue of mass absorption and unwanted energy transmission.
RB880 Tonearm
For the new RB880 tonearm, Rega introduced an improved vertical bearing assembly constructed using an aluminum and stainless-steel, low mass assembly with vastly improved stability and rigidity. This tonearm uses Rega's advanced preloaded zero-tolerance bearing assembly adjusted to less than 1000th of a mm, giving friction-free movement and zero levels of unwanted play.
This subtle but effective new structure is only visible via small windows at the rear of the new bias housing assembly. A thinner stainless steel balance weight is used, allowing greater adjustability and compatibility. Finally, the RB880 is terminated with a redesigned, low capacitance phono cable terminated with high quality, locking phono plugs to ensure the best possible connection.
Hub Bearing Assembly
The Planar 8 uses a new low mass central bearing assembly. A single piece machined aluminum sub-platter and hardened tool steel spindle run inside a custom brass housing which is cleverly mounted within the chassis. This new mounting is designed to eradicate unwanted potential energy being transferred or stored in the plinth.
Super Flywheel Effect Triple Layer Glass Platter
The Planar 8 uses a three-piece laminated glass platter, which is the result of collaboration with a British glass engineering company. This platter is constructed from two different high quality Pilkington glasses. As a general rule, the only part of a turntable that requires extra mass is the turntable platter in order to achieve constant rotational speed. However, a heavier platter creates more problems for the main bearing design, so again an ideal compromise creates the best solution. Practically speaking, this means keeping as much of the mass to the outside rim of the glass platter to create more flywheel effect but keeping the inside of the platter as light as possible without sacrificing stiffness.
24v Low Noise Motor Assembly
The Planar 8 uses Rega's latest generation, 24-volt synchronous, low vibration motor technology. Uniquely mounted, it uses the highest level of coupling while retaining higher vibration isolation than any previous model. This new motor mounting technique (mounted from the bottom) has been taken directly from the ultimate Rega turntable, the Naiad. This unique mounting method removes all stress on the motor body. The reduced vibration and more rigid mounting deliver superior drive from the new EBLT drive belts. Each motor is hand tuned to match its own custom Neo power supply before fitting to the turntable to optimize the anti-vibration circuit.
EBLT Drive Belts
For three years Rega has been researching and developing with chemists the use of a new bespoke rubber compound for drive belts. Using a specialized curing system, the new drive belt offers superior consistency of modulus (a constant representing the degree to which a substance has a particular property, especially elasticity). These new belts are manufactured on Rega-designed, state of the art, super-accurate tools that produce 'perfectly round' and 'dimensionally accurate' belts, which are critical for perfect speed stability.
High-Stability Neo MK2 PSU with Electronic Speed Change
The Neo MK2 PSU offers a smooth power supply, an advanced anti-vibration circuit, and fine electronic speed adjustment. It uses the RP10 DSP (digital signal processing) generator built upon a high stability crystal. The DSP generator will divide the accurate signal from the crystal to the exact frequency required to turn the platter at the selected speed. The DSP generator will also produce a near perfect sinusoidal waveform to drive the motor. This, along with an efficient drive amplifier, generates a 24-volt, AC-balanced signal of less than 0.15% distortion, which is completely unaffected by any changes in the mains/line voltage and conditions. This then drives the turntable's anti-vibration circuit, which is situated beneath the turntable.
Pre-installed Nd7 Phono Cartridge
Included with this version of the Planar 8 is Rega's new Nd7 phono cartridge pre-installed. It uses Rega's most advanced fine-line nude diamond profile for the ultimate in detail retrieval. This is the same profile used on Rega's high end MC models, the Apheta 3 and Aphelion 2.
The revolutionary design of Rega's Nd cartridges was developed over 10 years of rigorous R&D and critical listening. These cartridges promise to deliver 'next level' performance from Moving Magnet (MM) technology.
Although Neodymium (Nd) magnets are used in Moving Coil designs, the Nd is the first Moving Magnet cartridge series to utilize a Neodymium (Nd) N55 magnet. This is the world's most powerful commercially available magnet and is a crucial component that makes this unique design possible by delivering extra power compared to standard bar magnet designs.
Each Nd7 is meticulously handmade by Rega's highly skilled technicians. This profile has an exceptionally small radii Monocrystalline manmade diamond with the minor radius being just 3µm (microns) as viewed from the top and 30µm in the vertical when viewed from the front. This design allows immediate adjustment to very small changes in the vinyl due to the small contact area of the diamond which results in exceptional levels of detail being retrieved. The Nd7 also uses brand new generator geometry with perfect symmetry to achieve accurate channel balance.
