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Rega turntable9/20/2023 So, if you’ve had any internet-related anxiety about the speed of the RP10, forget about it. In our experience, this just hasn’t been the case in the last 15 years or so, and the RP10 keeps them batting a thousand. It’s still somewhat of an urban legend that Rega tables run “a bit fast” to provide a zippier sound. Listening to the P9 and RP10 side by side easily shows the additional resolution present in the new table.Ī speed check was the first test on our list, and utilizing the Feickert iPad app showed the RP10 to be dead-on for both 33 and 45 rpm speeds. So as much as we wanted this to be a standalone review, the question on the tip of everyone’s tongue – and on our Facebook inbox – has been, “How does the RP10 stack up to the P9?” As the title of this review suggests, it is an evolutionary move. Combined with a set-and-forget ethos, there’s no wonder the P9 has won the hearts (and ears) of so many music lovers that just want a fabulous turntable without the setup anxiety. The former flagship P9 has always featured the liveliness that their tables have always been known for, with additional heft in the low frequencies. Gandy’s approach has always worked well, but in the past, the P3 and variations have always been accused of being somewhat lightweight in the lower register. For those of you that aren’t familiar, the tonearm on the earlier P3 and P9 shared the same basic casting, and now the new RP10 uses a highly refined version of the new casting for the RP3 (and is secured with the same red tape Rega has used for decades), yet the new RB2000 is completely handmade and finished to the highest of tolerances, as was the RB1000.Īccording to Rega, the RB2000 arm “is designed to have a minimum of mechanical joints while using the stiffest materials possible in all areas.” Like its predecessor, the bearings are hand fitted and of highest quality, all handpicked for tolerance before insertion into the arm.Ī new twist on the Rega platform, beginning with the RP3, is the mechanical brace: magnesium in the RP10, going between the tonearm mount and the turntable bearing, assuring maximum rigidity between these critical areas, while taking advantage of the new, skeletal plinth (further refined from the RP8 design) having seven times less mass than the original Planar 3.Īn ex-automotive engineer, Rega principal Roy Gandy has always taken the advantage that less mass means more energy transferred from the record groove to the stylus tip, an opposite philosophy of the “more mass is better” approach embraced by some other manufacturers. The platter, drive mechanism, tonearm and power supply are all highly evolved versions of the basic Rega turntable. Someone once said that an elephant is only a mouse built to military specifications, and on one level the same could be said for the P9 – you could think of it as a fully geeked-out P3. For the record, my current reference is a P9 with Apheta cartridge, and it has served me well for some time now. Words like pace and timing weren’t even part of our vocabulary back then, but there was a ton of inner detail coming through those Magnepan MGII speakers that wasn’t there the day before, and to this day, both of us have always owned at least one Rega turntable. He solemnly replied, “I’m that idiot!” and we took that little British table back to his listening room and were subsequently blown away, being Technics SL-1200 guys at that moment in time, thinking there couldn’t possibly be anything better than direct drive. As they lifted a bright, fluorescent green table out, the sales guy quipped, “What idiot would buy a turntable in this color?” Little did he know that’s been publisher Dorgay’s favorite color since age 6. Our publisher has been a Rega fan since the fateful day in the mid-’80s when we happened by our local dealer (Audio Emporium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) to find them opening a shipment of Planar 3 turntables.
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