New Rega Planar 10

Excellent!

I need a great, inexpensive and easy to setup table.

Looking forward to your thoughts.

Nice! I really enjoy my RP8. Would love the Planar 10! Have fun with the review.

Joe, you would really like the Rega.

joeinid said:

Excellent!

I need a great, inexpensive and easy to setup table.

Looking forward to your thoughts.

Click to expand...

You couldn't ask for an easier to set up table, Joe.

The packing was excellent, fully 60% of the shipping weight was packing materials, I would estimate, and the turntable and power supply were triple-boxed.

The turntable itself was in th upper box, Opening it up shows the Planar 10's skeletal "plinth", RB3000 arm and main bearing/subplatter assembly. The TOTL Rega Apheta moving coil cartridge is pre-instealed. Cake.



The ceramic platter and counterweight for the tonearm is underneath the EPS foam packing for the turntable.

Setting up the turmtable was as simple as removing it from the EPS, setting it on the audio rack, placing the ceramic platter and felt mat on the subplater, installing the tonearm counterweight, connecting the power cable to the external power supply and connecting the tonearm's interconnect cables to my Bob's Device's step up transformer (which was connected to my EAR 324 phono stage's MM input stage). I leveled the arm with the counterweight, dialed in 2 g of tracking force, and was good to go.



I would estimate the set-up time took all of...10 minutes? Here it is playing some Celedonio Romero on a Mercury LIving Presence LP.



I'm still bedding in the cartirdge as it is brand-new, however, some first impressions. The in-depth review will be in TAS, of course.

Very accurate and detailed reproduction with excellent pitch stability, natural tonality with deep and wide soundstage. Imaging places the musicians "in the room" assuming effective room acoustics management and sufficiently low power noise floor without restriction of dymanic transient current delivery. Fully "fleshed out" without being overly rich or warm. GOBS of detail but not etched, strident, or edgy. Resolution, bass articulation and definition, and vocals and instrument "body" are superb. A neutral, three-dimensional, stable and solid presentation with spot-on timbral accurcy and "weight" of voices and instruments.

In a word? FABULOUS.

Randy Myers said:

Nice! I really enjoy my RP8. Would love the Planar 10! Have fun with the review.

Joe, you would really like the Rega.

Click to expand...

All Regas are great. I had the original Planar 3 way back in the day, and back in 2012 or so, bought a P5 in Cherry, which I used with a wonderful Sumiko Pearwood Celebration II MC cartridge. Then, stupidly, sold it in 2018. That was a mistake. Doh! What was I thinking? Oh, wait...I wasn't.

Awesome Stephen, thank you.

Thanks Randy.

Look forward to the review Stephen!

Once upon a time, I owned a Linn LP-12 with a Rega RB300 arm and a Grado Signature cartridge. It was a very nice combo.

Is there and VTA adjustment. Or are you back to shims.

Will you also try other mats, such as Herbies. Or just stock.

Maybe other cartridges.

Totally get why you may not, but it would be nice to know as no audio guy is going to use just Rega cartridges.

With my RP8 (model was replaced about a year ago with the Planar 8, and next to top of the line 10 models) I did use an Ortofon 2M Black & Bronze which worked well (I did not use any shims). I stepped up to the Rega Aria Pro which is a breeze since it uses the 3 screw system to set overhang and the table is pre adjusted for the VTA. From my understanding no Rega have built in VTA so if you use a cartridge with a vastly different height a shim would be in order. I have also seen it stated that Rega does not really require fine tuned VTA unless there is a rather large difference.

I have tried and own multiple mats for my RP8. I have the original Rega wool mat (2MM height), an acrylic mat (2MM height), a leather mat (1.8MM height), and my current favorite the Hexmat Yellow Bird (3MM height). In my view the Yellowbird is an entirely different level and definitely is inline with Rega's over arching design. The Yellow Bird is 1MM taller than the standard Rega mat and I feel that 1MM is not enough of a difference for me to worry about shims.

I am very happy with the performance of my RP8 and I would absolutely love a P10 ....

Whsts great and bad about the Hexmat Yellow bird

Bad... hmmm, looks weird and I have noticed that certain albums with think center labels will only make contact with the "nubs" in the center. This does not actually appears to cause any issues, but it does really appear as if the entire album is floating off the platter in these rare cases.

Good... it isolates the record from the environment better than any system I have seen. It basically has the album floating in air as much as is humanly possible at this time. There is less than a 2MM square contact with the platter and the album. It is a noticeable sound improvement.

The engineer who developed this system states that he worked on this design for about 10 years and had created over 100 prototypes experimenting with various materials, etc.

In the Rega forum one gentleman went on and on and on how it was physically impossible for this system to work. He wrote a several page diatribe explaining how it was impossible, with all the physics, etc. And then one day he surprised me when he wrote that he actually decided to try one on his Planar 10. He was amazed and stated it made a huge difference and was a true upgrade in performance. He apologized for his previous posts and said, "when I am wrong I say I am wrong".

Anyway, back to Puma's review of the P10!

Kingrex said:

Is there and VTA adjustment. Or are you back to shims.

Will you also try other mats, such as Herbies. Or just stock.

Maybe other cartridges.

Totally get why you may not, but it would be nice to know as no audio guy is going to use just Rega cartridges.

Click to expand...

Adjusting VTA requires Rega-manufactured shims.

But I'm not going to worry about it because the Apheta 3 sounds fabulous. It has outstanding detail, its musical as all get-out, and its incredibly neutral. It reminds me of a Dynavector XV-1. I would just leave it on the arm, sit back, and enjoy the music. I really like the Apheta a lot so why fix something that isn't broken?

Randy Myers said:

Bad... hmmm, looks weird and I have noticed that certain albums with think center labels will only make contact with the "nubs" in the center. This does not actually appears to cause any issues, but it does really appear as if the entire album is floating off the platter in these rare cases.

Good... it isolates the record from the environment better than any system I have seen. It basically has the album floating in air as much as is humanly possible at this time. There is less than a 2MM square contact with the platter and the album. It is a noticeable sound improvement.

The engineer who developed this system states that he worked on this design for about 10 years and had created over 100 prototypes experimenting with various materials, etc.

In the Rega forum one gentleman went on and on and on how it was physically impossible for this system to work. He wrote a several page diatribe explaining how it was impossible, with all the physics, etc. And then one day he surprised me when he wrote that he actually decided to try one on his Planar 10. He was amazed and stated it made a huge difference and was a true upgrade in performance. He apologized for his previous posts and said, "when I am wrong I say I am wrong".

Anyway, back to Puma's review of the P10!

Click to expand...

Just a point of clarification: my review will be published in TAS.

These are just some first, very early listening impressions.

But I remain very impressed.

... I totally get that, just did not want to get the thread sidetracked .

Randy Myers said:

... I totally get that, just did not want to get the thread sidetracked .

Click to expand...

Ha! No worries, Randy! Cheers, mate!

Here are some additional photos I took this morning. The first shows the skeletal plinth which is very light but stiff. The cross brace with holes is ceramic on top and phenolic on the bottom of the Tancast 8 laminate plinth and ties the main platter bearing to the tonearm bearing with maximal rigidity so they function as a single, very stiff unit. Randy, you know all about this.



A photo showing the ceramic platter on the subplatter. There are little nibs machined into the edge of the subplatter (looking closely at the photo above) so that only a very small portion of the ceramic platter actually rests on the subplatter. The subplatter is very, very hard and quite heavy and is manufactured so that most of the mass as it at the outer edge of the platter to provide a flywheel effect for speed stability.



A finally, a shot showing the thin felt mat that is a hallmark of Rega 'tables.

Love the Skeletal plinth. The new P10 has even less material then my RP8 .... Extremely stiff but also very light space age material. Yup, they use a layered cross base system to the main bearing and tone arm base assembly together very effectively. My RP8 has a very nice tonearm, but the P10 has upped the level even more.

The RP8 uses a glass platter versus the ceramic being uses on the 10 models. Mine is constructed from three separate layers of glass with progressively more mass towards the outer edge giving a fly wheel affect to improve even rotation of the platter. The platter is the only item on the table with any real mass at all, which is one reason the the Hexmat works so well. It decouples and isolates the record from the only part with any mass on the table.

It seems to be a really good turntable design without owning a bank to afford it .

Randy Myers said:

Love the Skeletal plinth. The new P10 has even less material then my RP8 .... Extremely stiff but also very light space age material. Yup, they use a layered cross base system to the main bearing and tone arm base assembly together very effectively. My RP8 has a very nice tonearm, but the P10 has upped the level even more.

The RP8 uses a glass platter versus the ceramic being uses on the 10 models. Mine is constructed from three separate layers of glass with progressively more mass towards the outer edge giving a fly wheel affect to improve even rotation of the platter. The platter is the only item on the table with any real mass at all, which is one reason the the Hexmat works so well. It decouples and isolates the record from the only part with any real mass on the table.

It seems to be a really good turntable design without owning a bank to afford it .

Click to expand...

In my experience, Regas of any "class": Planar 3, Planar 6, Planar 8, Planar (or the earlier "RP" or "P" generations), punch WAY above their respective price points. Ya just can't go wrong.

Puma Cat said:

Adjusting VTA requires Rega-manufactured shims.

Click to expand...

Rega's answer to VTA adjustments:
"Rega VTA(Vertical Tracking Angle) Fact Sheet
by Roy Gandy

Quote: "Every problem has a solution. If there is no solution, there is no problem."

The Tonearm: The maximum up/down adjustment on a tonearm is about 0.5 inches (12mm). That being approximately 1 degree VTA adjustment.
[Correction: if you do the maths' a 0.5inch variation on a 9 inch arm is about a 3° variation. You can work this out yourself once you remember that the sin() of an angle is the change in the y coordinate divided by the radius, so 0.5/9 ≈ 0.055 ≈ sin(3°)]

The Cartridge: Each model of cartridge has its own unique design which also determines the stylus VTA. Rega has accurately measured the VTA on at least one hundred different cartridge models. The lowest VTA we have measured was 24° (even though the manufacturer claimed 20°) and the highest was 36°. Most cartridges have a VTA of between 28° to 32°. The VTA of Rega cartridge is approximately 28°.

The Record: The VTA of a record cutting stylus is set to give the best continuous cut of the lacquer. Records are cut with a VTA which varies between 0° and 20°. On an individual record the VTA will vary by 7° or more, depending on the type of cutting head used, the depth of cut, the musical frequency and the lacquer springback. The VTA of the groove on every individual record varies by at least 7° over the record. Every record is cut under 20°.

Futility: We can see that cartridge VTA is normally around 10° higher than the record cutting angle. And the record cutting angle varies by around 7° whilst it is being played.

THEREFORE A MAXIMUM ARM ADJUSTMENT OF ONLY 1° CAN BE SEEN TO BE COMPLETELY FUTILE.
To accurately match cartridge VTA to the record cutting angle the back of the arm would need to be well below the record (impossible!) and the cartridge VTA would need to vary at least 7° whilst playing the record!

Normal advice: Most informed advice is to keep the arm tube roughly parallel to the record surface. In fact, the VTA becomes more correct as the rear of the arm is lowered as much as possible, the limit being when the arm or cartridge touches the record.

Worst case: The most extreme situation is a record cutting angle of 0° and a cartridge VTA of 36°. The result is a VTA inaccuracy of 36°.

Question: Can there be any point in playing around with 1° of VTA?
VTA adjustment is actually a neurosis NOT a technical adjustment.

An Alternative: If you alter the playing weight of a normal cartridge by 0.1 of a gram the stylus VTA will alter by around 1.5°.
Another Alternative: If the room temperature increases by 5° F, the stylus rubber suspension will soften and decrease the VTA by 1°.

"but when I alter the VTA I hear a difference"
Of course you do. Any variation or change to the very important joint between the arm and turntable will alter the sound quality. Try simply tightening or loosening the main arm fixing nut, the sound will change. Try tightening or loosening the cartridge fixing nuts, the sound will also change. Almost any change or adjustment to a turntable/arm/cartridge will alter the sound quality if one listens with an acute level of perception.

We hope we have explained to the reader that VTA adjustment is of little or no significance. There are many other simple structural changes that are more important, such as fixing the cartridge rigidly to the arm and fixing the arm tightly to the turntable."

Hey Puma,

I really enjoyed the review in TAS! You had me wanting to trade my RP8 for a P10 .... I agree with most points you were making in the review, and see most of these in my table, just not quite to the extent of the P10.

I 100% agree, the Rega skeletal design works really well and sounds fantastic!

Bravo on a great review! I enjoyed it!

Randy Myers said:

Hey Puma,

I really enjoyed the review in TAS! You had me wanting to trade my RP8 for a P10 .... I agree with most points you were making in the review, and see most of these in my table, just not quite to the extent of the P10.

I 100% agree, the Rega skeletal design works really well and sounds fantastic!

Bravo on a great review! I enjoyed it!

Click to expand...

Thanks, Randy. Coming from another Rega owner, that's great feedback.

Cheers.