Rega Planar 8 Turntable Review

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Rega has always had 3 core design philosophies they adhere to on every turntable they make.

1. Keep the platter spinning at the most constant speed possible
2. Minimize vibrations
3. The tonearm/cartridge combination extracts as much information as possible out of your record grooves.

The #Rega #Planar8 was designed to be light and stiff and has a unique design compared to other Rega models.

The hollow feet are made from lightweight rubber material called Santoprene and are reinforced with aluminum rings making them great for filtering out external energy.

The plinth is made out of Tancast 8, a polyurethane foam core sandwiched between two layers of black high-pressure laminate. As you can see, this is a very trimmed down set up designed to reduce mass.

The Planar 8 features Rega’s double bracing technology that couples the tonearm mount to the mount for the platter bearing on both sides of the plinth. This great design reduces energy absorption and unwanted resonances from getting into the playback system.

The subplatter which supports the main platter is machined from a single piece of aluminum. This is attached to a hardened steel spindle that sits inside a custom brass housing keeping energy from transferring down to the plinth.

The platter features Rega’s classic glass platter design. The platter is super critical in keeping things spinning at a constant speed. To achieve this The Planar 8 has a triple glass platter with most of the thickness on the perimeter of the platter. This gives a great flywheel effect for excellent speed stability, but keeps things lighter than if the whole platter was this thickness, very clever!

The Planar 8 motor is mounted from the bottom using a new coupling technique designed to keep stress off the motor body. The bottom mount also reduces stress on the motor and prevents unwanted energy transferring into the plinth.

The Planar 8 features Rega’s new belt, the EBLT drive belt. Developed alongside chemists, the new belt gives a more consistent elasticity which is pretty important in a #turntable belt. You’ll also notice that the Planar 8 features two belts giving it an even better speed consistency.

The Neo PSU speed control box feeds a perfect signal to the 24V AC motor. Keeping the motor power supply away from the table is also a great way to reduce noise. Each Neo is also individually tuned to the P8 motor of its matching table.

Finally, the tonearm - another new design called the RB880. This aluminum and stainless steel beauty have far better tonearm bearings than their other models, with tolerances down to 1000th of a millimeter! There is absolutely zero chatter in the bearing and it just feels totally free of any friction.

The phono cables coming out of the P8 are of very high quality and even have locking RCA ends for a tight-fitting connection.

When you think about all this great new tech Rega put into the Planar 8, you can be sure it's going to be a great performer.

We used the Aphetta 2 with the Planar 8 for our testing. You can read more details about our test records and associated gear in our written review.

What astounded us was how alive the Planar 8 made the music sound. We have only heard a handful of tables that make our records come to life like this.

Another stunner was how little surface noise we heard. The background was dead silent. Finally, the combination of the new RB880 arm and Aphetta 2 cartridge tracks about as well as anything we have heard. We could not find a record it could not sail through.

The P8 comes in three versions, without cartridge, with Rega’s Ania moving coil, and with their Aphetta 2 moving coil. We highly recommend you go for the Aphetta 2 version. The sound this combo produces is full of energy, separates instruments amazingly well, tracks like crazy, and gives you a totally silent background. You’ll save $700 on the package deal and will have one of the best tables we have ever heard!

[rubicon-ohkm]

I jumped from the Planar 3 to the Planar 8. It was like trading in a Mustang for a Ferrari. Mind-blowingly sweet turntable.

[davidjohnston]

I have the P6 with ania pro, and run a prima Luna evo 300 tube amp. Love it! Thinking about upgrading to this bad boy now.

[ProjectOverseer]

After being a Rega and Linn fan for years, I bought the Technics SL-1200G ... The newly designed model with brass plate. I paid only 2k ... Best TT I've owned. I also use the amazing Schitt Mani and Nagaoka MP-200 ... Wow factor on a budget.

[mica]

I had a Rega Planar 2 over twenty years ago and found it to have such a clinical, cold sound. Swapped it for a used Dual 701 direct drive turntable. Best hi-fi move I ever made.

[kawada]

This was not an actual review it was more like an infomercial. I'm waiting for the part where they promise to throw in a pair of steak knives with every purchase.

[fredfungalspore]

The use of the new materials in the plinth and skeletal look by way of some comments here suggest that appearance plays a big part in purchasing a turntable for a lot of people the new P8 does not deliver in the aesthetics department

[lauher]

I have one and I absolutely love it. Recently though I have noticed that when the record is over there is a grinding noise. I can’t figure out what it is but I know it’s not right. Any help?

[dreamblack]

When I seen him cannot stoping to go with the rhythm I decided to buy a RP6

[sittnonchrome]

Wished you could have given more thoughts on the Ania cart.

[bqmoreland]

Hey! Excellent review. I'm trying to understand the differences between the Rega Planar 8 and the Rega Planar 6. It seems like plinth and tone arm are what it comes down to. Is there anything else?

[DrOz-]

Getting technical, the "fly wheel" effect properly refers to a high moment of inertia of a spinning mass. So high end turntables go for low mass but high moment of inertia.

[RockinAtheist]

I'd love to carry out a blind test between a $300 turntable and a $3, 000 turntable. Identical cartridge and stylus. The subjects are blindfolded and they have to listen and tell which is which. My guess is the result would be 50/50 which is a achieved by chance alone.

[chrisdavies]

I have the RP8 and that's as far as I go :-)

[xjimmyx]

This isn’t a review it’s a sales pitch

[sayers]

For this price I'd be looking at projects rpm range...

[daipunker]

That stuff in the middle of the plinths will rot.It will not tolerate high and low temperature fluctuations during the different times of the year. and of course damp.

[Marsipulamis]

Not a fan of glass as a platter material.

[sharonmahart]

I can't wait for the Schiit Sol. Will blow this TT into smithereens!

[nigelsmith]

blind listening.rest p1 and p8 same cartridge..ancilliary equipment and music...bet there would not be a world of difference..
certainly not 2 grands worth!!

[thevintagehifiambassador]

looks cheap and I woder now why the expensive Transrotor, VIP etc have heavy chassis. Does look like a spacy tt