VINYL SPECIAL
Rega Planar 8
£1699
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whf.cm/Planar8
Rather than being a gentl evolution of the previous (and still rather good) RP8, the Planar 8 takes its inspiration from Rega’s Naiad – the company’s spare-no-expense uberdeck. Just look at it. This skeletal player can’t but turn your head with its angular shape and aggressive cutouts. The idea is to minimise plinth mass while increasing rigidity; the plinth is 30 per cent lighter than that used on the previous model – and more rigid with it. Rega believes mass absorbs energy – and that ends up taking the life out of the music.
The platter is something of a work of art. It’s made of three pieces, with two different types of laminated glass. While Rega goes to extreme lengths to avoid mass, this is one area where more mass leads to better results by creating more of a flywheel effect to smooth out any small speed fluctuations.