I have mixed feelings about the RP1.
On one hand it does have amazing sound quality for the price (if you can get it set up correctly). On the other hand there’s some exceptionally basic flaws with it that are kind of puzzling to come at this price point, after so many years of complaints, and from a company that so clearly knows what they’re doing.
The main issues: grounding and tracking.
Tracking: As you can see, there’s no adjustment for tracking. They market this as making it “more user friendly”, but really even turntables at half the price have tracking settings that function adequately once set at the factory. To me this was just cost cutting and laziness from Rega. Without the ability to adjust tracking, you essentially can’t upgrade/replace the cartridge without a lot of DIY effort that may or may not work. The “auto-tracking” they mention boils down to a cheap magnet btw.
Grounding: in possibly the most bizarre move I’ve ever seen, Rega spent all this time and effort designing and producing the turntable only to cheapen it by not adequately grounding it. This thing is going to BUZZ and it’s going to buzz A LOT. They claim it’s grounded through the RCA, but I’ll tell you right now it’s not. They also neglected to even ground the motor (it’s a two prong, doesn’t contain the grounding pole), which screams of cheap quality to me. The company has supposedly investigated the issue after thousands upon thousands of complaints, only to acknowledge it exists but claim that it is acceptable/normal. I’m sorry, but it’s not. Very few TTs ok the market have grounding issue this bad, it honestly should be a little embarrassing for a company like Rega. Most turntables have static, but this one has an excessive amount of static, and it’s entirely due to not being properly grounded. I experimented with different setups, locations, amps, preamps, speakers, and even tried setting up the turntable 6 feet away from the rest of my equipment while on the same circuit. But no matter what I did nothing helped, until one day I happened to touch the underside of the tonearm and the buzz dropped to about 30-40% of what it was before - I had grounded it to myself. I managed to jerry-rig some cheap wire from there to the grounding port on my preamp and it helped a lot. I just find it bizarre that a company would design a nearly $500 TT and be too cheap to add $0.05 worth of wire to ground it better. I’ve read that part of the reason for the grounding issue is the plastic plinth, and I can confirm that even when I grounded it there was still more buzz than I had with my last (cheaper) turntable on the same system.
Overall: sound quality is great if/when you get the buzz controlled a bit. If I had known about their grounding issue I would have NEVER purchased this product. In my opinion, a piece of equipment in this price range should absolutely not have such basic sonic issues like grounding. I find it unacceptable so I personally would avoid the turntable until they can correct this design flaw, mostly due to the price. If it was priced in the $200-250 range I would say it’s a great value that’s more than worth a little tinkering. But as it stands, at $475 this is unfortunately just not worth the price.
4 stars and above
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Customer reviews
The Rega Planar1 is the turntable I ended up keeping after trying out 2 other makes/models. The other contenders were an Audio Technica LP120 and a Project Debut Espirit SB Beatles Edition.My amp is a Rotel 1062A with an MM phono stage, speakers are Elac FS77 with Silverback cables on banana connectors. A pic of my audio stack is attached.On to the quick comparisons.The Audio Technica LP120 looked hi-tech and I liked its features. Sounded all right but lacked some low end reinforcement. It went right back. (I used the higher quality phono stage on the Amp, not the ones built-in on the LP120)Then bought the Project Debut SB. Was pleased with its quality components (cool carbon tonearm, great platter and speed box) and it came with an Ortofon 2M Red cartridge. Perfect. It sounded far more refined than the LP120 and had a pleasing tone about it. However, to my taste it lacked dynamism, attack and excitement. So it had to go back too.After that, I almost gave up on trying out any other turntables. I already had an Audio Technica LP60 (which in my opinion had a decent sound quality when played through a Rotel 1062A and Elac FS77 speakers though your mileage might vary with other components).Then finally in my search for more refinement, I thought I’ll give the Rega Planar 1 a try. This was after watching some youtube videos comparing it with a Project Debut SB.I played the Rega P1 for the first time and was pleasantly surprised. I liked its sonic signature. It had low end grunt, dynamism and a good amount of attack and excitement. It also sounded detailed and had an airy silky treble. All of this from an entry level turntable albeit a bit overpriced entry level.I felt right at home and let a sigh of relief realizing that the search was over.After about 30 minutes I noticed a slight motor pattern noise; but that went away completely after leaving the platter running for about 6 hours (a google search fix, recommending 48 hours of run-in on the P1).In retrospect, maybe the Rega was the one I should have tried in the first place but local stores did not stock these and I was apprehensive buying from Amazon in case I needed to return it (due to restocking and shipping fees). But it’s the one I ended up liking and keeping.
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2019
My amp is a Rotel 1062A with an MM phono stage, speakers are Elac FS77 with Silverback cables on banana connectors. A pic of my audio stack is attached.
On to the quick comparisons.
The Audio Technica LP120 looked hi-tech and I liked its features. Sounded all right but lacked some low end reinforcement. It went right back. (I used the higher quality phono stage on the Amp, not the ones built-in on the LP120)
Then bought the Project Debut SB. Was pleased with its quality components (cool carbon tonearm, great platter and speed box) and it came with an Ortofon 2M Red cartridge. Perfect. It sounded far more refined than the LP120 and had a pleasing tone about it. However, to my taste it lacked dynamism, attack and excitement. So it had to go back too.
After that, I almost gave up on trying out any other turntables. I already had an Audio Technica LP60 (which in my opinion had a decent sound quality when played through a Rotel 1062A and Elac FS77 speakers though your mileage might vary with other components).
Then finally in my search for more refinement, I thought I’ll give the Rega Planar 1 a try. This was after watching some youtube videos comparing it with a Project Debut SB.
I played the Rega P1 for the first time and was pleasantly surprised. I liked its sonic signature. It had low end grunt, dynamism and a good amount of attack and excitement. It also sounded detailed and had an airy silky treble. All of this from an entry level turntable albeit a bit overpriced entry level.
I felt right at home and let a sigh of relief realizing that the search was over.
After about 30 minutes I noticed a slight motor pattern noise; but that went away completely after leaving the platter running for about 6 hours (a google search fix, recommending 48 hours of run-in on the P1).
In retrospect, maybe the Rega was the one I should have tried in the first place but local stores did not stock these and I was apprehensive buying from Amazon in case I needed to return it (due to restocking and shipping fees). But it’s the one I ended up liking and keeping.
Color: WhiteVerified Purchase
Dynamic and Exciting Sound
By SP on January 11, 2019
The Rega Planar1 is the turntable I ended up keeping after trying out 2 other makes/models. The other contenders were an Audio Technica LP120 and a Project Debut Espirit SB Beatles Edition.By SP on January 11, 2019
My amp is a Rotel 1062A with an MM phono stage, speakers are Elac FS77 with Silverback cables on banana connectors. A pic of my audio stack is attached.
On to the quick comparisons.
The Audio Technica LP120 looked hi-tech and I liked its features. Sounded all right but lacked some low end reinforcement. It went right back. (I used the higher quality phono stage on the Amp, not the ones built-in on the LP120)
Then bought the Project Debut SB. Was pleased with its quality components (cool carbon tonearm, great platter and speed box) and it came with an Ortofon 2M Red cartridge. Perfect. It sounded far more refined than the LP120 and had a pleasing tone about it. However, to my taste it lacked dynamism, attack and excitement. So it had to go back too.
After that, I almost gave up on trying out any other turntables. I already had an Audio Technica LP60 (which in my opinion had a decent sound quality when played through a Rotel 1062A and Elac FS77 speakers though your mileage might vary with other components).
Then finally in my search for more refinement, I thought I’ll give the Rega Planar 1 a try. This was after watching some youtube videos comparing it with a Project Debut SB.
I played the Rega P1 for the first time and was pleasantly surprised. I liked its sonic signature. It had low end grunt, dynamism and a good amount of attack and excitement. It also sounded detailed and had an airy silky treble. All of this from an entry level turntable albeit a bit overpriced entry level.
I felt right at home and let a sigh of relief realizing that the search was over.
After about 30 minutes I noticed a slight motor pattern noise; but that went away completely after leaving the platter running for about 6 hours (a google search fix, recommending 48 hours of run-in on the P1).
In retrospect, maybe the Rega was the one I should have tried in the first place but local stores did not stock these and I was apprehensive buying from Amazon in case I needed to return it (due to restocking and shipping fees). But it’s the one I ended up liking and keeping.
Images in this review
Top reviews from other countries
Randy
Fantastic turntable, and if you add.....
Reviewed in Canada on April 8, 2019Color: Gloss BlackVerified Purchase
Alexandre M.
Som de qualidade com ressalvas
Reviewed in Brazil on May 24, 2021Color: Gloss BlackVerified Purchase
Som de qualidade com ressalvas
Reviewed in Brazil on May 24, 2021
Antes de mais nada cabe destacar que este é um toca-discos extremamente simples, não existe nenhuma automação e a mudança de velocidade é feita na correia. É nesta simplicidade que está o charme e a qualidade do Rega Planar 1. A expectativa é que esta economia de acabamentos e falta de amenidades seja compensada com grande durabilidade e alta qualidade do som. Este último ítem foi confirmado pois constatei, só de ouvido, uma melhora sensível na qualidade do som em relação ao meu toca discos anterior (technics sl-l20 tangencial). Vale observar que o aparelho apresentou alguns defeitos que acho que não são aceitáveis em um aparelho de qualidade superior. O prato tem uma oscilação, pequena mas visível, que não sei se é característica do toca-discos ou defeito. A tampa em acrílico, por sua vez, apresenta abaulamentos que comprometem bastante a estética do aparelho.
Reviewed in Brazil on May 24, 2021
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Amazon Customer
Gorgeous, Well Made, Upgradable
Reviewed in Canada on January 29, 2018Color: Gloss BlackVerified Purchase
J. Mulligan
Great turntable ruined by cable decision of Rega
Reviewed in Canada on November 30, 2020Color: WhiteVerified Purchase
