- New turntable has the stiffest Planar 3 plinth ever created
- It also has an upgraded PSU and moving magnet cartridge
- It’s cheaper than configuring the equivalent Planar spec
The Rega Planar 3 turntable is an audio legend, and it’s been delighting listeners since the 1970s. It’s been updated a few times since then to take advantage of technological and engineering advances, and now there’s a brand new version of the best-seller.
The new Rega Planar 3 RS Edition isn’t just the same turntable given a lick of paint. There are some important upgrades to what was already a winning formula.
The new RS Edition, aka the Rega Special, is made with a brand new plinth that uses aluminum metal skin HPL laminate, usually reserved for the Planar 6, 8 and 10, to create what Rega says is the stiffest Planar 3 plinth it’s ever made.
The dark, brushed metallic finish and high-gloss black edges certainly look stunning, but there’s substance as well as style here.
What’s so special about the Rega Special?
The RS Edition comes with a custom-matched Neo MK2 PSU, each motor vibration circuit tuned to each individual motor, and that motor drives the sub platter via Rega’s Reference EBLT drive belt.
The familiar RB330 tonearm is now supplied with an award-winning Nd5 moving magnet cartridge. To spec an existing Planar 3 with the same cartridge and PSU would be considerably more expensive than the RS Edition.
The changes promise to further reduce unwanted distortion and noise to deliver an even more accurate sonic performance, and Rega goes into great detail about the engineering achievements and design decisions on its product page .
The short version is that this is the Planar 3, but even better. You can buy the Rega Planar 3 RS Edition now for $1,795 / £999 (around AU$1.900).
- The best turntables for most people
- The best high-end turntable
- The best headphones for hearing every detail