Rega Planar 1 Plus Turntable. Matt Black Finish with Rega Carbon Cartridge and built in Phono Stage/Phono Pre-Amp. 2021 Version.

Product Information

Rega's Planar 1 Plus brings the excitement and warmth of vinyl to the 21st century without the hurdles often associated with turntable setups. This award-winning turntable shines bright, offering seamless integration for those entering the world of analogue sound and terrific performance upgrades for seasoned aficionados. Key Features

Here at What Hi-Fi?we review hundreds of products every year, from TVs to speakers, headphones to hi-fi systems. So how do we come to our review verdicts and why can you trust them? Allow us to explain. This Debut Pro turntable is terrific at digging deep into the production and revealing layers of instrumental textures that most at this level ignore. It sounds incredibly precise and crisp. Its presentation is a little on the lean side, but the upside of such a balance is agility.It produces a stable and controlled sound too, one that retains its composure even when the music becomes dense and demanding. Stereo imaging and a spacious soundstage prove admirable and we are impressed with the sonic authority on offer. Rega asked themselves, how do we make the most successful turntable we have ever made sound better, be even easier to use and be more accessible to a wider audience? The answer was simple; Rega engineers added a custom designed, high quality, moving magnet phono stage based around the multi-award winning What Hi-Fi? 5 Star Fono Mini. Once you have chosen, it's also crucial you set up your turntable correctly. While some record players are relatively "plug and play", many require a little more time and effort to hear at their best. Want to know more? Read our complete guide to choosing the right turntable. How we test record players Despite newer record players with integrated Bluetooth streaming entering the market (even hi-res wireless options like the Cambridge Audio Alva TT V2) this Sony continues to deliver the best combination of performance for a Bluetooth model, and for a very affordable price, too.

Central Bearing housing

On the flipside, having separate power supplies is where the extra authority and muscle comes from with the Planar 1 and Fono set-up.

Once primed for action, the Planar 2 delivers punchy basslines, room-filling scale impressive attention to detail and rhythmic subtlety. There's no built-in phono stage, so it needs to hook up to a stereo amplifier that has one, or you can always buy a separate one. If that's within your budget, you'll find that the Planar 2 delivers a clear step-in performance from the Planar 1 – and at a very competitive price. And to be clear, you’ll enjoy it. The Planar 1 Plus is slightly different in configuration to other Rega turntables but its DNA is pure Rega and it shows the moment that it gets to grips with any time signature. The truly awesome Heaven/Hell by Chvrches - seemingly written for a film montage to mind blowing to exist yet - lets the Planar 1 Plus show why, even at this relatively sane level, there’s a certain something to vinyl replay that gets to you. You can listen to the same album on Tidal via the Star’s own (formidable) internal decoding and it is brilliant but there’s a vibrancy and rhythmic energy to the Rega that gets under the skin after a while. It’s not better in any technical sense but it’s utterly compelling on an emotional level. The rebirth of Technics has spawned another fantastic turntable. While we love the high-end SL-1000R model (so much so that we use it as part of our reference testing system), the SL-1500C is much more affordable, and it's also one of the best record players we've heard at around a grand that includes a built-in phono stage. So it’s no surprise to find that Audio-Technica hasn’t changed its winning formula for this new LP5x model. Why would it? The biggest visual change though is the platter. Instead of the distinctive (and very pretty) glass platter in use on the Planar 2 and upward, the Planar 1 and Plus use one made of phenolic resin. One aspect that is retained from the rest of the Planar range is the manner by which the belt acts on the platter. Instead of looping around the outer edge of the main plater, it does instead act on a sub platter under the main one. This has some positive implications for setup as we shall cover.

Motor Cover Tray

The synchronous motor, with its low noise and vibration, plays a key role in enhancing the turntable's sound quality. Its combination of high torque and low vibration maintains speed consistency, ensuring that your records sound as good as they possibly can. Audio-Technica’s original AT-LP5turntable was a winner. Launched in 2016, its combination of solid engineering, useful features and fine sound was enough to make it one of our go-to recommendations for anyone wanting a sensibly priced, fuss-free record player with the added bonus of a USB output.

Perhaps the most convenient feature is the built-in MM Phono stage (based on the Rega Fono Mini). This means you can connect the turntable directly to any amplifier or system with standard phono inputs, reducing the need for additional components and simplifying your setup. Mixing convenience with quality is something that we’ve seen across many categories. It’s hard but not impossible and items as diverse as LG’s WebOS to ATC’s formidable HTS speakers are fine examples of equipment that is easy to live with but makes no significant demands of their owner. The Rega Planar 1 Plus has to be added to this happy group of products. Put simply, setting up a record player does not get more straightforward or hassle free than this. Everything that Rega knows about the business of straightforward vinyl replay is in this turntable. The Rega Planar 1 Plus is a belt driven unsuspended turntable. Given this is what Rega is known for, this should not be terribly surprising. The design itself - as the name suggests - is also closely related to the Planar 1 which has been on the market for a little while and represents the entry point to Rega turntable ownership. As such, this is standard design practise from the company and closely related to an existing model. Why then, are we devoting a review to it?We have a selection of Planar 1 and Planar 1 Plus plinths that are marked, scratched or obsolete (gloss P1 and P1 Plus for example). There are, no doubt, practical reasons why Rega has done this. Let me suggest a few. To add customer value by bundling the two together (we’ll get to that point in a moment), to decrease the amount of cables that you need to worry about (although removing two cables from the set-up is a relatively minor headache saver), to reduce the footprint of the two separate products for those users where space is of a premium (although the Fono is a pretty small item, as it is), to cater to the technophobe by simplifying the installation process and maybe to enter the ‘bundling’ fad that the industry has fallen prey to of late. Recent hi-fi show attendances has revealed to me that, along with active/powered speakers, the latest industry ‘craze’ is to bundle previously disparate items together into a single chassis. I reviewed the Elipson music centre recently, for example, which adds network audio to radio and a CD player and more. Through the Rega, Fitzgerald’s vocal delivery was fractured. This from the smoothest vocal delivery in the business. Her voice sounded worried. It was as if something truly horrible was going to happen after the session and she was fretting about it during her performance. She sounded positively tense.

The real attraction here is the dynamic sound. The Planar 1's delivery is spellbinding and well beyond what you might expect from an 'entry-level' turntable, surpassing that of the cheaper Audio Technica and Sony turntables also on this list. Rega’s forensic attention to detail results in a roomy, spacious presentation, while voices sound superb and rich. The Planar 1 delivers a combination of clarity and accuracy that's almost unparalleled at this entry-level price, providing an exciting and engaging experience no matter what you throw at it. The source of your hi-fi system, be it a streamer, CD player or record player is a crucial component; as the saying goes, 'rubbish in, rubbish out'. In an era where digital formats seem to rule the music world, Rega stands firm in its commitment to keeping the vinyl legacy alive with its excellent lineup of turntables. The Rega Planar 1 Plus is a sterling example of this dedication. Marrying simplicity with innovation, the Planar 1 Plus Turntable delivers pure, captivating sound straight from your beloved vinyl records. Let's dive deep into its features and benefits. A Turntable for Every Music Enthusiast: Rega Planar 1 PlusThe Planar 1 Plus comes with a 24v, low-noise, synchronous motor that reduces vibration, minimizing potential noise interference with the stylus’s critical task—reading the record groove accurately. The brass was rather harsh in tone too. The muted trumpets, especially during crescendos, were thin, raspy and aggressive while the cymbals had a static infected quality. While some may prefer the Planar 1/Fono set-up’s brawny sound, we find the sprightly nature of the Planar 1 Plus more fun to listen to. For Rega this is a non profit initiative designed to use parts and save them from being disposed off.