Rega Planar 2 (P2) Turntable Preview

See the complete review of the Rega Planar 2 (P2) Turntable

The Rega Planar 2 (MSRP $) may share the same name as the turntable developed in the mid-1970’s from this famed British audio company, but the new 2016 version of the Planar 2 is really quite different altogether.

This very affordable turntable comes complete with an MM cartridge and is refreshingly easy to set up. Rega spent the last couple of years developing the Planar 2 alongside the slightly costlier Planar 3, and other than the stylish P2 logo, you’d be hard pressed to see the difference between the two turntables.

The Planar 2 is a clean-looking design with a fresh gloss white acrylic laminated plinth and a 10mm thick clear float glass platter. The new RB220 tonearm comes mounted with the Rega Carbon MM cartridge. The tracking pressure is factory set for 2 grams, and the cartridge is aligned properly. All you need to do is have a quick check with the enclosed and handy protractor, and the turntable is ready to use.

For my turntable reviews, I am using the Pass Labs XP-25 phono preamplifier.

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The Pass Labs offers front dial settings for Gain, Capacitive loading, and Resistive Loading. I found the best settings (the best sound) for the Rega Carbon moving magnet cartridge with gain set to 53dB while setting the capacitive loading at 100 pf and the resistance set to 47k-ohms.

The Rega P2 immediately sounded clean and controlled with a solid bass punch, and the midrange vocals were natural and balanced. I’m looking forward to many hours of music with this very nice turntable.

MSRP $645

See the complete review of the Rega Planar 2 (P2) Turntable

Piero Gabucci

As a kid I wasn’t frugal with money, but so glad my brother was. He worked and saved to buy audio gear that I was able to enjoy. I was hooked on hifi. When I graduated from college, I rewarded myself with a pair of KEF speakers and a Denon Turntable and amplifier. They were my prized possessions. Today as an architect, my passion for music and film match my joy for architecture - art is art. Involved with Secrets for many years now, I’m able to enjoy some great gear and I do love it all, analog (vinyl and tubes) and digital (high-res and solid state). My approach to reviewing is with an openness and unbiased enthusiasm as I do think the art of high fidelity is subjective. Whether you believe the goal of hifi equipment is to capture the quality of a live performance or to faithfully reproduce the artist’s studio recording isn’t relevant, it’s the pure enjoyment at all levels that matter.