Rega Planar 3

It was a belt-drive deck that broke from convention, by employing a solid plinth in lieu of the compliantly suspended chassis or sub-chassis used in many quality turntables since the early 1960s.

It is highly influential,[1] and has made its small British manufacturer's name synonymous with hi-fi turntables, and gave the company the widest brand recognition in this product sector in the US.

It is a belt-driven design incorporating a driving 'sub-platter' mounted on a high quality oil-lubricated bearing, which is fixed directly to a medite (MDF) plinth supported by three simple rubber feet.

[13][10] The P3-24, (launched in 2007) was fitted with a RB301, which had a new anti-skate mechanism, external tonearm cable, an improved vertical bearing and a new three-point attachment to the plinth instead of a single pillar.

[16][17] The plinth, which the Rega website described as a low mass particulate core sandwiched by highly rigid phenolic laminates, "looks like any plain cheap medite board", according to Lim.

[18] On the discontinuation of the P2, the P3 became Rega's entry-level turntable[15] until the company relaunched the P1 in 2006 (at $350 including arm and cartridge) to compete with offerings from Music Hall and Pro-Ject.

[21] The P3-24 may be used with an optional external power supply designed for the P7 that gives a stable voltage to drive the motor and which allows for two-speed operation (33 and 45 rpm) without requiring manual speed change.

[12] The plinth of the P3-24 and more recent models, constructed of laminates with a 0.9mm phenolic resin skin instead of MDF,[5][22] is custom-made by a Scottish kitchen cabinet supplier.

Rega co-founder and chief designer Roy Gandy realised the plinth could be made lighter if thicker bracing was installed at key points to make the structure stronger and stiffer.

The 12mm platter is a new glass material, dubbed Optiwhite, is noticeably clearer in appearance and is said to be machined to higher tolerance which improves rotational stability.

The 24V AC synchronous motor has a new control PCB and housing cover for greater consistency during assembly and improved reliability, and the power switch has been relocated under the plinth for better ergonomics.

Remarkably, the 2016 Planar 3 only rose in price nominally from its predecessor, revealing the benefits of Rega's increased manufacturing capacity and popularity.

He found fault, however, in a number of parameters, such as average transient response, not enough sense of depth, a higher than expected noise floor, and some slurring of musical notes and details – such as individual voices among a small group of singers.

[9] Szabady, in Stereo Times, also agreed that musical expressiveness was the classic Planar 3 strength; its weaknesses included occasional speed inconsistency and slurring of heavily modulated bass transients.

[25] Michael Fremer wrote in December 1996 that "while the 2 did nothing really wrong, the 3 offered somewhat deeper and tighter bass, better dynamics at both ends of the scale, a better sensation of 'quiet', and smoother overall performance".

Considered on its own terms, the Rega 3 was "quiet, dynamic, free of obvious tracking distortion or other supposed analog problems, extremely well-balanced top to bottom, offers very deep and reasonably tight bass".

Burmester described the P3 sound as "dynamic, expressive ... fresh and enthusiastic feel, not quite but nearly weaving the illusion that you're sitting in the third row of the auditorium or the engineer's booth at the recording studio.

[15] Writing in Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity in 2012, Jim Clements said of the RP3 that it has "several meaningful advances over the P3-24 [that] help the RP3 operate with low background noise and an innate ability for detail retrieval.