Rega Planar 6 Turntable [VIDEO]

Todd Anderson · Mar 20, 2023

Really enjoyed watching this, Travis.

I’m intrigued by the price point. You ask if I’d buy a product like this, sight unheard, and as someone that’s been out of the vinyl game for 30 years, the answer is no. BUT, I do know the impact of a great sounding turntable and appreciate that you’ve found one that hits its stride for your ears.

I gotta say: this definitely makes me interested in thinking about vinyl again. Though, the convenience of high quality streaming is tough to beat for my level of interest in music.

Thinking, tho… :whistling:

Travis Ballstadt · Mar 20, 2023

Todd Anderson said:
Really enjoyed watching this, Travis.

I’m intrigued by the price point. You ask if I’d buy a product like this, sight unheard, and as someone that’s been out of the vinyl game for 30 years, the answer is no. BUT, I do know the impact of a great sounding turntable and appreciate that you’ve found one that hits its stride for your ears.

I gotta say: this definitely makes me interested in thinking about vinyl again. Though, the convenience of high quality streaming is tough to beat for my level of interest in music.

Thinking, tho…

I look back on how much I've spent on different turntables, different upgrades, and then think about the overall cost of this turntable, and that puts it in perspective for me. Because every other table I've owned has been "that sounds pretty good for a $xxx turntable", but never "this sounds incredible."

This turntable sounds incredible, it looks great, and has all the features I wanted right out of the box. I'm going to do my best to not go down the rabbit hole anymore, and just enjoy this for what it is - a great turntable with no upgrades needed.

There are several albums - that white vinyl Pat McGee Band record shown in the video is a prime example - of albums I had been disappointed in the sound quality of the vinyl pressing. Revisiting those albums with the P6 have really changed my mind. They are capable of sounding great, but on my previous turntables, they just didn't. They sounded flat and two dimensional. This has really opened them up.

My Project was a perfect example. A $600 turntable where I immediately bought a $200 speed box, then spent another $150 on the acrylic platter for it. Then I decided a new cartridge would make it better, so $700 on an MC cart and another $300 on a new phono preamp that was compatible with MC cartridges. That's $1950 over time, plus tax, and I was never completely satisfied. For another $300 I have all those features and higher quality without the need to find ways to improve it.

I'm getting old enough that I'm more interested in end-game products to avoid continuing down the rabbit holes, which become much more expensive than simply buying the right product the first time. This is the right turntable for me.

Todd Anderson · Mar 21, 2023

Totally makes sense. I get it... and I also get the feeling of wanting to settle on a system, rather than chase (tho, the chase can be rather fun!).

What's telling is your realization that the Rega Planar 6 is hitting all the right notes. Vinyl is special in that way... the playback device really does matter. To use a car analogy, sure a Ford Escort and Range Rover can get you from point A to point B. But if you rode in both, there would be no mistaking the experience of the two would rides. And your experience of purchasing multiple improvements for your last turntable, trying to achieve that Range Rover ride, helped you to see the value in buying a product that gets it right.

Subwoofers aren't dissimilar in this category of prouducts that can be exposed or notably outmatched.

Travis Ballstadt · Mar 21, 2023

It’s not unlike the effort I made to “fake” a home REW Kaleidescape with PLEX. Still a pretty cool setup and far less costly, but not without limits and extra work. Also, as a note, my first car was an Escort and my current ride is…a Range Rover.

Todd Anderson · Mar 21, 2023

thrillcat said:
It’s not unlike the effort I made to “fake” a home REW Kaleidescape with PLEX. Still a pretty cool setup and far less costly, but not without limits and extra work. Also, as a note, my first car was an Escort and my current ride is…a Range Rover.

Ha! No way. Just two wild guesses that happened to be right. ;-)

I guess it's not going out on a limb that you're liking the driving experience of the Range Rover a tad more than the Escort! My first ride was a Dodge Omni. I would pull into the my high school's parking lot, turn it off, pull the key, and it the engine would still be sputtering. :doh:

Not exactly the vision of "cool" that I was looking for.

austinblackboxspace · Mar 21, 2023

Rega. Always a turntable staple. Outside my 30+-year-old LP12, it is the only other brand I would gravitate to.

Travis Ballstadt · Mar 21, 2023

austinblackboxspace said:
Rega. Always a turntable staple. Outside my 30+-year-old LP12, it is the only other brand I would gravitate to.

I have a couple clips I’ll put on our Instagram Reels with a new LP12 Climax table playing through a pair of Wilson Audio cash machines. Check it out!

Travis Ballstadt · Mar 21, 2023

Todd Anderson said:
Ha! No way. Just two wild guesses that happened to be right. ;-)

I guess it's not going out on a limb that you're liking the driving experience of the Range Rover a tad more than the Escort! My first ride was a Dodge Omni. I would pull into the my high school's parking lot, turn it off, pull the key, and it the engine would still be sputtering. Not exactly the vision of "cool" that I was looking for.

Definitely a more refined experience for sure.

austinblackboxspace · Mar 21, 2023

thrillcat said:
I have a couple clips I’ll put on our Instagram Reels with a new LP12 Climax table playing through a pair of Wilson Audio cash machines. Check it out!

will do! my wife is slowly upgrading the old girl to a Climax (horrible name..) level. one item a year or so. our Wilson Audio dealer in Austin is a really lovely place. on another note, hoping the next vehicle postings you both have are your ICE vehicle dumping news and going full EV! :bigsmile:

after SXSW and all the Dolby House events, we are really excited about Dolby Atmos being available in many EVs in the very near future. fingers crossed for my cybertruck.

Travis Ballstadt · Mar 21, 2023

austinblackboxspace said:
will do! my wife is slowly upgrading the old girl to a Climax (horrible name..) level. one item a year or so. our Wilson Audio dealer in Austin is a really lovely place. on another note, hoping the next vehicle postings you both have are your ICE vehicle dumping news and going full EV! after SXSW and all the Dolby House events, we are really excited about Dolby Atmos being available in many EVs in the very near future. fingers crossed for my cybertruck.

My next vehicle will not require petrol. I’ve put 5000 miles on the Range Rover in the last year and a half. It’s paid for and runs great, but we’re planning to eventually dump both combustion engines for electric eventually. We both work from home and I take the train when I need to go into the office. Not many miles being driven.

Sonnie Parker · Sep 20, 2024

I'm about to break out all our vinyl from the basement jail and bring it into a new listening room - a junk room we cleaned out today.

Rega Planar is on my list of tables to consider.

I tried the Denon DP-300F back in 2012 or so... but just wasn't ever crazy about it. Plus, it doesn't fit in my theater room. An easy listening room may do the trick if I can get a solid turntable.

Travis Ballstadt · Sep 20, 2024

The Planar 6 has been the centerpiece of my 2ch system and is literally the only piece still in the system since the review.

I have since picked up a pair of Rega RS5 speakers to replace the B&O powered speakers I was using, allowing me to reinsert my Jolida tube integrated amp back into the system. I then replaced the phono preamp with a Rega Aria MK3.

The next upgrade is to some more full-range towers, leaning towards Sonus Faber. Oh, and actually the next upgrade is new vinyl shelving.

Sonnie Parker · Sep 20, 2024

Hmmm... Sonus Faber has some really nice speakers. We used a Jolida tube amp in one of our speaker evaluations. I wanted to keep it, but couldn't afford to at the time. I wouldn't mind having a tube amp in the vinyl room.

I'm on the lookout for vinyl shelving here, too, although we may have enough with the stand that's in the room now if we can find an AV cabinet/stand that will hold some underneath.

Sonnie Parker · Sep 20, 2024

What record cleaner are you using Travis?

Travis Ballstadt · Sep 21, 2024

Sonnie Parker said:
What record cleaner are you using Travis?

I have a HumminGuru ultrasonic because I’m lazy. A Spin Clean will do almost as good for a fraction of the price if you’re willing to do the work.

Travis Ballstadt · Sep 21, 2024

Sonnie Parker said:
Hmmm... Sonus Faber has some really nice speakers. We used a Jolida tube amp in one of our speaker evaluations. I wanted to keep it, but couldn't afford to at the time. I wouldn't mind having a tube amp in the vinyl room.

I'm on the lookout for vinyl shelving here, too, although we may have enough with the stand that's in the room now if we can find an AV cabinet/stand that will hold some underneath.

I’m working on a massive shelving unit with R/D out of LA. Will do a full review and may even have a discount code available for our readers. Though compared to other real wood alternatives they are already reasonably priced for large collections.

R/D Record Cabinets | Made in LA

Since 2016 we have built custom, high quality vinyl record storage cabinets to last a lifetime.

www.rdrecordcabinets.com

Sonnie Parker · Sep 21, 2024

Travis Ballstadt said:
HumminGuru ultrasonic

Are those pretty good, and is that all you use? I'm a WHOLE LOT lazier than you—guaranteed—lol.

I was looking at the Degritter Mark II, but the price made me shiver. There is absolutely no way for me to justify it. How can it be that much better?

Travis Ballstadt said:
I’m working on a massive shelving unit with R/D out of LA. Will do a full review and may even have a discount code available for our readers. Though compared to other real wood alternatives they are already reasonably priced for large collections.

R/D Record Cabinets | Made in LA

Since 2016 we have built custom, high quality vinyl record storage cabinets to last a lifetime.

www.rdrecordcabinets.com

Nice... looking forward to it.

Travis Ballstadt · Sep 21, 2024

Sonnie Parker said:
Are those pretty good, and is that all you use? I'm a WHOLE LOT lazier than you—guaranteed—lol.

I was looking at the Degritter Mark II, but the price made me shiver. There is absolutely no way for me to justify it. How can it be that much better?

Nice... looking forward to it.

I think the Degritter will be my next machine. The HumminGuru is pretty good, but I really like the two-tank capability of the Degritter that allows a first pass with a cleaning solution and a second pass for rinsing. I also believe the actual ultrasonics on the Degritter have more juice behind them than the HumminGuru, which has a pretty weak power supply. It gets the job done most of the time but sometimes requires a second pass and sometimes just can’t do it. I think either machine is a good purchase at their respective price points, the deciding factor is how much do you want to pay and how dirty are your records, and do you dig in the dollar bins/garage sales or the new bins? The better cleaning machine you get the more you can save on vinyl purchases.

Sonnie Parker · Sep 21, 2024

Nah... I pretty much only buy new stuff, but I'm not sure how much more I'd buy, as most of what we'll listen to we already have. However, most are 40-45 years old. I treated mine early on with Last, so I'm not sure if they may have helped or not. I've seen a couple of the MoFi releases, and I wouldn't mind owning them if they are not too ridiculously priced, which some are, in my opinion. Over half of our albums are from my DJ years (late 70s to early 80s) and probably won't see much play, but back in 2011-2012 (IIRC), I purchased several new albums then, and I did purchase a few off eBay auction, but they were in very good condition.

Sonnie Parker · Sep 23, 2024

Before you buy that Degritter, check out this YouTube video. This guy does some serious objective testing with measured data of audible differences before and after using the Degritter (latest version). Degritter actually sent it to him for review and testing. Quite the eye-opener in my opinion.

Travis Ballstadt · Sep 23, 2024

Sonnie Parker said:
Before you buy that Degritter, check out this YouTube video. This guy does some serious objective testing with measured data of audible differences before and after using the Degritter (latest version). Degritter actually sent it to him for review and testing. Quite the eye-opener in my opinion.

That testing is a flawed method for my use case. I had a Spin Clean and it did a fantastic job, but it's a hassle and because of that I didn't clean records until I had a huge batch, then it took me a weekend of cleaning, and you're constantly using it.

This guy cleaned records with the Spin Clean first, which I have no intention of ever doing again, and then cleaned them with the Degritter. All he found was that the SpinClean does just as good or almost as good a job as the Degritter if you want to do it all manually, which I don't. I want to have something that I put it in, hit start, and then put it away.

Sonnie Parker · Sep 23, 2024

I think he cleaned them with the Spin Clean then another US system, then the Degritter. Still too much moolah for me.

I'm going with a Kirmuss system, but I don't plan to do the full giddy-up that he does. Mainly use the ultrasonic because it is a better design and more even at cavitation... then use a vacuum system to dry it. I'll have about $1250 in the system (found a Kirmuss open box but new), which should work better than the Degritter. It will be two steps, but not all that bad. I'm not sure how much it will help what I have, but some of what I have is new and has never been out of the jacket.

Sonnie Parker · Sep 23, 2024

I meant to add that what opened my eyes in that video is that there are automated versions of the manual system with vacuum dryers instead of blow dryers, which are about 1/3 the price of the Degritter. As I understand it, vacuuming is better for drying that blowing, as it supposedly sucks out any leftover residue and contaminates from the grooves, whereas the blower just blows it dry in the grooves. I have no idea if that has any merit, but it sounds reasonable.

Also, we did not learn from his video that the Degritter could do as good a job as manual cleaning. He should have done the reverse as well: use the Degritter first on an album that has not been cleaned, then use the manual system to see if it could improve on it.

Rega Planar 6 Turntable [VIDEO]

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