Platine Vinyle Rega P6 RS

This special “RS” edition of the Rega Planar 6 is made from a brand-new HPL laminate combined with an aluminum coating to achieve a more rigid and inert plinth. It is also the most rigid and neutral one Rega has ever designed for its turntables.

Rega Planar 6 RS: Plinth

Rega is the first brand to have chosen lightweight and ultra-rigid plinths. For many years, the brand has used a lightweight particle core coated with a very rigid phenolic resin. This choice is at the origin of the high level of performance achieved by the manufacturer’s turntables. The new Rega Planar 6 RS Edition features, as with the P3 RS, a high-pressure laminate (HPL) usually reserved for the Planar 6, Planar 8 and Planar 10 models. It is covered with a dark brushed metal plate, bordered with black lacquer. The whole forms a very aesthetic plinth.

This complex plinth design prevents energy absorption and unwanted resonances, which would add unnatural distortions to the music. Likewise, a heavier mass can transfer more unwanted energy, such as motor or bearing noise, directly into the rotating record and therefore into the cartridge. The use of spacers allows a double thickness of phenolic resin in these key areas, which directly solves the problem of mass absorption and unwanted energy transfer.

In addition, there is the double brace system mounted specifically where increased rigidity is required (Double Brace technology), between the tonearm mount and the bearing/spindle. The whole forms a structurally very solid assembly.

Rega Planar 6 RS: Motor and Power Supply

The RS edition comes as standard with a Rega Neo PSU MK2 power supply which, as on the Planar 8, has been optimized and individually hand-tuned with each motor. This power supply controls speed and therefore allows switching between 33/45 rpm, but it also acts as a motor anti-vibration circuit. The low-noise 24V motor found on the Rega P6 is equipped with a CNC-machined pulley. It drives the aluminum sub-platter via two Rega Reference EBLT drive belts. This provides ultimate speed accuracy. These drive elements and the bearing/spindle are entirely borrowed from the Planar 8. The glass platter is the 16 mm thick “double layer” opti-white version.

Rega Planar 6 RS: Tonearm and Cartridge

The new Rega Planar 6 RS is equipped with the legendary RB880 tonearm, which is standard on the Planar 8. It is entirely handmade and assembled. It benefits from more than 35 years of experience and features bearings with virtually no friction and a tube profile with low resonance. The wiring uses low-capacitance conductors and new RCA plugs.

This tonearm allows the installation of very high-end cartridges, both MM and MC. As always, if you choose a cartridge from another brand, you will need to add a spacer under the tonearm to achieve a perfect VTA.

As standard, the Planar 6 RS is equipped with the manufacturer’s highest-end MM cartridge, the excellent Rega Nd9.

Rega Planar 6 RS: Test and Listening

The first impressions are unequivocal! We are clearly dealing with a supercharged REGA P6 turntable.

We find all the musicality and swing typical of the brand’s turntables, but with greater definition and neutrality.

As always, the reproduction is very coherent and particularly well balanced. The dynamics are remarkable, but above all they seem much better controlled.

Presence and openness are also among its strengths… Vocals are remarkable in presence and realism.

Each modification made to the Planar 6 inevitably brings it closer to the Planar 8, even if it does not fully reach the latter’s performance in terms of nuance and subtlety.

The REGA P6 RS is a complete success. It pushes even further the performance of the British manufacturer’s best-seller for more than 40 years.