Wicked Sounds for Less Pounds - Says a real DJ (Rega P3)

Member Name: hvallian

Product:	Rega P3
Date:	12/09/01 (4535 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Sounds, Pounds

Disadvantages: Can't Scratch or rewind

I suspect that many people reading this may not be sure exactly what to look for in a turntable these days, especially if you are lucky enough to be born in the 80's, so this is also an attempt to help everyone out. I have had the Rega for a year now but have been a semi pro DJ for much longer.

The Rega Planar 3 is a High Fidelity turntable. Before I go any further I will state that it cannot be used for DJing. All you budding Djs out there know which turntable you need so stop reading this and go out and buy two! The first thing that you notice about this deck is that it has no buttons or knobs to speak of. To change the speed you have to remove the platter (which is made of glass) and flip the drive band from one position to another. It is compatible with 45rpm (usually Singles, 7 or 12 inch) and 33rpm (usually albums).

So what does all this high fidelity stuff mean for a turntable? Well for a turntable of this quality it will out perform most CD players that cost twice as much. It will always sound "analogue" in that the harshness that some people hear coming from CD , especially in the treble, is not there. For the like of me and you this means dance music can be played louder without giving us a headache! In comparison with DJ decks you will notice that the bass goes just as deep but that you can hear all the other instruments in the right proportions and the timing is better due to better speed control of the record. In even in a modest separates system a turntable will sound less harsh and tinny.

By the way, did you know that on Dance 12 inches they cut the grooves deeper to give more, deeper bass. For club purposes vinyl is still a must.

The arm of this turntable (called the RB300) is quite famous and is used on many turnatbles costing much more. The turntable can be easily upgraded by the addition of a better cartridge (costing anywhere from £30 to £3000), and other tweaks that can be found at:


www.originlive.com

(no i don't work for them and its not really a proper advert)

You will also notice in Virgin and HMV that vinyl is coming back into fashion, and not just for dance music. Some old classical recordings still sound much better on their original analogue recordings.

The big advantage of turntables for me is the feeling that you get from having to make a bit of an effort (ie getting up from your chair) and taking a big chunk of vinyl and slapping it on. When you realise that the sound is better you wonder why you forgot how good that black stuff sounded.

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