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REVIEW: Rega P3 2000 Turntables

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Model: P3 2000
Category: Turntables
Suggested Retail Price: $750
Description: New version of the classic Rega Planar 3, with RB300 tonearm
Manufacturer URL: Rega
Manufacturer URL: Rega

Review by MaP on January 29, 2002 at 17:35:53
IP Address: 202.12.233.21
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for the P3 2000


I had been living without vinyl for a good five years. And for another five before that, I was only playing vinyl reluctantly. Why? The truth is I hadn’t been happy with my ageing 1979 Lenco L833DD with Ortofon VMS20E MkII cartridge since I bought a CD player (a Philips CD450) in 1986. Yet, I knew I could do better and the thought of abandoning my LP collection left me in a quandary. In its last 5 years of service, the Lenco had become unreliable and would intermittently cut out the left channel. My various attempts to fix it were alas in vain. Then, late in 2000 I decided to take the plunge and invest in a new turntable. I chose the Rega P3/2000.

The dealer fitted an Ortofon Super OM20 to the RB300 and gave me a very good price for the combination. Very excited, I picked it up and took it home after work one evening. Setting up was as easy as unpacking, placing the platter in position and connecting to my Luxman LV-113 amp. My joy soon turned into frustration when the unbelievable happened. The left channel didn’t work! Perhaps there was nothing wrong with my Lenco after all, perhaps the problem was in the amp! But no, swapping channels confirmed the problem was in the P3. In an effort to fix the problem, I gently jiggled the cartridge connecting leads. Lo and behold, one connection simply fell off the end of the arm! Well, it was back to the dealer, who, to their credit arranged a swapover to a brand new unit on the very same day (a Saturday).

Back home, set up again and with some trepidation, I lowered the needle onto a disc again. Wonderful, this time it all worked fine. My relief soon turned into sheer disbelief at the sound I was now hearing. I was playing tracks from the soundtrack to “Amadeus”, a personal favourite and one with which I’m very familiar. But this sounded nothing like I’d remembered – this was magic! Not believing my own ears, I put on disc after disc for the next two hours. I could not stop.

The P3 presented the best soundstage imaging I’ve ever heard from my gear. There was depth and focus to everything I threw at it. Clicks and pops seemed to take a back seat as the music just floated over the top of everything else. In short, everything sounded so much more realistic and, dare I say it, “musical” than I ever could imagine with the old Lenco. Yet I know that the OM 20 is nothing special, cartridge-wise. I know I can do a whole lot better but at this stage I didn’t care. I just enjoyed the music.

Since that first day, I’ve become more and more attached to the P3. I’ve had a lot of enjoyment re-discovering my old record collection. Some, I’ve duplicated in CD format. Which do I prefer? Well, that’s not as easy a question as you might think. I still find much to admire in CD. There can be no denying that the opening heartbeat on Dark Side Of The Moon is far more palpable on CD (coming through the B&W ASW1000 subwoofer) and is in fact almost non-existent by comparison on LP. The sound is more “alive” on CD, more punchy, and the dynamic range more extended. Yet the LP still has a certain “magic”, an allure that is irresistible. I would have to say that I find qualities to admire in both formats.

What else can I say about the P3? It’s a very elegant, if simple, piece of engineering. The RB300 is a joy to look at and very easy to set up. It has a great feel to it -- a fine mechanical wonder. The glass platter rotates very silently and very true. Indeed, were it not for the eccentric felt mat, it would be very hard to tell whether the platter was revolving or stationary without looking very closely!

There’s no doubt in my mind that the P3 is a great machine and would have no hesitation recommending it to anyone looking for a fine player with aspirations to high-end and at a bargain price. My tip would be to buy it with, or upgrade to, a worthier cartridge -- one with the ability to resolve finer detail, better dynamics and perhaps better bass extension and control. I suspect the Rega Elys or Super Elys would make excellent choices.

I have a feeling one of these cartridges would close the gap between LP and CD performance and, who knows, I might end up preferring LP. Then again, my mind may become confused again once I upgrade my ancient CD player…


Product Weakness: No VTA adjustment
Product Strengths: High-end aspirations at a bargain price. Top arm comes as part of the package!


Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier: Luxman LV-113
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): None
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Philips CD450
Speakers: Duntech PCL15 "Little Duchess" mini monitors
Cables/Interconnects: Harmony Gold interconnects, generic OFC speaker cable
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Classical/Amadeus movie soundtrack, Rock/Dark Side Of The Moon plus countless others!
Room Size (LxWxH): 5m x 4m x 3m
Other (Power Conditioner etc.): B&W ASW1000 Subwoofer
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner




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Topic - REVIEW: Rega P3 2000 Turntables - MaP 17:35:53 01/29/02 ( 9)