It doesn’t really get much more old-school than this: a turntable, amplifier and speakers has been the go-to hi-fi set-up for the best part of a century. Technology and innovation improve all the time though, of course – as is clearly highlighted by the Rega pairing we suggest here.
To go with it are standmount speakers from PMC, and while we haven't listed it in the system cost, a pair of speaker stands will be necessary extras (alongside cables) due to the nature of bookshelf speakers, which, unlike floorstanding speakers, aren't self-supporting.
A good pair of speaker stands is vital at any time; but when you are investing this sort of money in your music, it would be foolish not to allow the loudspeakers the chance to shine. So allow another £200 / $250 / AU$400 or so for a decent set.
This set-up is well suited to small to medium-sized rooms, mostly owing to our choice of PMC's excellent Prodigy 1 speakers. If you do plump for this small-space appropriate system, and invest in those speaker stands of course, you will be sitting back and losing yourself in some simply sublime music for many years to come.
The system
- Turntable: Rega Planar 3/Nd3 (£799 / $1395 / AU$1699)
- Amplifier: Rega Elex Mk4 (£1199 / $1875 / AU$2499)
- Speakers: PMC Prodigy 1 (£1250 / $1699 / AU$2299)
- Total price: £3248 / $4969 / AU$6497
Rega Planar 3/Nd3
Rega has been making brilliant record players for many years now, and the Planar 3 has won Best Buy Awards from What Hi-Fi? in the past. This year, though, it is available with a new cartridge that replaces the Elys 2 that did such sterling service in the previous iteration. And such is the success of this new combination that the Planar 3/Nd3 pairing has not only won a Best Buy this year, but it has also taken our prestigious Product of the Year Award to go along with it.
And, good as the Elys2 was, the comparisons between the new cartridge and the old don’t take long to make. It becomes clear very quickly that the new cartridge is better in just about every area. There is an obvious similarity in sonic character, both cartridges delivering a similar sense of energy and drive. The tonal balance isn’t too different either; both remain pretty well-balanced.
But the Nd3 tells us more about the recording, rendering vocals and instrumental textures more convincingly. It has stronger dynamics too. Stereo imaging is more expansive and notably improved in terms of focus. We find that the Nd3’s high-frequency performance is cleaner and more refined, while bass is cleaner, deeper and more precise.
Some things haven’t changed much though, and that’s a good thing. This Rega package continues to be a class-leading entertainer. The turntable conveys the rhythmic drive of music superbly, yet, ask to drop down a gear to deliver a passionate but thoughtful love song and it will communicate with skill.
We have come to associate Rega’s turntables with having a pleasingly cohesive nature to their presentation and that is still the case here. This trait has the benefit of focusing our attention on the music rather than the mechanics of hi-fi replay. And that, we hope it goes without saying, is an important characteristic.
Rega Elex Mk4
The turntable marries really nicely with the amplification on offer in this system. Not hugely surprising of course, but it is rare to find a pairing that blend together so nicely.
The Elex Mk4 isn’t showy; it simply gets about its job of delivering the music as it was intended with minimal fuss or influence. As we say in our review on this amp: “It simply handles every element of the music in an incredibly assured and elegant manner. This is an amplifier that knows what it’s doing and wants you to just sit back and listen.”
Play The Chain by Fleetwood Mac (hey, a thousand hi-fi showroom demonstrations can’t be wrong, can they?) through the analogue inputs and the spread of sound from the Elex Mk4 is wide and open, with ample space for every well-placed instrument to flourish. Rhythmically, it times superbly. The famous bassline in the outro is pulled taut and tightly delivered – it goes deep, but there’s no flab.
The way the Rega handles music – delivering it as a cohesive whole rather than individual elements – is effortlessly done.
And, in a relatively new ‘innovation’ for the company, there are digital inputs on this Rega amplifier, which means you can add digital equipment to this determinedly analogue system without any issue when the time arises.
All of which brings us back to where we began this system: the standmount speakers...
PMC Prodigy 1
If there is one thing we can say about PMC, it’s that the British company puts its considerable efforts into getting the best sound they can possibly make for the money. To that end, there are more premium-feeling speakers out there for the price, perhaps; but we challenge you to find a pair that perform quite so well for their money.
Some of the best equipment we review impresses us from the get-go, and wraps up its star rating in a matter of minutes; for other great products, the true sonic ability needs a bit longer to reveal itself. The Prodigy 1 leaves us in no doubt right from the off. They are stunning in their clarity and detail and have a hugely entertaining sound with scale, transparency and authority – doing more than hinting at an all-round level of sonic sophistication associated with speakers from a category above this.
We are particularly taken with the bass. For speakers of their stature and price, we are pleasantly surprised to hear them dig so deep – and all the while retaining the definition of those low notes.
As we say in the full review, “the Prodigy 1’s precision and organisation warrant the label ‘analytical’, [but] the speakers aren’t informative at the expense of entertainment. Systematic, yes, but not soulless.”
We conclude that review: “Such versatility and relatively unfussy positioning help make this yet another pair of PMC speakers we can confidently, wholeheartedly recommend, but it’s the speakers' hugely enjoyable performance that first and foremost seals their five-star fate. They sound terrific and no less ‘PMC’ than the company’s pricier models. Indeed the Prodigy 1 simply open up the PMC sound to a wider audience, and any of that audience in the market for new standmounters should waste no time getting a pair into their home.”
Impressive stuff indeed; and, married to the excellent Rega pairing, they combine to create a stunning stereo set-up that will do your music proud for many years to come.
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