Rega Planar 3 RS Edition review

The Planar 3 has traditionally been the sweet spot of Rega’s turntables. Iconic by name and reputation – and the recipient of more What Hi-Fi? Award wins than we can count over the decades – this deck has recently impressed us all over again thanks to a new fitted moving magnet cartridge (Nd3) improving the performance even further than before.

There are ways to upgrade the Planar 3’s performance – add an outboard power supply and/or upgrade to a step-up cartridge, for instance – but there is quite a gap to the next rung up the ladder, which is the premium Planar 6 deck (£1215 / $1875 / AU$2499 without cartridge).

This is where the Rega Planar 3 RS Edition comes in. The ‘RS’ stands for ‘Rega Special’, but don’t be fooled by the name as this isn’t a limited edition model. It’s a full production package that is imbued with a whole set of upgrades that elevates the standard Planar 3 package, while keeping the overall price competitive.

Design & build

Rega’s long-standing turntable design principles can be summed up in four words: low mass, high rigidity. The brand believes that adding mass to the structure of a turntable absorbs energy from the music and increases the transmission of unwanted resonances to distort the sound, so the aim is to avoid adding on structural mass wherever possible. The materials used and design choices throughout their turntable range reflect this principle, and we encounter more sophisticated materials, clever engineering and improved sound quality as you go higher up the range.

As such, the current budget and mid-price models (Planar 1, 2, 3) use an MDF core with a light but rigid phenolic resin skin, while the more premium models (Planar 6, 8, 10) use a foam core with a more advanced and pricier High-Pressure Laminate (HPL) that is extremely thin but has even greater stiffness, improving the overall performance further.

On the Planar 3 RS Edition, the plinth is one of the integral areas that has been upgraded. The core of the RS Edition’s plinth is still MDF like the standard model, but it is wrapped in the High Pressure Laminate usually reserved for more premium models. It’s the first time that this material has been used on the Planar 3, let alone on a sub-£1000 Rega deck.

Combined with that is a new brushed aluminium finish that we’ve not seen on Rega models before. It looks elegant and sleek, with high gloss black edges that add a subtle mirror-like effect and complement the dark metal finish in a way that looks premium without being too flashy.

The RS Edition comes with the Nd5 cartridge fitted as standard – this is an upgrade over the Planar 3/Nd3 package we tested, although you can get the Planar 3 fitted with the Nd5 as well for an extra cost. The Nd5 uses a "perfect elliptical nude diamond" as the stylus, a higher quality of diamond over the Nd3 that delivers greater tracking accuracy and detail retrieval.

That’s not all: the RS Edition comes with the outboard Neo PSU Mk2 power supply included in the package price. This external low-noise 24V power supply unit is custom matched to the RS package and designed to deliver a cleaner power supply feed to the deck’s motor. The other advantage it brings is electronic speed switching to the Planar 3 deck, meaning you can change 33⅓ and 45rpm speeds at the press of a button instead of manually moving the belt on the pulley on different notches.

This also negates the need for a power switch under the RS’s plinth, as you can turn the deck’s motor on and off using the Neo PSU Mk2. Additionally, Rega’s Reference EBLT drive belt is fitted on the RS Edition for better speed accuracy, compared with the EBLT Advance belt version on the standard Planar 3.

The excellent RB330 tonearm comes fitted as usual, and the high quality of this one-piece tube is such that it looks just as home on the pricier RS Edition as it did on the standard Planar 3. The deck remains easy to set up, and is wonderfully reliable and smooth in use.

Other elements of the Planar 3 RS Edition stay the same as the standard Planar 3, including the 12mm glass platter and double-brace technology with the metalised phenolic skin. This further strengthens the area between the tonearm mounting and the main hub bearing (without - you guessed it – adding much more mass to the plinth), to further reduce unwanted resonances and noise from the motor or bearing affecting replay.

Price

The Rega Planar 3 RS Edition costs £999 / $1795 / AU$2199 – keeping the price to under a grand in the UK was a key point for Rega. In comparison, the standard Planar 3/Nd3 model costs £799 / $1395 / AU$1699.

If you wanted to modify your existing Planar 3 by adding in many of the elements present in the RS Edition, you can do so by buying certain components separately – but it will cost you a pretty penny.

For instance, you can buy the Nd5 cartridge (£295 /$675 / AU$650), the external Neo Mk2 PSU (£260 / $445 / AU$549) and Reference EBLT drive belt (£17 / $75 / AU$75) and that will ring up a total of £572 / $1195 / AU$1274. Considering the difference in price between the standard Planar 3/Nd3 and RS Edition is £200 / $200, that’s a huge saving if you opt for the RS Edition package. (Those in Australia can make an even bigger saving as the difference between the models is AU$500).

You wouldn’t be able to upgrade to that brushed metal HPL plinth unique to the RS Edition, however. We are lucky to have our Planar 3/Nd3 sample at hand, so have been able to compare the two turntable packages directly, as well as seeing how much of an impact each upgrade makes on the overall performance.

Sound

What’s clever about the way the Planar 3 RS Edition has been put together is that every element improves upon the standard Planar 3’s performance in incremental but substantial ways. Put it all together, however – and particularly thanks to that bespoke plinth – the RS Edition delivers a clear step up in performance that is more than worth the extra outlay. We were pretty effusive in our Planar 3/Nd3 review; the RS Edition delivers even more of what we like so much about the Planar 3.

Plugged into the phono inputs of the Naim Nait XS 3 integrated amplifier and using the Epos ES-7N speakers, the RS Edition sounds cleaner, more detailed, more muscular and with an even bigger sense of space and openness. That same familial Rega sound is instantly identifiable – snappy, agile rhythm and dynamically exciting, and a fluid, natural way with melody that is simply fun to listen to.

The RS Edition sounds terrifically stable and solid, with Kurt Cobain’s intimate, raw singing on Plateau and Something In The Way from the MTV Unplugged live performance coming through with greater depth, power and weight to each note. The guitar strums and resonances around the strings are more textured and tactile, and have more grit and muscle to them than when playing the same record on the standard Planar 3. Play The Unthanks’ Mount The Air single, and you get a better sense of the space the song is recorded in – a vast, sparse location – thanks to the RS Edition offering a wider soundstage that allows detail to flourish more freely, along with a quieter, darker background.

That expanded dimensionality comes through especially when listening to orchestral pieces such as Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. The dramatic piece is delivered with stronger and more far-reaching dynamics, with the Rega handling the swift changes in speed, dynamism and intensity adeptly. It fills a room more easily – the width of the orchestra is palpable as much as the depth of the soundstage. There is a confidence and effortless quality to the way this turntable sounds compared with the standard Planar 3; the RS Edition locks every detail, every instrument, every vocal into place in an assured way that is admirable and wholly enjoyable.

The Nd5 cartridge is able to pick up a great deal of detail, with a tonality that is balanced well throughout the frequencies. The twinkling, higher frequency electronic notes in Four Tet’s Circling are more fleshed out and sound sweeter, while The Unthank sisters’ folk-tinged delicate vocals in Mount The Air have even more subtleties and nuances unearthed. The contrast between instruments and sudden quietness is more apparent and dramatic through the RS Edition, too.

In comparison, the standard Planar 3/Nd3 sounds smaller in scale, a little bit lightweight and less detailed. It’s still a nimble and expressive deck that is enjoyable for its price level, but the RS Edition moves the needle further in every area. We think it closes the gap with the pricier Planar 6 and Planar 8 to a considerable degree.

How far can you upgrade the standard Planar 3 to get close to the RS Edition’s performance? As part of our testing (and because we are nothing if not curious), we first swapped out the standard deck’s Nd3 cartridge to the Nd5, and that gave us an immediate uplift in clarity and detail, with a sweeter, clearer treble. Next, we added on the Neo Mk2 PSU power supply, which brings more body, stability and muscle to the Planar 3’s sound, as well as offering more space. Together with the change of the drive belt, the upgraded Planar 3 is clearer, more detailed, a bit more open and with livelier dynamics… but it just can’t quite match the bigger-sounding, more confident, stable and precise presentation of the RS Edition. Both decks are fairly close when it comes to dynamic punch and fluidity, and the way they prioritise the core message of the music – rather than focusing on individual sonic elements – remains a core part of the Rega performance, regardless of which deck you’re listening to.

The changes between the decks may not seem like much to start with, but in the end, the performance difference is quite substantial. The bespoke HPL plinth in particular makes quite the impact when it comes to improving the sound quality of the RS Edition.

Verdict

Considering the scope of the upgrades and the resulting performance, it’s rather astounding that Rega is offering this souped-up ‘special’ package for such a competitive price. The Rega Planar 3 RS Edition is an elevated Planar 3, further refining an already excellent build and performance to deliver even more from your vinyl records and bring you closer to the music. It’s a beautifully designed turntable, too.

Is the £200 step up worth it? Yes, we think so. The Planar 3/Nd3 package is still a fantastic turntable for the money that we still enjoy and continue to recommend, but if you’re able to spend a bit more and get an even better-sounding Planar 3 performance? This RS Edition is a no-brainer.

First reviewed: January 2025

SCORES

• Sound 5
• Build 5
• Features 4

MORE:

Read our review of the standard Rega Planar 3/Nd3

Also consider the step-up Rega Planar 6

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