The Vinyl Anachronist: Return to Rega

By Marc Phillips

April 2009

The Rega P9 turntable

When I purchased my J.A. Michell Orbe SE turntable and SME V tonearm back in 2003, I told myself, “This will be the last turntable I ever own.” Of course I said the same thing when I bought a Rega Planar 3 back in 1993, but you know how audiophiles are—fickle and neurotic. My recent switch to a new analog rig was not the result of audiophilia nervosa, however, or even an upgrade in the true meaning of the word. I recently switched from Orbe to my new Rega P9 because I felt like it.

Okay, there is more to it than that. The Michell was a wonderful-sounding turntable, and I loved owning it. But as a professional reviewer, the Orbe could be a handful. You just can’t pick up the Orbe and move it around – you have to disassemble it. Whenever I had a new ‘table to review, I’d always let out a little sigh as I grabbed my Allen wrench set and started taking everything apart. It was even more of a chore whenever I moved and had to pack the Orbe in its original box. Fully disassembled, the Orbe has at least three dozen separate parts and barely resembles a turntable. I’m sure the new owner of mine is still trying to figure out how to put it back together.

Another reason why I returned to Rega was that, well, I missed having one around. I owned both a P3 and a P25 for several years, and I embraced their simplicity, reliability and ease of use. While the Michell Orbe SE was a huge step up in performance, I still missed the clean lines, compact dimensions and light overall weight. Regas were always a breeze to move around and store.

Life with the P9

Of course it would be next to impossible to go from the Orbe to a Rega P3, P5 or P7. It had to be the P9 or nothing. This was still not an easy decision since I was never impressed with the first generation of P9s, the ones with the old RB900 tonearm. I felt the sound quality was only marginally better than my P25. In other words, I enjoyed the P9’s sound more than the price. I remember preferring the sound of the less expensive Michell Gyro SE, an observation that eventually led me to the Orbe.

The new RB1000 arm drastically changed my impressions of the P9. I first heard it about a year ago when we reviewed it (along with the Apheta MC cartridge) for TONEAudio magazine. I said to myself, “Wow, if it sounded like this in 2003, I might have chosen it over the Michell!” While the Orbe certainly sounded more textured and lush than the P9, an important consideration for me, I was drawn to the exciting presentation and stunning transparency of the Rega.

The beginning of a beautiful friendship

Now that I’ve had been living with mine for a few weeks, I have a few more observations. First of all, the P9 is exceptionally easy to live with. While I’m not absolutely thrilled with the size of the outboard power supply (it uses the same chassis as the Rega amplifiers and takes up an entire shelf on my rack), it is substantial and easy to use. If you look closely at the P9 itself and wonder why this sleek and simple ‘table costs US$5000 [NZ$7500], the power supply will remind you that you’re still looking at a bargain. I also get a kick out of the white ceramic platter, which reportedly costs more to manufacture than an entire P25 did.

My P9 even came with the limited edition “thick” belt, which does make a sonic difference to my ears. (We performed A/B comparisons at TONEAudio back when we reviewed the P9, and most listeners heard a decrease in the noise floor and a slightly larger soundstage.) Above all, I’m relieved with the fact that I have a turntable that requires little care and maintenance and is easy to set up. I’ve been using the P9 with my reference Koetsu Rosewood Standard, my Zu Audio DL-103 and a new Clearaudio Maestro MM, and it’s truly easy to swap out carts, remove spacers from under the arm, and get everything set and aligned.

Is the P9 the last turntable I’ll ever own? I won’t say that… yet. But I do know that as I get older, I keep thinking about the system that I’ll own when I jump off the audio merry-go-round. I’m currently using a pair of Harbeth 40.1 loudspeakers, and I don’t want those to ever leave my listening room. I’m also using the new LFD NCSE integrated amplifier, and it’s exceedingly simple in design and sounds absolutely glorious. The P9 fits right in with that motif. I’ll miss the Orbe, but I like my new friend a lot.

Marc Phillips has been writing about hi-fi and music under the Vinyl Anachronist banner since 1998. His earlier columns can be found on the Perfect Sound Forever website. You can discuss vinyl with Marc at Vinylanach@aol.com

Have your say!

Tell us what you think about this article. Email your comments.

Talk about this article on the AudioEnz Forums.