Rega’s entry turntables, side by side. Here is the Planar 1 Plus alongside the standard Planar 1 and the Planar 2 above it, showing what your money buys at each step.

The Planar 1 Plus is the Planar 1 with a phono stage built in, and Rega’s argument for it is better than mere convenience. Rather than bolting a preamplifier onto the back, the engineers put the stage directly beneath the tonearm and soldered the arm wire straight to it, which removes the cable that normally runs between arm and phono stage altogether. That link carries the smallest signal in the whole system and is the one most vulnerable to interference, so eliminating it is a genuine engineering gain. The result is a deck that plugs into any line input, or a pair of powered speakers, and plays.

Brief product overview

A manual belt-drive turntable playing 33 and 45rpm, built on the Planar 1 platform: a 24V low-noise synchronous motor with an aluminium pulley, a redesigned brass main bearing, a 23mm high-mass phenolic platter, Rega’s EBLT drive belt and the hand-made RB110 tonearm with ultra-low-friction bearings, automatic bias and a stiffened headshell. A Rega Carbon moving-magnet cartridge is fitted at the factory. The difference from the standard Planar 1 is the built-in moving-magnet phono stage, based on the circuit from Rega’s Fono Mini A2D with the digital and USB sections removed and the audio components upgraded with the savings. It presents a 47 kohm load in parallel with 220pF, delivers 370 to 410mV at maximum output and achieves a signal-to-noise ratio of -75dB A-weighted. Output is at line level, so the deck connects to a line input rather than a phono input, and it drives long cable runs without difficulty, which means it need not sit next to the amplifier. It runs from Rega’s PS1 power supply and is made in England.

How it sounds

The Planar 1 Plus sounds like a Planar 1, which is to say lively, rhythmically direct and considerably more engaging than its price suggests, with the added benefit of a phono stage that is properly matched to the cartridge and free of the cable that usually sits between the two. The supplied Carbon cartridge is the limiting factor, as on the standard deck: a capable conical-stylus design that gets the fundamentals right without resolving the finest detail, and the obvious place to spend money later. What the Plus removes is the need to think about phono stages at all, and the freedom to put the turntable wherever suits the room.

What we’d partner it with

For amplification, the Rega io makes a natural match in size, price and character: 30 watts per channel and no digital circuitry to pay for. The Planar 1 Plus connects to one of its line inputs, and the io’s own phono stage is simply left unused. As a Rega turntable it earths through its phono lead, so there is no separate ground wire to attach. The Plus also suits amplifiers without a phono stage at all, and active or powered speakers, which is where its built-in stage earns its keep most clearly. Good alternatives from brands we carry are compact integrated amplifiers from Audiolab, Pro-Ject and Arcam.

For speakers, we suggest the Dali Sonik 1, a two-way bookshelf of 86dB sensitivity and 6-ohm impedance, which sits within Rega’s recommendation for the io. Stand-mounts from Wharfedale, Elac, Mission and Triangle work equally well.

For the upgrade path, the cartridge is where the money goes, since the phono stage is already fitted. The Nagaoka MP-100 uses Nagaoka’s moving permalloy generator with a samarium cobalt magnet and permalloy shielding, and its 5mV output suits the built-in stage well. It keeps a conical stylus, as the Carbon does, so the gain is in the generator and build rather than the stylus profile; the elliptical MP-110 above it is the larger step if you want one. Because Rega cartridge bodies are shorter than most, fitting a Nagaoka to the RB110 usually needs a spacer to set the stylus rake angle, and the arm’s fixed height means that spacer is the only way to adjust it.

On cabling, use a well-made speaker cable of appropriate gauge for the run; AudioQuest and Chord are the cable brands we stock.

Who shouldn’t buy it

If your amplifier already has a good phono stage, as the Rega io and most Rega amplifiers do, you are paying for a second one you will not use, and the standard Planar 1 costs less and lets you keep the flexibility of choosing an outboard stage later. If you want electronic speed change rather than moving the belt by hand, the Planar 2 and Planar 3 provide it. And if you expect to fit a more ambitious cartridge in future, note the RB110’s fixed arm height limits how far you can go, and the Planar 3’s adjustable arm is a better foundation.

The Planar 1 arrives with the cartridge fitted and aligned and the tracking force set, so it is close to ready: fit the platter and belt, level the deck on a solid, isolated surface away from the speakers, and connect the phono lead. To change speed, lift the platter and move the belt between the steps on the motor pulley. Connect it to the io’s phono input, or, if you fit the Fono MM Mk5, to that stage and then into one of the io’s line inputs, leaving the internal phono stage unused. If you fit the Nagaoka cartridge, expect to need a spacer to correct the stylus rake angle, since the RB110 has no height adjustment and Rega cartridge bodies are shorter than most; it is a job worth having the dealer do, and the arm’s bias is preset so there is no anti-skate to adjust.