Rega P5 Turntable – Black / TTPSU Power Supply / Dynavector 10×5 Cartridge

British Hi-Fi specialists Rega are probably best known for their budget turntables, but here we have a slightly more upmarket model the P5. Coming in very good condition with original factory packaging, TTPSU, mains PSU and our standard three month warranty. Please note our example of the P5 comes fitted with a Dynavector 10×5 Cartridge which although its working fine now is not covered in the warranty as we dont know its history.
Rega Say….
Rega’s philosophy is to make high quality products at sensible prices, as a means of reproducing music as faithfully as possible. Rega is committed to the design and development of new and existing products, both in hi-fi and other areas, that will perpetuate Rega’s values of quality and value for money.
We have omitted all the usual gimmicks and genuinely concentrated the manufacturing costs on the high quality and design necessary to reproduce records accurately. For example: a complex sub-chassis suspension is normally necessary to reduce motor noise. However, they are difficult to maintain and degrade performance. Rega has designed a unique phase adjustable power supply eliminating motor vibration at source and therefore eradicating the need for a suspension.
The Rega P5 is a turntable born from the legacy of the P25. The P5 celebrates over 30 years of Rega precision crafting specialist hi-fi in Britain. And subsequently combines everything that Rega stands for, which is simply, giving you the best product in terms of quality and style at the best possible price!
The P5 utilises ideas and engineering techniques used on our more expensive turntables; the aluminium surround, its complex CNC machined skeletal low mass micro-fibre plinth. Not to mention the new RB700 tonearm found on the P7.
The Glass platter of the P5 is hand crafted from floated plate glass 15mm in thickness. This makes for a superb platter material which provides stability and assists in the isolation of record information against other sounds (i.e. /knocking or vibrations) and also provides excellent speed stability; thus providing increased sonic enjoyment.
The P5 has a new tonearm, the RB700, improving greatly on the previous model, the RB600. The aluminium tube has been specially coated in a unique finish and the entire bearing housing has been redesigned and is now manufactured to even higher tolerances. The tonearm tube itself (which is a one-piece silicone/aluminium casting) is very rigid, whilst being low mass. The tonearm assembly is concentrated around precision, hardened stainless steel and miniature ball races of the highest quality. The bearings fit on to ground shafts and into the tonearm using interference fits. This means that no adhesive is required and therefore none of the associated (component – adhesive – component) losses in rigidity prevail. It is fitted to the plinth by a 3-point fixing which is CNC machined out of a single solid block of Stainless steel. This provides the strongest most rigid base structure possible for the tonearm and causes less stress on the plinth and the RB700’s bearing housing and therefore the least possible resonance.
The RB700 tonearm is designed to make cartridges work harder, maximising the cantilever acceleration and travel as much as possible with the utmost accuracy within the cartridge body thus providing new levels of information.
Features and Specifications:
25mm thick plinth – low mass particle core sandwiched by highly rigid phenolic laminates with aluminium frame
Rega RB700 tonearm with tungsten steel counterweight
12mm thick glass platter with wool/acrylic mat.
24V synchronous motor – optional stabilized power supply
Belt Drive
Clear lid
Dimensions: 445 (W) x 355 (D) 113 (H) mm

For a review from US publication Stereophile please click here

For a second opinion from “The Absolute Sound” please click here