This Rega Planet CD player certainly has that "analog-like" , it has that delicate, warmish, detail sound that you hear from a decent and properly setup turntable.

I hear musicality and detail I never heard before

I am very happy with this, paid very little for it, but the fact is that if I had paid full price of $800.00, I would still be very happy with this.

I bought it after reading reviews here on this site, there are over 150 reviews of this great cd player, and I felt that so many people could not be wrong. I am glad I bought this, this will stay with me for a while now.

People and engineers at Rega Research oughta be congratulated for this, you people did a terrific job designing this great player, Rega should be proud to have on their team.

Bass is smooth

Treble clean

CD text

Diplay off

Build quality is decent not noteworthy

This a great little CD player that can be picked up quite cheaply second hand. If you can stand top loaders this one could make you think twice, i find it very easy to live with.
The Planet as all good CD players should do, delivers good detail and gives an accurate representation of whats on the disc. Solid bass with a natural feel is something noticed right away. The Planet just sounds right, natural, as it should, proving itself good value over and over again.

CD text and the ability to turn off the display are little things that aid the late night listening sessions.

Similar Products Used:

Rega Apollo
Cambridge audio 540, 640, 840
Denon DCD 700, DCD 1500

Sounds very natural. Nice bass. Makes Diamanda Galas listenable for longer sessions.

Top loading might cause problems.

First of all, this player looks very cool. This is clearly not the main reason for buying a new CD player but it helps. I figured my old Philips player wasn't state of the art and that it might be an idea to try something else. After all it looked horrible and the remote was among the worst piece of design i have ever seen. I wasn't sure that I would actually hear any differance with my current equipment, Audiolab 8000 A and Dali 606, but to my supprise I allmost instantly started to like the sound of this player. The sound of this player is very natural and in some sense modest. Clearly there are players that are more revealing. I figure people with extermly revealing equipment, say barn door sized electrostats, would find this player rather dull. The Planet adds warmth to the sound and it doesn't feel like it adds any extra stress to the sound. Which is good if you intend to listen more than 30 minutes. As a person sitting around the house doing anti social stuff such as writing reviews of CD players you have to love this "I can listen for 6 hours straight without getting stressed out' feature. The bass is also a plus beaing very thight and easy to follow and feels very musical. The only weakness I can find with this player is that it might be subject to wreckage when throwing drunken parties at home due to the loading mechanism. This player is top loaded which in my opintion is cool but I figure it might be fragile. People, that want to change CD while being under the influence, tend to screw stuff up unless it looks like a standard tray player.

Similar Products Used:

Nothing really.

Natural, lifelike presentation

Could be a bit bland sometimes

I have the original Rega Planet CD player which I had swapped for with my Quad 77 CD. My first impression, compared to the 77CD, was that it sounded more like the Quad CD67, which has always been my favourite player. I've tried this player in two systems, and in both cases it acquitted itself successfully: 1. Quad 34/306 amps with Harbeth P3 speakers 2. Densen DM10 amp with Dynaudio Audience 50 speakers My goal has always been to achieve a relaxed sound that still packs a lot of detail. Like the CD67 the Planet is airy and laidback, yet quite dynamic. It's not hifi-ish in the sense that it adds something to the sound or brings attention to itself. It just sits in the system and is content to just play CDs. Overall, I'm happier with the Planet than I was with the 77CD. It's fabulous for female vocals and you can hear metal strings on acoustic guitars. At the same time it fares pretty well with rock and dance tracks, too, so I'd say it just pips the Quad CD67 to the post sound-wise (the CD67 was a bit more selective of what it sounds good with). I also like the idiosyncratic styling of the original Planet more than the revised ones, which I'd say is more conformist. God knows we need more individualism in today's MTV-fied world!

Similar Products Used:

Quad 77 CD, Quad CD67, Arcam Alpha 5 Plus CD, Rotel RCD965BX, Marantz CD4000 (yuck), Marantz CD50SE, Marantz CD40.

Openess, pure silence between the tracks, clarity, cool looks, overall build

none

My Denon was near death and I needed a serious upgrade. The Denon had numerous problems from the start. While it sounded o.k., it just never worked well. After much research I came across a used Rega at my dealer. I when back several times to listen and really began to love the sound. Once home I was very much impressed by the overall improvement over the Denon. Not all digital sounds alike, that you can take to the bank. Highly recommened.

Similar Products Used:

denon

beautiful sound, not in yer face but still enough detail to tickle the ears

perhaps too laid back for some (though not for me)

I bought the Planet to match my newly purchased amp, a Marantz 6010OSE. My musical tastes are jazz/fusion/blues/acoustic and a spot of dance/classical/acoustic rock. I bought the amp because I had heard good things about it in that it was supposed to be a smooth operator, good with vocals. The Planet was supposed to be smooth as well so I thought they might be a good match although perhaps a little too smooth. Well, after a couple of days of burning in, I can say that the sound is indeed very smooth, but for my tastes not too smooth as it still digs out detail that I hadn't heard before. It can also rock (to an extent, forget about heavy stuff). This combination with my beloved ALR/Jordan Entry S speakers and Athena sub, is not high-end and the purist my laugh at it, but, glass of red in one hand, a block of cheese in the other, it makes music as enjoyable as I have ever heard it and that with a CD player that costs less than interconnects that I used to buy with my high-end system. System: Rega Planet CD Marantz PM6010 OSE ALR Jordan Entry S speakers Athena sub Ixos interconnects / spkr cables

Similar Products Used:

Meridian 807, Micromega Stage 3, Yamaha mini system MCR-E500

Sound, clarity, soundstage

Looks, toploading makes it difficult to put into a bookshelf. Some functions only work with the remote control

The Rega Planet caught my eye as a second hand bargain with my Rega dealer. In the shop the clarity of performance struck me.(Bach, Weihnachts oratorium, Herreweghe) I was allowed to try the CD-player for a couple of days. Upgrading from a Philips 335, it was a revelation! I heard details in -live- recordings never heard before. Pin-point stereo image. On my Quad ESL 57 speakers the Rega Planet Mk1 presents a very nice wide soundstage.

Similar Products Used:

Quad ESL 57 (refurbished), Quad 44/303, Philips 335

Soundstage,bass, that lid that fits over the cd!

A bit laid back at times.

Using the Rega Planet, I can see how it has achieved it's legendary status. Very detailed soundstage. The bass is present and not smeered. It blows my Nad c 540 out of the water and up on the beach! My system: Carver tfm-25(old school, but still a great amp) Carver c-5 preamp Magnum Dynalab FT-101A Infinity Overture-3's DH-LABS interconnects and speaker cable

Similar Products Used:

Nad C 540

Smooth, Open and Airy. Build quality. Price!

Lacks resolution and excitement.

At first listen, the Rega doesn't sound as exciting as some of the other players in it's class. In extended listening sessions though, the Rega turns out to be a very musical player. It has enough resolution and pace to keep the music interesting. If you listen to Jazz and Pop, this is the player. Down point, the Rega lacks the resolution for classical pieces. Overall a very refined player for the $$$. It reminds me of my esoteric players as does the Arcam Alpha 9.

The player tends to be a bit picky about interconnects. I found the Cardas Cross and Transparents MusicLink Plus to work best. Synergizes with my Acurus DIA100MKII and Bryston 3B-ST/20BP setup.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel, Marantz, Arcam, CAL

class-leading sound: natural timbre, overall musicality

it is very "sensitive" to cable choice-some think it lacks treble extension and overall dynamics, but most of that is due to lack of synergy.

So many others have said what is apparent to most of us: this is a class-leading cdp. When I first heard it I thought it to sound somewhat reserved. I changed the interconnect and it made a big difference. I compared it to the Arcam and Rotel players and I thought that they sounded more alive and detailed. Soon I realized that pumped-up treble detail and etched treble do not equate to natural sounding music. I then compared the timbre and color of acoustic instruments and found that the Planet was easily the best at portraying what was obviously on the CD. An acoustic bass that sounded warm and natural on the Planet turned into a deep groan on the other players. They sounded somewhat zippier, but they were off of the mark musically. The Linn player was right with the Planet in natural tone and color, and is very nice and balanced, but I still found the Planet to have a certain musicality edge, and a big price edge.

Is the Planet the best cdp? DUH. Is it a great value, with big payoffs in natural sound and actual musicality? YUP.

Similar Products Used:

several Arcams at and above Planet, ditto for Rotel, the $1700 Linn cdp