Rega Planar 3 (older model) Questions - Issues to look for? etc - help asap

kws87

New Member
Hi AK -

I have a chance to get an older Rega Planar 3 that looks to be in good cosmetic condition and no obvious functional issues.

But, I am hoping you AK experts would weigh in on the following;
- What, if any, are common issues with these tables that I should check before purchasing?
- How does this older deck compare with modern/new turntables? Is this of relatively lower quality than a current Rega RP3? Or, is it equal or maybe even slightly better in some areas? Would this Rega Planar 3 be of better quality than a Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Esprit?
- What year might this table be from?

Some pics are attached here, I appreciate the input/advice! tia
 

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Not sure if this is OK to post but Tom O'Keefe at Overture Audio has been a great help with one I picked up and am having fixed and upgraded locally. He has been great at suggestions and thoughts.
If I am out of line mods please feel free to delete my post and correct me. Thank you!
 
There's a very good chance that the anti-skate belt in that R200 arm is broken and replacements are not available.

It is a toothed belt. There are "ways" to fix it involving shims and a belt that is "close" but that's the deal breaker for me on the old Regas with that arm. Depending on what anti-skate was set when the belt failed, you may have an arm that's way out of adjustment.

Rega R200%2C bias belt.jpg
 
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I had a REGA RB200 arm and the AS belt was the problem. Not only that, but the arm was a basket case. Not a good turntable and its really old. I'd move on.
 
Thanks for all the info ya'll. How easy is it to get a look at that belt? Will I be able to look without a lot of disassembly? If anyone could offer some instructions for looking that would be excellent.

Any additional items I should/could check on pretty easily?
 
I owned one just like that. Loved the looks, but the speed issues drove me nuts. Was also very sensitive to footfalls.

Sold it before the anti-skate belt went south. Wife is still slightly mad that I sold it - she liked the styling.
 
Far from a Rega expert here but that would be an early example, before they started making their own tonearms.
Do you mean the issues were only present with tonearms not made by Rega? Is my early example of a planar 3 a unit with a non Rega arm ? Thanks again
 
Rega's own arms look completely different, with a black, tapered, one-piece armtube. This is the earlier arm they sourced from Japan, made by Acos if memory serves. I would listen to the more knowledgeable members above and pass on this one.
 
I had a REGA RB200 arm and the AS belt was the problem. Not only that, but the arm was a basket case. Not a good turntable and its really old. I'd move on.

I have much older turntables. Should I move on as well? :music:

The Planar 3 with the RB300 is quite a nice turntable...certainly not elite, but better than many of the current crop of sub-$1000 tables. Spend $200-400 improving it (better subplatter, offboard motor or motor upgrade, dual pulley, etc) and it can compete well above that level.

But I certainly agree that the Acos arm is not worth pursuing. Just didn't want the OP to discard post-1983 Planar 3 incarnations.
 
I see where I might have caused some confusion above. My post #4 looks like it's in response to what willyrover wrote in #3. It's not, we were posting seconds apart.
 
Thanks for all the info ya'll. How easy is it to get a look at that belt? Will I be able to look without a lot of disassembly? If anyone could offer some instructions for looking that would be excellent.

Any additional items I should/could check on pretty easily?

The belt is very hard to access. I am not sure if you can easily tell if it's broken just by turning the dial, but you can if the arm is adjusted to float level. With zero on the dial the arm should stay put but as you turn the dial to higher numbers the arm should pull to the right or outside if the antiskate is working.
 
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You might be able to get a feel for the condition of the belt based on whether there is any tension on the anti skate knob. But even if it's still working, if it's an original belt, it's not going to work for long.

I believe opening up that part of the arm require a fairly complete disassembly of the pivot section.
 
Do you mean the issues were only present with tonearms not made by Rega? Is my early example of a planar 3 a unit with a non Rega arm ? Thanks again

Yes and yes. As bang4buck said, in 1983 Rega introduced their own RB250 & RB300 arms. The Planar 3 from that point on was sold with a RB300 arm and still is to this day, albeit with various iterations of the arm and deck.

The post-1983 Planar 3 looked like this:

rega_planar_3_top_view.jpg



James H
 
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