In the last year Rega gave its successful selling entry-level vinyl spinner, the RP1 a complete makeover.

Without drawing breath Rega then turned its company headlights on the Rega 2 and 3 turntables upgrading both significantly.

In between times, Rega’s design team was swatting late at night putting the finishing touches on a new, accomplished turntable.

When the work was finalised what emerged is now the Rega Planar 6 with its Neo PSU power supply.

The RP6 is the replacement for the long running and well-regarded RP6 model.

A Rega communication to its global distributors makes this clear, as this note from a company spokesperson makes clear.

Many of you will be aware we have been developing a replacement for the RP6 for many months. In fact, development of this product has been ongoing for over two years. We are extremely pleased to announce the design of the new Planar 6 is now complete.

This is a turntable designed to achieve the best possible performance, re-engineered from the ground up to achieve a level of performance never heard at this price point.

There you have it. The Planar 6 leap frogs the RP6 performance wise and the great news is according to Philip Sawyer, CEO of Synergy Audio Visual who distribute Rega in Australia, the price of the new model will be about the same as the RP6:

We’re still working out the final RRP of the Planar 6 but early estimates puts it about the same as the RP6 is now,

You don’t need a calculator to work out the RP6’s retail price with tonearm but without cartridge is $1999 RRP and with the Exact cartridge, $2399 RRP.

Rega sees the Planar 6 as an audiophile grade total turntable solution that sees buyers having the option of snaring a turntable, 330 tonearm, Ania MC moving coil cartridge, Neo PSU power supply and the recently announced Fono MC moving coil step-up.

So what’s exciting Rega about the Planar 6? The short answer is “Features”. Plenty of them.

Along with the NEO PSU, the Planar 6 has a super lightweight foam core plinth that simply won’t absorb and store unwanted air and floor borne resonances.

The plinth is also a laminated construction using high pressure laminate and finished with a non marking matt colour and high rigidity outer skin.

Rega also developed a new white drive belt to keep the platter spinning. The platter is made of glass but it’s dual layered and is offered in smoked or clear glass finishes.

The sub platter is made from a single piece of aluminium while the drive pulley is custom machined for high precision. Even the central brass hub received close attention and Rega says its design is so novel it has a patent pending on it.

To ensure the signal path from stylus to tonearm lead out wires has integrity, Rega built the Planar 6 using double brace technology with integral matched aluminium tonearm and hub pillars to deliver maximum rigidity and accuracy,.

The Planar 6’s all important external power supply, the Neo PSU has an advanced anti-vibration motor circuit with user adjustable electronic fine speed adjustment as seen on the RP10 PSU.

The Neo is fitted with the RP10’s DSP generator built on a high stability crystal. The DSP generator divides the accurate signal from the crustal to the exact frequency required to spin the platter at the selected speed.

The Neo is said to have an efficient drive amplifier generating a 24AC balanced signal of less than 0.15 per cent distortion and which is totally unaffected by changes in a mains/line voltage.

Sounds good. The Planar 6 will be available later this year. Stay tuned for the StereoNET review.

For more information visit the Rega brand page.