REGA Planet comparisons


Hey guys! Anyone heard the planet? Anything within 3 times it's retail price that smokes it?? Please, respond ONLY IF YOU HAVE DIRECTLY COMPARED THE PLANET TO SOMETHING ELSE, i.e not "I heard my buddy's Planet at his house, and My CAL at my house smokes it"... Looking for a good player to hunker down with until SACD is blown off the face of the earth(probably, and sadly) by the inferior DVD-A players. WHich will be cheap and plentiful within 24 months. THANKS!!!.
gthirteen
I have been using a Rega Planet since it came out. I like mine a lot and do think it is a great value but I am having some power supply problems with it now which does not please me. May I suggest though that if you want something to tide you over like you suggest, perhaps a good DAC would be a better idea. You could use it with the next player you get and have good CD quality out of your DVD-A player when you buy one.
Get a used Resolution Audio CD50 for $1800 or less. No, I've not compared the Rega with it directly, and frankly don't need to.
I've compared the Planet to many players at a stereo store in New York City. Frankly, I think the Planet blows for $795. The Arcam players are much nicer in the same price category (<$1000), that is if you can deal with the Arcam looking like a $200 cheap Japanese knock off. Even CAL players at $1000 I thought were better. The Planet lacks the detail and soundstage some of these other players offer. Linn offers some players that are slightly more expensive. Like the saying goes, you get what you pay for. The problem is, how much more are you willing to spend for incremental gains? I ended up with a Krell 250cd. Not bad used for $1500.
In my opinion, I know of many players better than the Planet. Please don't take this the wrong way, the Planet is a wonderful player, and anyone who spends time with one understands how underrated it actually is. I have sold some of this equipment in a past life. I prefer the new $500 Jolida 603, although it doesn't smoke it. The Rega IO/Jupiter at 2X the price smokes it. As does the Arcam 9(or the FMJ22, which I've yet to hear but is almost identical). Also, the Musical Fidelity A3(or internally identical X-RAY, which I did not hear). Two others I've heard are the Linn Genki and Ikemi. Don't pair the Planet with a DAC, unless you buy a REALLY good DAC, you'll kick yourself.
Rega Jupiter...DAC and Transport...Just try it and you'll hear it. It is excellent on vocals and jazz and doesn't hurt the classical either.