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Art Dudley DESCRIPTION Two-speed, belt-driven turntable with synchronous AC motor, MDF platter, pivoted tonearm with aluminum-alloy armtube, moving-magnet phono cartridge with replaceable stylus. Wow and flutter: unspecified. Rumble: unspecified. Tonearm spindle to pivot distance: 222.8mm. Tonearm effective length: 240mm. Downforce: noncalibrated counterweight. Antiskating: calibrated sliding magnet. DIMENSIONS 17.5" (450mm) W by ca 4.5" (115mm) H (with dustcover) by 15" (385mm) D. Weight: not specified. FINISH Gray semigloss. SERIAL NUMBER OF UNIT REVIEWED 00235. PRICE $350. Approximate number of dealers: 125. MANUFACTURER Rega Research Ltd., 119 Park Street, Westcliff-on- Sea, Essex, England SS0 7PD, UK. Web: www.rega.co.uk. US distributor: The Sound Organisation, 159 Leslie Street, Dallas, TX 75207. Tel: (972) 234-0182. Fax: (972) 234-0249. Web: www.soundorg.com. EQUIPMENT REPORT Rega P1 RECORD PLAYER Rega P1 record player For a word that first appeared in print only 35 years ago, prequel has a lot of impact—if only in a commercial sense. The television series Smallville has become a staple of American broadcasting. Film producers gambled millions on the chance that audiences would want to know what happened when Batman began. And while moviegoers have turned their backs on the apparently awful Hannibal Rising, the book of the same name is doing brisk business indeed. Our antediluvian interest isn’t limited to superheroes and scary creeps: After enjoying the Rega Planar 2 record player for 32 years, and the Rega Planar 3 for almost as long, someone in the audio world finally got around to asking: What about the Planar 1? Thus the stage was set for Rega to fill in the missing first chapter, and their new P1 record player has now reached our shores. Intended as a bargain among bargains, the Rega P1 is an old formula brought to life with new parts—including a brand-new tonearm, the Rega RB100. Description Like most Rega record players—and especially like the very first Planar 3—the P1 has a purposeful, unfussy appearance: a simple-looking, lightweight wooden plinth covered in dark, semigloss laminate. The underlying design is less simple, however—something that Rega’s many imitators have missed over the years— and is the direct result of designer Roy Gandy’s abiding belief that a massive www.Stereophile.com, May <strong>2007</strong> 61
“Is Paul McGowan insane?” Dear A/V Enthusiast, This story is true. Nothing’s been changed to protect the innocent. You should know that Paul Mc- Gowan, PS Audio’s CEO, may be certifiably crazy. Here’s the story. But first, let me introduce myself… I’m Bob Stadtherr, PS Audio’s VP of Engineering. Ever heard of the PS Power Plant? It was the world’s first high-end AC power regenerator. I engineered it. Introduced in 1997, the P300 Power Plant started a whole new class of high-end audio/video components—known today as AC Power Conditioners. Listen, I’ve been around the block a few times with PS Audio and Paul McGowan. So I know what I’m talking about. Going, going, gone I’d suspected he was losing it several years ago. Paul started coming up with wild ideas. The clincher was something he called the Quintet. It was maybe two years ago. Paul came into my office and asked, “Want to hear a crazy idea?” Paul had seen some studies about a radical new concept, called Nanocrystalline technology. It appeared to overcome the inverse relationship of AC cleaning to available power. This was a thorny problem that all high-end AC power conditioners faced. If you wanted to thoroughly clean the AC line, it required lots of wire, which hurt the dynamics in audio and the contrast in video. Nanocrystalline technology appeared to solve that issue. Paul had this wild idea that if we could use this new Nanocrystalline technology, we could build much higher performing AC power conditioners, more compact and more affordable. Impossible dream Unfortunately, that was only the beginning. Once we figured out how to employ Nanocrystalline, Paul went off the deep end. He directed our engineering team to develop a new product he called the Quintet Power Center. Here’s just part of his list: • Include 5 new filters, independently isolated(!), with two AC outlets per filter. • Unrestricted power for an entire system. • Solid copper buss bars—no wimpy wires or circuit board traces. • Spike and far more critical surge protection (not available from other high-end conditioners regardless of claims). • Half-inch solid aluminum chassis. • Power sequencing, remote 12-volt triggering, CATV and telephone protection, etc. Method to his madness? Astonishingly, the Quintet beat every competitors’ high-end passive AC power conditioner we tested, even the $2,000+ variety. So maybe there was some method to Paul’s madness after all... But then crazy Paul did the unthinkable. He set the price at $695. With regrets, Bob Stadtherr Bob Stadtherr, VP of Engineering PS—Hurry. Get yourself a Quintet before Paul’s medications kick in. Get your FREE DVD and Monthly Newsletter Get your FREE Coal to Coltrane— a Brief History of Power DVD. Call us toll-free at 1-866-406-8946, ext. 105, or head over to our website: www.pspower.com. And while you’re there, sign up for your very own FREE PS Power Newsletter! 4826 Sterling Drive, Boulder, Colorado 80301 Toll-free: 1-866-406-8946 E-mail: sales@pspower.com Internet: www.pspower.com TM Real Power Solutions PS Audio and PS Power are trademarks of PS Audio International.
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MAY 2007 VOL.30 NO.5 48 61 FEATURES
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just start the feature. Because the
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perfect music reproduction KOETSU B
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Westone UM56 custom earmolds In my
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TL-7.5, along with VTL’s Referenc
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Wilson Audio is now in Dallas Since
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Ely’s musical depth is more than
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Performance ★★★★ Sonics ★
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Thompson and Gigi Gryce. He is an i
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MANUFACTURERS’COMMENTS Kuzma Stab
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MANUFACTURERS’ COMMENTS MANUFACTU
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MANUFACTURERS’ SHOWCASE ADVERTISI
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Acoustic Sounds 112-113, 124 Acoust
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AUDIO MART ADVERTISE IN STEREOPHILE
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