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Rega TT PSU Review by James Leahy
This is an external power supply for the Rega P3-24, P5 and P7 turntables. It comes as standard fare on the P7 but is sold as optional on the first two. It is available in Silver as well as Black and the technical details can be found HERE. For the cost of $500.00 it is not a cheap up-grade but as I will describe in more detail later the results will make the cost insignificant. In the Rega P7 there is no internal electronics that can interfere with a phono cartridge and in the Rega P3-24 and P5 when the TT PSU is used the standard power supply circuits are automatically disabled to provide maximum isolation.
Sonic Evaluations I was greatly looking forward to test this much talked about piece of hardware and see what differences, if any could be obtained for an additional $500.00 on top of the price of a P3-24 or P5. Was this up-grade as marketed by Rega just pure hype and a greedy grab for extra cash or could there really be true value in an external power supply for a turntable that already sets such high standards? What areas of improvement would be apparent and to what extent... I am glad you asked and are as curious as I, read on for the answers.
First I employed a new Rega P3-24 with optional 6mm rubber high density mat and double RB1000 spacers as my test mule. What better place to start and with a basic Ortofon OM10 MM cartridge fitted to round off the combo. Nothing out of this world but just an entry level cartridge at $129.00. My reasoning behind using the OM10 for this review is that if differences can be heard from such a low cost cartridge like this then the benefits of the TT PSU could not be questioned and would be even more obvious with a higher grade cartridge. Mick and the Boys with their immortal 'Black And Blue' (Rolling Stones Records, 1976) album was used to gauge the benefits of the TT PSU. Firstly playing the P3-24 with it's stock power supply proved very capable and coherent. The mid's were a little compressed when compared to other tables and strained maybe a little but nothing that would subtract from the overall enjoyment. The speed and pace of the music was there without any bloating or lag. It is hard to fault the stock performance of the P3-24 when you remember the remarkable price of the unit. The overall soundstage was thick but not overly wide and transparent. Connecting the TT PSU showed just how much I was missing but didn't realize it. It's like a veil has lifted but this does not take anything away from the great performance of the stock P3-24, it merely lifts the standard to the next level and equals the performance category of tables costing many times it's modest price. After extended listening but apparent for the first moments the mid-range became sweeter and more flowing. The soundstage grew wider and the transparency increased ten fold. How could this change occur from a simple out board power supply. Not one to question logic I continued to listen then changed back to the stock power supple arrangement. Playing my favorite track 'Hand Of Fate' the benefits were confirmed as clear as black & white. There was not such a small difference that one would question the decision for purchasing the TT PSU for their Rega once they have experienced the before and after affects. After hearing the transformation of the sound to me the P3-24 was un-listenable without the TT PSU on my system. The TT PSU is so deceptively good it is an up-grade that you will not miss with the stock P3-24 unless you have heard the naked difference with and then without. The smoothness of the mid-range is so much greater in terms of depth and liquidity that the TT PSU transforms this simple table into a much more sophisticated unit without any mess or fuss. 10/10 for ease of use and a definite winner when it comes to value for money vs performance in today's highly competitive market place. Ask for a demonstration with a P3-24 played both with and without a TT PSU connected and let me know what you think. I am not saying that this is the best way to spend $500.00 if you already have a Rega P3-24 or P5 and that the funds would not be better spent in other areas, but it is one well worth considering if you already have reached the preverbal brick wall in your systems performance and wish to get the most out of your analogue rig. It certainly extends the performance limit of Rega turntables beyond what can be achieved with the in-build stock power supply.
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