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2 Years Warranty
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24
Interest FreeInstalments
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2 Years Warranty
A refined tonearm for the Planar 8 and beyond
Refining an iconic design
The Rega RB880 was designed with 3D CAD and CAM tools and brings together almost 40 years of Rega tonearm experience. It has a new aluminium vertical bearing housing and a redesigned stainless steel sleeve and vertical bearing shaft, for greater mounting stability and more rigidity.
Its place in the range
The RB880 is the tonearm fitted to the Planar 8 and the Planar 6 RS. It sits between the RB330 and the hand-built RB3000, offering much of the technology of the more expensive arms at a more accessible level. As an upgrade, it suits any turntable with a Rega-type mounting hole.
Working with cartridges
With an effective mass of 11 g and hand-selected bearings, the RB880 brings out the best in high-resolution cartridges such as the Ania Pro, Apheta 3 and Nd9. The cartridge is sold separately.
Low-mass vertical bearing
The biggest change in the RB880 is at the point where the arm moves up and down. Rega developed a new low-mass vertical bearing assembly, designed specifically to work with the Planar 8 turntable.
Aluminium and stainless steel
The vertical bearing housing is made of aluminium, while the bearing sleeve and shaft are made of stainless steel. The combination keeps mass low where it should be and adds stiffness where the greatest forces act.
Rega reports that these changes improve mounting stability and arm rigidity, so that the energy produced by the stylus is carried to the base without coming back as distortion. The arm stays composed even with dynamic, heavily modulated recordings.
A less rigid design would start to blur the image in exactly these passages.
Almost zero friction
The precision bearings are selected and matched by hand, so that the arm moves almost without friction horizontally and vertically, with no measurable free play. It is the same principle Rega applies across all its tonearms, here taken to an even higher level.
The result, according to Rega, is an extremely stable arm that recovers more information from records and delivers a cleaner, steadier stereo image.
This precision allows high-resolution cartridges to reveal all the detail they were designed to deliver.
That is why Rega chose the RB880 for the Planar 8, one of its lightest and most rigid turntables, where every improvement in the arm is immediately audible.
Arm tube with redistributed mass
The RB880 uses the latest generation of Rega's award-winning low-mass arm tube. With the help of CAD, its mass has been redistributed and its tapers blended so that they flow smoothly into one another.
Fewer resonance points
An arm with uniform mass tends to resonate at particular frequencies. By changing the distribution of mass along the tube, Rega reduces these resonance points and spreads the energy, so that it does not colour the sound.
The arm is a straight design with a high-stiffness aluminium and steel tube. It also has a heat-treated finish and a stainless steel counterweight, details that underline the attention paid to every component.
Even the parts the listener rarely sees are treated with the same care.
A three-point base
Cartridge and arm mounting are based on Rega's three-point system, which limits connection points and keeps the mechanical path as direct as possible. Cartridge, arm and plinth work as a single rigid system.
For the owner, this means simpler installation and geometry that stays stable over time. The 11 g effective mass makes the RB880 compatible with a wide range of MM and MC cartridges.
Rega's manual includes all the mounting data needed for an easy installation.
As an upgrade on a Planar 3 or Planar 6, the RB880 is one of the most noticeable improvements possible without changing turntable.
High-specification phono cable
A cartridge's signal is measured in millivolts or even microvolts, so every loss along its path matters. The RB880 comes with a new low-capacitance phono cable made by Rega itself.
Low capacitance, low resistance
Cable capacitance directly affects high-frequency response, especially with moving magnet cartridges. The low capacitance and low resistance of the RB880's cable keep the signal intact from the cartridge to the phono stage.
This equally benefits moving coil cartridges, which produce a very low voltage and are sensitive to every loss along the way, so that their speed and detail reach the amplifier unaltered.
The cable is designed and made by Rega specifically for its tonearms, so that it suits the system perfectly both electrically and mechanically.
A locking plug
The phono plug has two parts and locks with a twist-and-clamp mechanism. This keeps the contact firm and the signal path clean, with as few connection points as possible.
The RCA plugs are designed for optimal signal transfer and that the locking mechanism improves connection quality. For even greater flexibility, Rega also offers a separate external tonearm cable for the RB880.
This attention to detail completes a tonearm that leaves nothing to chance.
From bearing to plug, every element of the RB880 serves the same goal: to get the cartridge's signal to the amplifier as unaltered as possible.
Features
- 9" straight turntable tonearm, hand-assembled in the UK
- Redesigned aluminium vertical bearing housing
- Redesigned stainless steel sleeve and vertical bearing shaft
- Integrated arm clip and improved spring housing
- Built-in anti-skate, adjustable counterweight, cueing lever
- Three-point arm mounting
- Manufacturer's lifetime limited warranty against manufacturing defects
Components & Internal Specifications
- Award-winning low-mass aluminium arm tube with redistributed mass
- Hand-selected precision bearings
- Rega-made low-capacitance phono cable
- Two-part RCA plugs with twist-and-clamp locking
Performance Specifications
- Effective mass: low, 11 g
- Effective length: 23.65 cm (9" arm)
- Mounting distance (platter centre to arm hole centre): 22.2 cm
- Offset angle: 21.55°
- Overhang: 1.45 cm
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