Rega Replay Review

The Replay is Rega's new entry-level turntable, and it sits below the Planar 1 in the line-up at £259 in the UK. The interesting part is what Rega kept. The phenolic resin platter, the RB110 tonearm and the factory-fitted Carbon moving-magnet cartridge all carry over from the pricier Planar 1. The saving appears to come from the plinth. Instead of a conventional rectangular board, Rega has used a minimal, low-mass skeletal design that borrows its thinking from the company's high-end Planar 8, Planar 10, Naia and Naiad decks.

The Replay is clearly built for people new to vinyl. Rega pitches it as plug-and-play, with setup said to take under a minute and no real assembly needed. That matters at this price, because fiddly setup is often what puts beginners off. The deck was developed over three years and is made in the UK. Taken together, this looks like a carefully considered product rather than a cost-cut afterthought.

One caveat up front: the information we have covers design, components and price, not listening impressions. Our assessment below is therefore about the engineering and value on paper. It is not a verdict on how the Replay actually sounds.

On paper, the value case is very strong. Getting the same platter, arm and cartridge as the Planar 1 for £70 less is a compelling offer. It also undercuts Pro-Ject's most affordable complete turntable by £10, which puts it in direct contention for the title of best budget deck from an established hi-fi brand. The low-mass plinth follows Rega's long-held design approach from its flagship models. Features like the weighted-rim platter and the EBLT belt driving a subplatter suggest Rega hasn't skimped on the parts that matter most.

There are trade-offs, though:

• Fixed feet: the three rubber isolation feet are non-adjustable, so you'll need a genuinely level surface to place it on.
• Manual operation: the deck is fully manual, so newcomers will need to cue and lift the arm themselves.
• Wall-wart power supply: this is acceptable at the price, but it won't win any prizes for elegance.
• US pricing: the reported US price of $395 makes it a less obvious bargain outside the UK, although that figure is less firmly confirmed.

None of these is a deal-breaker for an entry-level deck. The bigger unknown is sound quality, which we can't assess from the available information. Given the shared Planar 1 hardware, we'd expect it to perform well, but that remains an expectation rather than a tested result.

We're rating it 4 out of 5 for its design and value. If listening tests confirm the hardware delivers, it could earn a higher score.