Trying to get into vinyl can be intimidating. Not only is the 12-inch disc a fairly fragile piece of brittle PVC, but the record deck itself is a delicate instrument; it simply can’t be treated with a heavy hand. Which means that, for many people keen in principle to enter this particular world of analogue music, even the act of getting their vinyl playing can be a daunting prospect.
There’s not much to be done about the relative fragility of the vinyl disc itself. Those simply need to be handled and stored with care to get the very best out of them for many years; that is perfectly possible, though – clearly – so we would urge you not to be put off by that.
Where manufacturers can help the nervous newbie, however, is with the record player itself. If the vinyl-disc debutante can place the record on the spindle and then simply push a button to get things to play (and then stop again), pretty much all the potential pitfalls of playing a record disappear.
The system
- Turntable: Rekkord Audio F110 (£399 / $449 / AU$849)
- Stereo amplifier: Rega io (£420 / $725 / AU$949)
- Music streamer: WiiM Pro Plus (£219 / $219 / AU$339)
- Speakers: Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 (£249 / $399 / AU$699)
- Total price: £1287 / $1792 / AU$2836
Turntable: Rekkord Audio F110
Enter the Rekkord Audio F110 fully automatic record deck. The F110 will cue the pre-fitted Audio-Technica AT3600L moving-magnet cartridge to the start of the record and lift it up once the side has been played, returning the arm to its original position and stopping the motor. This is pretty much the ultimate in fuss-free record replay, and it is easy to override the mechanism if, say, you want to skip from track to track, or start and stop in a different place.
There are, naturally, some inevitable compromises that need to be made with the purchase of an automatic turntable; you are, after all, paying for the extra tech that goes into making it automatic, so there will be other, more hands-on, decks that will give you better sound for the same money. But this Rekkord is one of the few fully automatic decks we have reviewed over the years that is musically satisfying. It is a precise, controlled, balanced performer that digs up a good amount of detail for the price. It’s an enjoyable listen that fully justifies the outlay with the ease of use it brings.
Stereo amplifier: Rega io
We marry the Rekkord deck with the io, a Rega amplifier that we would normally suggest is used with a stablemate turntable. Rega’s decks, however, are very much old-school, hands-on affairs, and so of no realistic value in this ease-of-use set-up.
What the io brings, whichever source you use with it, is a terrific sense of rhythm, and an agile, punchy sound that is sheer fun to listen to. It does, therefore, match up rather nicely with the Rekkord turntable. While you can buy the F110 turntable with a built-in phono stage for around a 10 per cent premium, that won’t be necessary here, as the Rega io amp has a talented moving-magnet stage that would trump the Rekkord offering.
As well as the turntable inputs, there are also two more analogue inputs, to which you could add, say, a CD player and a streamer (as we have in this system). So, while the io is fairly limited in connections compared with some rival amplifiers, for most users’ purposes it will more than suffice – and its performance makes it well worth considering over many competitors with what is, on the face of it, a broader specification.
Music streamer: WiiM Pro Plus
There are no issues with connecting the WiiM Pro Plus to the Rega io amplifier – this, after all, is supposed to be an easy-to-use system. Connecting it is one thing; the fact that, for the outlay, it is such a fine performer, though, is the main reason it is on this page. As we say in the verdict of our review of the streamer: “As a first, affordable introduction to the many and various charms of music streaming, the WiiM Pro Plus is hard to lay a glove on at the price.”
There is nothing special about the looks or construction of this paperback-book sized plastic-bound box – but it’s perfectly acceptable for just over £200.
There is a supplied remote control, but the accompanying app is impressive, and most likely to be your main port of call for controlling your music. The little box is powered via a USB-C port; then there is an ethernet socket, a digital optical input and output, a digital coaxial output and stereo RCA line-level in and out. It’s a line-up that really should be more than adequate for most users most of the time – and certainly it is more than adequate in this system, hooking up to the Rega amplifier via RCA line-level.
Most importantly for a streamer, wireless connectivity is all you could really want of the WiiM. Pretty much every base is covered, with Chromecast, Apple AirPlay, Spotify and Tidal Connect and more on board; it can also access files on a local network thanks to its DLNA connectivity.
Feed it a lovely big hi-res audio file to do its thing with, and the WiiM Pro Plus will perform admirably; but what impresses us even more, possibly, is its competence with lesser files. Even very compressed files are given a fair crack of the whip, and come across surprisingly clean and detailed.
The midrange (where the vocals generally hang out, of course) is particularly well catered for, and comes across full of conviction and poise. As we say in the review, “the unity of the WiiM’s presentation is impressive, and its powers of integration are always apparent.”
Speakers: Wharfedale Diamond 12.1
The final part of this easy to use quartet is the Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 speakers. There is a reason we fall back on these compact standmounters for many of our less expensive system suggestions; they are superb value for money. They have a surprisingly bold and full-bodied presentation, sounding confident and composed in a way that evades most budget rivals. They top that composure off with a good degree of refinement, being smooth and forgiving while managing to remain nicely balanced, with enough in the way of bite to entertain. As we say in the review, “they have a strong punch and deliver rhythms with a surefooted sense of drive”.
Which makes them perfect to do justice to the excellence of the rest of this simple-to-use, affordable system.
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