House of Marley Revolution review: a good-sounding budget turntable for first-timers with sustainable style

House of Marley Revolution: two-minute review

A good starter deck should be easy to use and sound decent without breaking the bank. The House of Marley Revolution does both, with an added dose of sustainable style that makes it one of the best-value Bluetooth turntables we’ve tested.

Made with eco-friendly components, the Revolution sets itself apart from your average budget turntable’s plastic build. There’s a reassuring weight to its construction, while the materials lend it a quality feel which belies the cost. The base is wrapped in fabric woven from recycled resources, while the distinctive bamboo plinth makes a statement wherever you place it.

Pre-calibrated out of the box, setting up the Revolution is as simple as dropping the felt mat on the platter and attaching the counterweight to the tone arm. You can wire up for easy analog audio or push the Bluetooth button for wireless pairing. Then you’re good to go. It’s all incredibly straightforward. This plug-and-play approach won’t appeal to hi-fi enthusiasts, but it makes for a hassle-free vinyl experience that’s ideal for first-time listeners.

The same goes for the audio output: this isn’t the kind of deck that needs to be paired with high-end hi-fi separates. If you’ve got a picky ear, there’s plenty to be picked at. Mids can be muddy, for example, and we detected some distortion in the treble at times. Then again, hooked up to House of Marley’s Uplift Bookshelf Speakers (sold separately – although you’ll find tempting bundle deals), the sound was more than dynamic enough for everyday listening, with a surprising fullness to the low end in particular.

It won’t trouble the best turntables for audio quality. But if you want an entry-level Bluetooth deck that looks good, sounds decent and is foolproof to operate, we think the Revolution offers fantastic value.

House of Marley Revolution: price & release date

• Launched in September 2024
• Available now for $169.99 / £149.99 / A$199

The House of Marley Revolution turntable was released in September 2024. It joins the Stir It Up and Stir It Up Lux decks in the sustainable brand’s turntable line-up. Priced at $169.99 / £149.99 / A$199, it sits very much in entry-level category.

The Revolution turntable can also be bought bundled together with House of Marley’s wired Uplift Bookshelf Speakers ($179.99 / £199.99 / A$349) or a Get Together Duo wireless stereo pair (£249.99) in the UK.

Audio-Technica AT-LP70XBT review: Specs

House of Marley Revolution: design

• Plinth made from renewable bamboo
• Dust cover made from post-consumer plastic
• Unit wrapped in sustainable Rewind fabric

House of Marley has made its name with audio gear crafted from sustainable materials – and the Revolution is no exception. This is a turntable that does its bit for the planet. The built-in dust cover is made from post-consumer plastic, while that unmissable plinth uses renewable bamboo. The body of the unit is clad in Rewind fabric, which is woven from reclaimed cotton and hemp, with recycled rPET.

More than a fad, these materials make the Revolution a genuinely distinctive turntable, especially compared with the generic plastic build of many budget decks. The grain pattern on the plinth might not appeal to minimalists, but it gives the Revolution an organic look seldom seen in modern audio products. Similarly, the fabric wrap lends the base a nicely tactile finish, albeit one that might attract dust over time.

There are still clues that this is an entry-level turntable: the section at the base of the tonearm is plastic and there’s more flex there than you’d get from a deck at twice the price. But on the whole, the Revolution doesn’t feel cheap. It helps that there’s a good weight to the unit. It’s also obvious that House of Marley’s design team has paid plenty of attention to detail, right down to the subtle red, yellow and green stripes found on the headshell.

House of Marley Revolution: features and setup

• Plug-and-play setup with arm counterbalance
• Wired or wireless speaker connectivity
• Pre-calibrated tracking force and anti-skate

As you’d expect from a starter deck, the Revolution is a cinch to set up. The only assembly that’s really required is to slide the counterbalance onto the tone arm and screw it in place. Otherwise, the Revolution is the definition of a plug-and-play turntable. Tracking force and anti-skate come pre-calibrated out of the box, so all you need to do is connect a set of speakers and you’re away.

You can wire in a pair of separates for a full analog setup, using either the RCA line out or passive speaker jacks on the rear. Alternatively, the Revolution’s Bluetooth support lets you output audio wirelessly. House of Marley offers the Revolution as a bundle with its Uplift (wired) or Get Together (wireless) bookshelf speakers, but it works just as well with your existing audio kit. Put a Bluetooth speaker into pairing mode, press the Bluetooth button on the turntable and – in our experience – it will find and pair within 10 seconds.

Controls are kept to a bare minimum, with the power knob doubling up as a volume control, in addition to a three-speed playback setting and tonearm lift lever. There’s also a switch to toggle Bluetooth in and out. With Bluetooth set as an input, you can pair it with a source device, allowing you to stream music via the turntable to your wired hi-fi speakers – a useful feature if you don’t have another way to connect your separates to a streaming service.

• Features and setup score: 4/5

House of Marley Revolution: audio performance

• Replaceable Audio-Technica AT3600L stylus
• Stream to and from Bluetooth devices
• Quality is fine for everyday listening

Lift the tonearm over a record and the platter will start spinning automatically. Lower it and you’ll be rewarded with audio that’s surprisingly rich for a budget deck. Your choice of speakers will naturally have an impact on the sound signature, but output quality from the Revolution is perfectly serviceable for everyday listening.

Wired up to House of Marley’s Uplift Bookshelf Speakers, there was a nice dynamism to the playback. Albums of all genres sounded lively, from Radiohead’s OK Computer to Rumours by Fleetwood Mac. There’s a surprising amount of weight to the low end as well, which means your records are never at risk of sounding flat. Playing Barry Can’t Swim’s When Will We Land? on a Friday afternoon certainly got the house moving.

That bass actually proved too much when paired with the JBL Authentics 200 over Bluetooth. It could be that House of Marley has tuned the output to suit its own speakers, but the lower frequencies were too punchy to enjoy in that particular setup, crowding out the upper range. That isn’t the case when the Revolution is connected to the Uplift speakers, which deliver a relatively balanced listen for the money.

All of this is caveated by the fact that the Revolution is by no means a hi-fi-quality turntable. Audiophiles will find plenty to sniff at. The mids are easily muddied, for example, especially on complex tracks. Listening to AM by the Arctic Monkeys, detail was quickly lost on heavier numbers. Treble can also be quite harsh at times and we picked up a fair bit of distortion at the top end.

This isn’t a deck capable of doing justice to high-end stereo speakers, but nor is it priced like one. More expensive turntables will give you a fuller and more dynamic listen, but if you want an affordable first deck to spin records on a daily basis, you can do worse than the Revolution.

Interestingly, we picked up that the Revolution ran ever so slightly slow compared with digital tracks, although not enough that you’d notice unless you were timing for it.

• Audio performance score: 3.5/5

House of Marley Revolution: value

• Distinctive design and decent build at a fair price
• Sounds quality is reasonable for the cost

If you’re looking for a straightforward turntable at a palatable price, we think the House of Marley Revolution gets close to the value sweet spot. There are some cheaper Bluetooth turntables out there, but none with the same style and build quality as the Revolution.

It’s not a perfect product by any means. This isn’t one for serious audiophiles, but it ticks all the right boxes for a reasonably priced starter deck. You get a solid construction, simple setup and distinctive design, plus the flexibility of wired or wireless connectivity.

There are plenty of turntables that sound better and the Revolution’s audio shortcomings would be laid bare if paired with some of the best stereo speakers. But team it up with a matching set from House of Marley and you’ve got a reliable setup for spinning records on a daily basis, with audio quality that’s rich enough for easy listening.

Should you buy the House of Marley Revolution?

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

Audio-Technica AT-LP70XBT: Also consider

How I tested the House of Marley Revolution

• Tested for three weeks
• Used as my primary turntable in living room
• Tested using House of Marley’s Uplift Bookshelf Speakers

I installed the House of Marley Revolution in my living room for the best part of a month. It was used on a daily basis to spin records of all genres. I paired it with House of Marley’s wired Uplift Bookshelf Speakers, as well as testing its wireless capabilities by connecting it to my JBL Authentics 200 via Bluetooth. I listened keenly to tracks that I know well, to get a feel for how the Revolution handled specific details, as well as its overall character.

First reviewed: December 2024