Review on 🎵 Fluance RT81 Elite High Fidelity Vinyl Turntable with AT95E Cartridge - Walnut by Joshua Ngo

In the foreword I would like to say that for this price you get a lot for your money. Great tonearm, Audio Technica cartridge is transparent and mostly colorless, high quality rubber mat, base is solid and heavy (which is really good), built-in preamp is enough to start and enjoy your favorite recordings (although I recommend using an upgraded external phono -preamp than the next upgrade) and overall the player looks fantastic. I like it! However, I have found that the turntable speed is not as stable as I would like. I "burned out" it at 33 rpm for 48 hours and played the record. The audio got distorted halfway through so I went to check the RPM and found it was spinning at 29.8 RPM. So I lifted the platter up and adjusted the speed with the controls on the bottom, but I just can't get it to spin at a consistent or acceptable average speed of 33.3 RPM. I just measured it again while posting this review and it's fluctuating between 32.8-33.5 RPM. Fluance offers two trimmers on the bottom of the player to adjust the speed, but I have to turn everything off and move it somewhere high enough for me to adjust, so far I've had to do this 4 times. The speed deviation doesn't bother my wife, but I clearly notice when listening to piano or orchestral pieces that the pitch and speed of the notes fluctuate, so it's a little distracting when listening with concentration. I will say that I use an iOS app to measure RPM and I don't have another player to test its accuracy, but I've seen from other reviews online that this is an issue that doesn't exist is limited to me. Can I recommend this player? Absolutely. I checked the competition and didn't find the same value as here. In terms of cartridge, build materials, helpful youtube guides (check out their channel), and aesthetics, I don't think you'll find better value in the $200-$300 price range. While the RPM issue is distracting on delicate pieces, it's not as noticeable on more modern "louder" recordings. Pros: - Looks great - Sturdy construction - Quality arm and pickup - Nice sounding preamp Cons: - Rotational speed not as accurate as I would like - Speed dial is on the bottom and hard to reach