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Review on 🎢 Fluance RT85 Reference High Fidelity Vinyl Turntable with Ortofon 2M Blue Cartridge - Piano White by Christopher Wells

Revainrating 5 out of 5

The best turntable you can find in this price range

I've been using my RT85 (Walnut) for a week and I love everything about it! About a year ago I got into vinyl. I started with the Audio Technica LP60, which I thought was a great place to start. I caught the virus quickly and have been obsessed with records ever since. For the past 3 months I've been researching what my next turntable would be. While I really liked the AT LP60, it does have its limitations and is mostly plastic with minor adjustments and/or upgrades. After some research I settled on a price of $500. I also had certain features that I wanted to make the table perfect with. I have already upgraded my speakers to Klipsch RP-160M which I also really like. From what I've read your speakers and pickup should give you the biggest bang when you upgrade your turntable. So I focused on getting the best cartridge I could find at this price point. I also ideally wanted an acrylic disc, an automatic stop, a removable bowl, a 33/45 adjustment without moving the strap, and a nice look and overall design of the table and its functions. Fluance RT85 was really the only one who answered all these questions. In addition to the features already listed, the RT85 has some other more subtle advantages. I like the way the S shaped tonearms look as well as the well designed legs on the table, nice to look at and feel and very easy to adjust (there are only 3 of them too which makes it easy to balance). slightly easier/more forgiving). The box was delivered well, arrived in perfect condition and the contents were well protected. The instructions were very clear and easy to follow. They even wear white gloves when assembling everything to keep everything clean and fingerprint-free. The walnut finish looks great. It's varnished, so it almost looks like a piano, but with a wooden structure. Nice to look at. My first test was to add Radiohead's Kid A to the A side. And as the title of the song suggests, everything was in place when the needle dropped. Since I started playing I've played a range of tunes on the RT85, from acoustic indie to deep electronic bass and jazz. Everything sounds fantastic on this player. I like the Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge. A little remark. There is no built in preamp on this table so you need to take that into account. I use Schiit Mani with mine and highly recommend it too. Now back to spinning and grinning :) If this information was helpful to you, please take a moment and click the useful button.

Pros
  • Great selection
Cons
  • So So