Fluance RT85 Reference High Fidelity Vinyl Turntable Record Player with Ortofon 2M Blue Cartridge, Acrylic Platter, Speed Control Motor, High Mass MDF Wood Plinth, Vibration Isolation Feet - Walnut

Quality entry level system for a good price! Interesting enough Im putting together a mid century modern spin on a project using the Fluance RT85N. Needles to say Im beyond impressed and would recommend to anyone interested in reasonably priced quality Hi-fi stereo equipment!

I recently had to replace one of my turntables. I own a VPI Scout and replaced a Shinola Runwell with the less expensive RT 85 Fluance. After three years, the Shinola Runwell developed a tracking problem. I sent it back to Shinola for repair (Shinola has a great warranty). When the turntable was sent back, the motor was damaged. Due to the pandemic, Shinola offered to replace it but production was delayed. Eventually the replacement turntable arrived after two months. Unfortunately, it was also damaged upon delivery. The motor made a noise during rotation. Shinola agreed to refund my money. The Shinola was a $2500.00 turntable. I decided to look for a less expensive turntable. I went on YouTube to research turntable reviews. The Fluance RT 85 was highly recommended. It had the same Ortofon blue cartridge that the Shinola had. I also read the positive Amazon reviews. I had a Project Debut in the past but found it was sensitive to vibrations such as walking across the floor (95 year old house). The feet on the RT 85 are great. Set up was not difficult. The sound quality is very good and the design is attractive. Only negative is the cheap quality of the lift arm and it does not consistently stop on all records. I high recommend it.

If you’re in the fence, get it. Huge upgrade. You get what you pay for, and in this case you get more than what you pay for! Looks and sounds great. Half the price of the turntable is the BLUE. Great quality!

This turntable has met and exceeded my expectations. I am not a complete audiofile like some people I know. Setting it was a bit tricky. I did order the tonearm gram meter to get it dialed in. So that was something I should have done at the time I ordered this. The packaging was great. Delivered day early. My friends who do know equipment said it was a great turntable for the money. And I probably will upgrade the cartridge eventually. I did purchase the record cleaner and that has made a world of difference on the sound. Highly recommend.

Of a higher order..

Nice looking turntable works fine. first turntable was DOA I returned it and reordered second one was good. I wished it have a few more features but its over all good buy.

My nearly fifty year old Dual 1218 turntable was having serious problems that I couldnt fix, but I was skeptical about buying a new turntable having been told that they dont build them like they used to. It used to be that top quality turntables were all direct drive, while the cheapest were belt drive. But modern technology such as electronic speed control have changed everything. Anyways, the performance of this turntable with its Ortofon 2M Blue stylus is a vast improvement over my old Dual 1218 with its Acutex stylus. Its also nice that it is supplied with premium quality RCA cables. Im amazed with the sound clarity on all my records, each instrument sounds just right, the vocals are clear and the artists voices are true to what they sounded like when I heard them live, the channel separation is excellent and all the subtle background sounds can be heard as well. There is a downside to this sensitivity in that every little scratch and nick in my old worn records can be readily heard as snaps and pops. As to the speed, its spot on as verified with a strobe light and disc. The speed controller really does its job so theres no need for a manual pitch control like in the old days. The turntable runs completely silent with no mechanical or feedback noise, so you really cant tell its even turned on until the stylus contacts the record. The auto stop feature is great since it not only stops the turntable at the end of a record, but also only starts it when the tonearm is removed from its rest and placed over the record. Since it is connected to a switched power outlet at the rear of my receiver, I simply leave it turned on all the time with the speed set to 33. Initial setup was almost trouble free, except for the instructions telling me to slip the counter weight onto the rear of tonearm until it clicks and then turn it until the tonearm is balanced. So, I turned and turned and turned without getting even close to the balance point. I viewed a few online videos, and realized that you have to keep pushing the weight past the first click until it clicks again and then again and then again, four times in all before it is finally truly installed. After that, two quick turns and I got it balanced. Phew ! Also, the markings on the tracking force and anti-skating dials are a greyish color that are very hard to see, so I needed a bright work light to see them clearly to make the adjustments. I did appreciate that the cartridge was already installed and aligned on a separate carrier that screws into the tonearm. This should also make stylus changes much easier. Ive had the turntable for over a month, and not experienced any problems. I went ahead and purchased the 1.7 lb weight from Fluance, although frankly I cant hear any difference. One thing I would not advise is running a cleaning brush on a record with the turntable turned on, since the motor is not very powerful and it could cause the belt to slip and wear as the speed controller attempts to maintain the set speed. So, overall, I am very pleased with this purchase, and at its current $500 price I think its a steal.

I bought this turntable as an investment for the rest of my life. I’d say it more than fulfills that role very well. The quality of all the parts is amazing. This is my new child and I am so happy to have adopted it. Also, you never have to worry with Fluance customer service. They have helped me TREMENDOUSLY whenever something has gone wrong. Timely replies and excellent service. That alone is worth so much. Fluance all the way!

My pioneer turntable from 1978 finally died and I had to get a new turntable. I did my research and finally settled on the RT85 and am happy I did. This sounds amazing. I was a little confused by balancing tonearm instructions in the manual but fluance had an excellent video online that showed exactly how to do it. I ordered a tonearm scale just to make sure the tracking weight was set correctly and the scale measured 1.89g. This turntable is great and I would not hesitate purchasing any fluance turntable.

The RT85 is the best turntable I have ever owned. It sounds fantastic! The Ortofon Blue cartridge and stylus are superb. I spent an extra hundred and bought an Ortofon Red stylus that is interchangeable with the Blue. I wanted something to use on records that are not in the best condition without ruining my Blue, which is around $200 to replace. The unit does not have a built-in preamplifier and so if you are considering buying one that may be a deal killer unless your amplifier or receiver has a preamplifier. It also does not have an automatic return feature, which would have made it even more awesome but not a deal breaker for me. It does have a switch on the back that allows you to turn on an auto stop feature to keep the stylus from going around endlessly but I found it takes around ten rotations before it stops. By that time I am up and turning over the record. It tracks at only 1.8g but you could go as light as 1.5. I prefer to stay with the recommend weight. I found the unit easy to set up right out of the box with very little to put together. It took maybe twenty minutes. The cartridge was already perfectly aligned by the factory and that is a fantastic perk because doing so can be a pain for those of us not too good with small detailed adjustments. The turntable is very very quiet. I hear no noise from the platter whatsoever. The acrylic platter is heavy enough to give good stability. If you are thinking of a turntable in or around this price range I doubt you could get better performance for under $1000 that is this quality. I have owned many turntables in my lifetime and this is a winner. Im sure the models under the RT85 are very good machines as well but I think it would be worth saving your money a little longer to save upgrading later and spending more money. You probably wouldnt need to buy another turntable for many years to come.