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

My RT-85 and we were very much looking forward to enjoying an afternoon bathed in the wonderful sounds of a Ortofon Blue cartridge. The turntable assembled easily. I balanced the tonearm and then set it tracking to 1.8g using an external electronic gauge. I checked cartridge alignment by using a Hudson HiFi alignment disc. I set tracking using the gauge on the tonearm to 1.8. The turntable was perfectly leveled. We put on Bill Evans live at the Village Vanguard to enjoy our Sunday dalliance with him. This is a remarkably well recorded album. Song one on the A side was pretty remarkable considering the cartridge had zero playtime. But as the tonearm approached the middle of the album there was distortion and then skipping. We had played this album previously on my Thorens so we knew this was not a record defect. I double checked skating first, then the alignment and reset the tracking force as well. As a check I broke out in old but clean copy of Welcome by Santana which is an album I know note by note. I also know that it worked fine on turntables that are not a match for the RT 85. Unfortunately the first track played fine but as the tone arm moved towards the center of the album once again there was distortion and then skipping. Update: I contacted Fluances tech support. I was impressed how quickly I could actually speak to a knowledgeable person by the name of Brent. Real and accessible tech support is always a very pleasant surprise. I doubt that some of the other turntable manufacturers have anything close to this level of tech support because few distribute directly to consumers. They made a couple of suggestions and when they did not solve the problem they told me to exchange the turntable. Amazon made this process easy and quick. So I now have my new RT-85 and it is everything that I could have hoped for and then some. Im very happy!

This is my 4 month review. I decided to hold off and put this baby through its paces before putting my 2 cents in. In a nutshell, after owning many low and high-end tables over my 40 years of vinyl-love, this one is the absolute sweet spot to me. Sub $500, there is no better deal or higher quality TT for the money. You get a 2M Blue, super high-end acrylic platter, top-notch quality plinth, quality everything else, and a partridge in a pear tree. As I said on the tag line....if youre looking for a TT and want epic quality for the money without breaking the bank, but are unsure what to get, just pull the trigger man. You wont regret it.

I haven’t had a turntable since my Technics direct drive from 40 years ago. When it went bad recently I looked for an upgrade/replacement. I couldn’t be more happy with my choice. I love the acrylic platter, for both function and aesthetics, and the lack of wow and flutter with good sound to noise ratio. The sounds is warm, crisp, detailed and better than I remembered my vinyl from the days of the 70s and 80s. A great value as are all the turntables Fluance offers. Simplistic in design and operation but that adds to the overall enjoyment in my opinion. I’m thoroughly immersed in my vinyl collection again!

Love the auto shut off. Easy to set up and great quality!

What can I say this was a hit or miss since I had no idea what I was getting but I knew I wanted a high quality player for Christmas for my hubby and I had help from his best friend and I went with this one I haven’t seen my hubby this happy and years I don’t know if that a good thing lol but I was thrilled he loved it and was easy and so much fun to set up along with his best friend. He also loved that I went with the bamboo finish since he likes most of his stuff in black I was scare he won’t like it but he loved it! The sound is superb and just amazing overall get it!

This is my present to me; an upgrade to my Numark TT200 that I also purchased at Amazon 20 years ago, that finally gave up the ghost. After much research, the Fluance was my choice for a quality audiophile-like turntable that ticked all the boxes. I am experienced with TTs so setup wasnt difficult. This does require assembly. The box arrived in good condition and when specified. I was very excited to have a new TT. Carefully I removed all the parts and assembled them. Calibrated the TT and enjoyed it in short order. The Ortofon 2M Red cartridge adds a high level of definition and the clear acrylic platter isolates any vibration or noise from the playback. Playback is smooth with the belt-driven motor. The tonearm is a sturdy build and the lift mechanism drops gently onto vinyl. The auto-stop stops the platter from spinning after 30-seconds to prevent stylus/vinyl wear. It does NOT return the tonearm to the rest. It is a predominantly manual TT. There is NO pre-amplifier on this model. All items were packaged neatly and in good condition. I am enjoying hearing my LPs and adjusting between 33 and 45 RPMs is an easy do. The dust cover is hinged and closes and opens gently. All cabling is provided and includes white handling gloves to prevent any smudges or oil from hands onto the components. I am hoping for a long enjoyment of this TT and perhaps upgrading my receiver/amplifier/speakers down the road to expand on the sound that this quality TT provides. I think this is a great choice when selecting a $500 TT. My alternate choice would have been the Rega Planar 1 or 2. Both great choices in this price category. I hope this is helpful. Enjoy your music! Jc

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.

Ive been building my dream sound system since I was 14. Im now 69. My first quality turntable was a Technics, Direct Drive, Fully Automatic. Although it was expensive, I never skimped on guitars, amps, or stereo equipment. Back then, no cartridge or stylus came with the turntable. So I bought a Stanton EEE cartridge. After 50 years of non-stop use, she stopped working. I did my research and my first choice, based on my budget, was an Audio-Technika, model 120XUSB which s sells for between $349 and $399. Got it home, unpacked it, plugged it in, and nothing. No power. In addition, it was a piece of junk. Ive seen some PlaySkool turntables which were better constructed. Lets cut to the chase. After additional research, I decided to spend a bit more and get the Fluence R85. Ive never heard of them but my research gave them high marks. Once I had it set up, balanced, and cartridge aligned, I put on my Led Zeppelin 1 album at extreme volume to see if John Bonham could make it skip. This is a precision machine. I like how they say its fully manual, but it is. When you bring the arm over, lower it, and it slowly and gently descends straight downward to accurately hit the lead groove. The cartridge is unbelievable. It delivers crisp treble and hearty bass. Another nice feature not on many turntables is the auto stop which can be disengaged. At the end of the record, the turntable spins for thirty seconds and comes to a stop, avoiding any damage to the needle. Bottom Line: If you can afford the extra $150 over the Audio-Tecknica, You Will Not Be Disappointed.

Wow, wow, wow. I should have made the leap year ago! Fluance RT85 with Ortofon Blue cartridge is a fantastic value, fabulous sound and great quality for the price. Would recommend anyone on the fence like I was is to make the leap. You will not be disappointed!

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.