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 - Piano Black

I have the RT85 paired with a Schiit Mani 2 and it sounds phenomenal. This is a well made and pretty turntable for $500. If you’ve never balanced a tonearm before do not follow the Fluance manual the steps are not great. Locate the Fluance Youtube Video that walks you through the setup.

It is hard not to put fingers on the belt when changing records.

Don’t like it

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.

Our kids bought a Beattles record for my spouse for Christmas. They had their eye on this record player for a long time. Now we spend our evenings listening to records. The sound quality is great.

Nice turntable. A bit pricey to me, but no regrets as it performs well and will not have to upgrade again.To my ears a noticeable improvement with seperation, clarity and definitely quieter. Ortofon Blue cartridge is surely part of the improvement. At the same time i purchased a Schiit Mani preamp. For now, I can definitely hear all the improvements over my other turntable and am very happy.

Unboxed and setup was easy. The white gloves were a nice touch. I admit I struggled with the tonearm counterweight and needed to watch a Fluance video to set it properly. It was not overly clear, but all things being equal it was the first TT I have ever setup.

Great turntable for the price. Sounds great.

The table feels very solid, I have it in my second floor where there can be a lot vibration coming from the floor and transmitted to my entertainment center. Plus the table is very close to one of the front speaker. I have never heard any kind of feedback or rumble which would be expected from cheaper players, I assume it is the overall weight and specially the weight of the platter that accounts for that.

I bought this turntable to replace an older Technics model. I concurrently bought a Music Hall mmf 2.3 SE on sale to compare performance. Same price.