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

I am not an audiophile, just a guy who likes to listen to records. I bought the white Fluance RT85 because of the positive reviews and because it looked cool with its acrylic platter, etc. I have owned many different turntables and record players over the years, but this one is the most expensive. Overall its an okay turntable, but thats probably as far as I would go with it. Colored vinyl really pops on the white, though the visual aesthetic proves more impressive than actually using it. The entire tonearm mechanism feels super cheap. The tonearm lever, stand and safety latch actually feels like something youd find on a cheapo plastic portable record player like a Crosley. Maybe I got a bad one, but thats my honest opinion. Theres a lot of slack in the lever, it bounces the arm if you lift it too quickly and the tonearm safety latch feels like its going to break off every time I use it. My last turntable was a Pro-ject Essential III and even though the body of this Fluance is much more substantial, the entire experience of lowering the needle with the tonearm lever on the Pro-ject was more solid and satisfying, whereas the RT85 feels flimsy and crappy. The Ortofon 2m Blue looks cool, but to be honest, for a $250 cartridge it doesnt really sound much better to me than the OM10 on my Pro-ject, which didnt sound much better to me than the ADC QLM32 Mrk III on my Hitachi HT-324 from the 80s. I told you Im not an audiophile. Aside from the whole tonearm mess, I still think this is an okay turntable. Not worth $500 in my opinion, but one mans trash may be another mans treasure. Honestly, I was somewhat disappointed. But, just like all hobbies, we all buy new, more expensive gadgets, looking for perfection, but only getting mediocrity. I was hoping the grass was actually greener, but turns out its just more grass.

My last turntable was a Rega P3, I spent around 1200.00 that included the Ortofon Blue. This is like less than half and sounds just as good. One of the biggest selling points was the bayonet style cartridge. My Rega didnt have that and that was the problem the wires got messed up. Again sound is great, quality is good. I purchased another Belt just in case for 20 bucks and got a weight stabilizer.

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!

Took me to get the arm correct, digit are difficult to read on the tone arm.

A friends father passed and gave her his record collection and she didnt want them and gave them to me. I wanted a decent turntable to go with my Marantz 6014 receiver with definitive technology front, center, surround and back speakers. I also purchased the Fluance phono amp. I now laugh at the word decent, this thing is amazing. It looks great, I have had it for three days and love it. As a newbie to vinyl, I had a little trouble setting it up, but finally figured it out with the help of Youtube. I am blown away by the clarity and depth of the music. Instruments are crystal clear, I hear instruments I didnt even know were in certain songs. The biggest thing I notice is the crispness of the cymbal crashes. I feel like I am listening to the music in surround sound, when it is in just stereo. I cannot recommend this highly enough. For the newbies, dont use a phono amp and then plug it into the phono jack on the back of your receiver. Took me a day to figure that out, it causes a horrible hum.

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 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.

My rating does not reflect performance of the turntable… I have to give it time to say anything but I tried one of those LPs with graphic wrap which was impossible to play on my old turntable due to multiple skips, RT85 had no problem tracking it. The bass seems boosted if like that kind of thing. My first order, no sound was coming from the right speaker…. I checked the setup many times. Replacement was good… but the dust cover has a long crack running from center to almost the edge. That is 2 out of 2 defective items…. To be fair the cracked dust cover could happen by amazon shipping. Still, reflection of inadequate quality control and packaging for a great turntable.

I went back and forth with a number of different tables including a Rega P1 or a Pro-Ject Debut. Fluency showed up later in the picture, but the RT85 ticked all of my boxes. Even though Fluance is a newer brand, lots of reviews recommended their products and any skepticism was quashed once I got my RT85. I wanted a table with a nice cartridge, an auto-stop feature and an aesthetically pleasing one. I upgraded from a 13 year old AT-LP60 that was always giving me speed issues and subpar performance that didn’t bring any life into my vinyl. Now that I wanted to get back into my record collection, I decided a better table would make it more enjoyable. PACKAGE The table arrived in perfect shape. In fact, I opted for an open box model for a bit less and was sent one straight from Fluance. I have not noticed any damage or wear whatsoever. Some other open box items may have a blemish or two, but everything here was flawless and packaged like new. Lots of things were included - an easy setup guide, a bubble level, 45 adapter, rca cables and a ground wire, AND white gloves. I do recommend using the gloves to assemble everything - the table is quite prone to fingerprints and smudges. Once it is setup, you won’t have to touch more than the tonearm and the speed setting. BUILD The RT85 features (in my case) a walnut colored plinth and an acrylic platter that doesn’t require a mat. It’s hefty, but not too heavy to be burdensome - it’s great to have a little weight to it for its security on a table and to isolate the table as beat as possible. It has clean edges that give it a sleek and modern look. The removable dust cover is perfect for keeping the surface dust free when you’re not playing and it slides off and on with ease. The rubber feet are adjustable and cushion the table perfectly. With the included bubble level, you can quickly adjust the feet to achieve a perfect balance. The tonearm balancing is easy to figure out and the included instructions guide you step by step through the process, which I highly recommend you read through a few times to get it exactly right. The table does require a phono preamp - if it had one built in, you’d be limited to the performance of an onboard preamp. Requiring a separate preamp gives you unlimited options for how you’d like your sound to be. PERFORMANCE The RT85 features an Ortofon 2M Blue, which in its own right is not only expensive but a heavy hitter. Considering that the price of the 2M blue is nearly half the price of the table, it is nice to see that Fluance didn’t cut any corners on the rest of table. Throwing on a new copy of John Mayer’s Where The Light Is, I was amazed at how quiet everything sounded right off the bat. Neon shone through, bright and detailed, but also a warmth that allowed for a full body presence. Guitar plucks and strums sounded expertly realistic and alive. Bass thumped deeply without being boomy or overwhelming. Including the sound of the audience, every audible characteristic had its own room to be heard on a wide but controlled and inviting soundstage. Even on older LPs where bass can be a bit underwhelming, it had plenty of life when played on the RT85. The 2M blue captures plenty of detail and subtle nuances. I noticed a huge improvement from my last turntable, where music sounded flat and lifeless. I finally began to hear the differences that makes vinyl stand out. Music became much more engaging and lively, each part of a track being given its own space to cut through. While playing older records with quite a bit of wear, I do hear some “snap, crackle and pop”. It’s unavoidable in the world of vinyl, but the Fluance plays just fine through it and after a deep clean, records may have some surface noise but it disappears once the tracks begin and I can still hear the music with incredible clarity. In most cases, it’s the record and not the table anyway. The RT85 performs quite accurately. It adjusts to wow and flutter automatically and I consistently had results within a few degrees of 33 1/3. I never notice any speed fluctuation and so far, everything I’ve played sounds perfectly normal and as I remember them. It can play 45s as well and includes the adapter. The tonearm is nice and light, but a little delicate so it’s important to lock it in when not being used and use care when queuing something up so that the stylus lands where it needs to. It’s important to keep your records clean, and in turn the table and stylus will function well. I use a carbon fiber brush to clean each side before playing and I drop the stylus in zerostat gel after every side. The RT85 does have an auto stop feature that enables when the stylus has reached the end and nears two inches of the spindle. I find that it doesn’t work often for me, but that is typically because the record label reaches over two inches and then auto stop won’t engage. It’s not anything that bothers me too much. CONCLUSION The RT85 is such an amazing upgrade for me. I’m hearing so much more from my vinyl and that’s convinced me it was worth it. I find myself using it on a daily basis and the ritual of playing records makes the entire experience quite enjoyable with a good turntable. This is an excellent table for anyone looking to make the jump from an entry level turntable to something more serious if you consider vinyl to be a passion and want to hear what it really offers. The excellent value and quality of the RT85 makes this stand out as an solid performer, even with stiff competition in this price range. I highly recommend it.

Purchased this fluence RT85 from Amazon, it was a used unit I assumed returned and refurbished, or demo or something it did not specify, but the auto stop function was intermentioned at best maybe 2 out of 10 times it would stop, the cartridge was very dusty and dirty, it had differently been used, I cleaned it up it seemed OK and sounded fine, the dust cover had a couple light scuffs on it but I was expecting something like that buying a used unit, functionality wise though the auto stop feature not working reliably was unacceptable for $500. I gusee it was not checked out correctly, Fluence makes a great product and a good value, just buy a new one not a used one.