Review Details

RT85 Reference High Fidelity Vinyl Turntable

Product Rating:

Product Review (submitted on May 3, 2021):

I bought an RT85 a few weeks ago so feel confident in making some review comments about it. I think it's important to know what this turntable is and isn't, in order to keep expectations in line with the price you are paying. To keep this short, here's my summary of pros and cons:Pros:- Beautifully made, finished, and packaged. Just gorgeous to look at.- Easy to assemble and setup. Everything is in the box, including decent RCA cables, a turntable level, 45 rpm adapter, power supply, etc. Less than 1 hour after you open the box, you're listening to records.- Easy to change headshells with a relatively strong screw-on connection.- Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge has excellent sound.- 33/45 switch and a quality belt-drive system for very good hifi sound.Cons:- The arm has significant microphonics. That means when you touch the arm or the lifter, it makes noises through the speakers corresponding to your hand touches. Does not affect playing after you release the arm on the record. The company says this is 'normal' but an older Denon turntable it replaced did not do this with a similar cartridge.- The arm is not adjustable for height. The height matches the Ortofon cartridge perfectly (the arm is parallel to the record when playing) but is not right for other brands. I tried two other cartridges/headshells and one was so much less in height that the needle wouldn't go down far enough to touch the record until I installed 5mm of shims to lower the cartridge within the headshell. I'm not sure what the benefit of removable headshells is if you can't adjust the arm easily afterward.- The RT85 comes with the special acrylic platter (instead of metal). They claimed this platter doesn't need a mat under the record, so none was provided. This is really not true in my experience. If you try to clean the record with a cleaning brush while it is rotating on the platter, it will slip on the platter - not good for the record! I'm using a 2mm felt pad on mine and not only does it not slip but the sound is improved.- It has a 3-point (3 feet) mounting system. Yes, 3 points define a plane, but that doesn't make this turntable particularly stable. Not recommended for DJ or rough handling use.Overall, remember you're getting both a turntable and good cartridge for $500 so you can't complain too much. The sound quality is good but not up there with the multi-$k esoteric ones. The only reason I bought this turntable was because I needed a removable headshell for testing purposes and this turntable is the only one I found with a belt drive, which is the best for hifi. However, if you are a DJ with similar needs, you will probably be looking elsewhere to get the full flexibility you need.