Review Details

RT85 Reference High Fidelity Vinyl Turntable

Product Rating:

Product Review (submitted on January 12, 2021):

A bit late I also pulled my old records out of the attic and got myself a Fluance RT85 turntable. Fluance makes sure that all reviews mention that it uses an Ortofon 2M Blue Stylus which by itself costs $236, so yes, it is a great deal and this marketing worked on me too.The bottom line is that I like the sound, but I don't get the idea of an acrylic platter. It's supposed to be heavier and thus more stable and have less "wow and flutter" which is other words to say that it has less pitch distortion due to possible variations in speed. Sounds good as another marketing pitch (pun intended), but have you tried cleaning a vinyl record on an acrylic platter? It does not work: the light pressure of the velvet brush on the spinning record causes the record to stop spinning, but the acrylic platter does not stop spinning, and rubs (scratches?) the bottom of your precious vinyl. Before you jump and cry: "OMG he cleans records on a spinning platter!",, yes I do and other people I know do the same, but even if the turntable is not spinning, dragging the velvet has always more friction than the acrylic platter on the bottom, and cause to drag the vinyl on the platter.It annoyed me enough that I ended purchasing Fluance's silicone platter mat. It solved the problem but it also reduced by 2 to 3mm the distance between the vinyl and the stylus in its elevated position, and of course reduced the VTA (vertical tracking angle). This would not matter if the VTA was adjustable, but none of Fluance's tone arms are adjustable to my knowledge, and according to Fluance's website, a wrong VTA will cause more wear on the stylus and reproduce sound less accurately. But then the change was only about 1 degree so should I even care?