Review Details

RT81 Elite High Fidelity Vinyl Turntable

Product Rating:

Product Review (submitted on July 11, 2018):

I really really debated between a lot of different options before settling on the Fluance RT81. I had it between the Audio Technica LP120 The Project Debut Carbon and the UTurn Orbit. (I had also looked at the absolutely beautiful TEAC TN300 because I liked the way it looked much better than the Fluance but I quickly discounted the TEAC because there weren't enough online reviews/info.)

I read that Pro ject are probably the most common lower-end 'audiophile' quality turntables and looked at the Pro ject Carbon and the RPM 1.3 which was also absolutely beautiful. Both are $100 - $300 more than the Fluance however I found a used RPM 1.3 for sale at around the same price. The UTurn Orbit gets great reviews and is handmade in MA ... whereas the Fluance is made in China and then shipped to Canada. The Audio Technica was pretty much the runner up at this point to the Fluance because I simply didn't want to have to buy a preamp even though I know this would probably make a big difference in sound. The Fluance and the LP120 had built in preamps.

I ended up choosing the Fluance for one reason and one reason only over the LP120 ... It had an auto stop. With all the other turntables listed there is no autostop so basically the stylus will keep spinning on the label of a record until you manually lift the arm and turn it off. The Fluance was the only decent turntable I could find that had an autostop feature ... although I'd have much preferred an auto return tonearm which you only find on vintage turntables these days. I will say that the Fluance stops after 5 - 15 seconds of annoying label grinding about 80% of the time. Most times it is older/vintage 33 records which confound the Fluance into not stopping. Many of my 1950s LPs the autostop does not work on ... almost all modern recently bought albums will stop when they get to the end of the record although the stylus (needle) will just rest there on the record which can't be good for it. However it is nice to be able to leave the room while a record is playing and not have to run in from outside because the record ended but the platter is still spinning.

The biggest flaw I found is that the platter wobbles a bit. I wrote Fluance (whose customer service is pretty responsive) and the agent told me that 'That amount of wobble should be acceptable unless you think it is affecting the sound.' A friend of mine who is an audiophile and spends thousands on his equipment saw the wobble and told me it was absolutely unacceptable and to send it back immediately. I'm embarrassed to say that its just such a hassle because I threw away the box that I'll probably just live with it. This seems to be fairly common with Fluance turntables.

The sound on this turntable is pretty good. I have to admit I don't have too much to compare it to. My first turntable (which I had for 4 months) was an ION that I purchased for $40. I read lots of forums on Ion and Crosley turntables and the horrors of ruined records because of poor tracking force (the weight of the tone arm pressing down on the record) before I decided to upgrade. Under $300 for the turntable was my budget so I knew I wouldn't be getting an audiophile quality TT but at least something a bit professional. As popular as vinyl is unless you live in a hip city ... good luck going to a place where you can listen to samples of how each sounds. Instead I had to rely on the hundreds of blogs I read before deciding.

I do notice that I can hear static on almost every vintage record I play even if they appear to be pristine. The needle (stylus) is so sensitive it will pick up a lot of the dust or scuffs on a record even if it looks pretty good. Forget about playing a record in VG or VG- condition ... its unlistenable. As such I've been buying new LPs and aside from dust (the glossy wood plinth plastic dust cover and rubber mat certainly attract dust!) which I have a vinyl brush sticky roller and ONZU stylus dust cleaner (nobody ever said vinyl as a hobby would be cheap!) when a dust-free record is played it sounds great. The stylus gets very high marks on audio forums for the price point ... I have considered upgrading it but do worry because the Fluance rep I talked to said that the cartridge it comes with is specifically designed for the turntable and they cannot guarantee others will work properly. I'd love to hear an Ortofon Red or Blue to see if it makes a big difference as I mostly listen to Rock and Roll.

I'm not as huge a fan of the looks of this thing as others are. To me it looks too retro in a cheesy 1970s or 1980s kind of way. I think it would look much better with black polished wood and a silver/chrome tracking arm. The mahogany wood and smoked plastic cover look like something you'd see in a thrift shop from the 1970s. To me it doesn't look classy. However the Audio Technica LP120 looks too modern and space age for me like something a dj would use. I much prefer the Pro ject RPM 1.3 which lo - Verified Store