Review Details
RT82 Reference High Fidelity Vinyl Turntable
Product Rating:
| Overall Performance |
Product Review (submitted on May 13, 2020):
Purchased "Used - As New" condition, seller was Fluance - the manufacturer. As far as I could tell the only indication that it was used was an external marking on the shipping box, "RT82XOP". It was truly "as new" with a substantial discount in price.Easy to set up once I figured out the gram scale on the counterweight just spins but doesn't move towards the front or away; you get the tonearm balanced twisting the bulk of the counterweight, spin the number to zero on the gram scale then spin the counterweight to set tracking force (not the spinning scale ). When all else fails, RT*M. ; -)This replaces an ancient Thorens TD150 Mk II w/ an AudioTechnica tonearm that was extremely noisy. I have not used the supplied Ortofon OM10 cartridge yet but rather immediately installed a Supex MM100 w/ an SMM-38E stylus already mounted in an extremely lightweight Sumiko headshell.The remainder of the setup was a piece of cake. Took about ten minutes unboxing/unwrapping, then about 15 minutes more getting it leveled, connected to the amp, and rechecked. The amp it is connected to is a Yamaha AX-592 with built-in switchable phono pre-amp (Moving Magnet/Moving Coil) so I did not need an add-on phono pre-amp.The aluminum platter is not very heavy - I will purchase the acrylic platter separately soon. Right out the box I played the Gary Burton & Chick Corea LP, "Crystal Silence" (ECM 1024 ST). Gary Burton's vibes are a good test of wow and flutter and I was pleased. Suspect the heavier acrylic platter will be even better. Tracks well - no skips on some LPs that are well over 50 years old.It was a pain playing LPs on the old noisy turntable - now I have to decide which of the several hundred LPs get promoted from the basement to the den.