Review Details

RT81 Elite High Fidelity Vinyl Turntable

Product Rating:

Product Review (submitted on September 22, 2021):

I bought this unit as someone fairly new to vinyl but very much into sound quality. I was sold on vinyl after trying a Target Heyday turntable and decided to invest in an upgrade, so this review will focus on comparing the two in the hopes of aiding newcomers to the world of vinyl. First, there is a definitive difference in tone and clarity with notable differences in the mid and base levels. Base levels are much louder and mid tones are warmer and more filled out. The built-in preamp outperforms the one in my Yamaha RX-V685 receiver, which produced too much base. The built-in preamp is better rounded and keeps the levels evened out. The overall volume on either preamp is louder on the Fluance than the Heyday. Starting the vinyls is significantly easier on the Fluance as the tone arm stays in place fairly well as it is lowered and has a slow drop feature which were issues with the Heyday. The Heyday arm wiggled all over and had no aid in slowing the drop. Often starting the Heyday took multiple attempts to find the starting groove, the Fluance on the other hand has yet to disappoint and has found the groove every time. The Fluance comes with a rubber mat to line the platter, a welcome difference over the felt mat that came with the Heyday as after playing a vinyl the felt would stick to the back of the record and had to be peeled off every time. The rubber mat of the Fluance stays perfectly in place every time. The Heyday is capable of Bluetooth connection, something the Fluance is lacking but I feel is more of a gimmick as the sound clarity suffers heavily when compared to a quality analog cord and I was fine to lose the option. The belt drive on the Fluance seems rather powerful. During cleanings of the vinyls with an anti static brush, the Heyday would slow almost to a stop but the Fluance keeps muscling through. The only feature missing on the Fluance that the Heyday has is that the platter on the Heyday automatically comes to a stop at the end of the side of the vinyl, whereas the Fluance will keep spinning. This isn't a giant loss and is a mere inconvenience that has no overall impact on the performance of the unit. I am overall very pleased with the sound quality and performance of the unit and it has exceeded all my expectations. The piano finish adds a nice level of classiness!