Review Details

RT85 Reference High Fidelity Vinyl Turntable

Product Rating:

Product Review (submitted on June 11, 2022):

I have been using this turntable for about 5 months now. I listen mainly at night, when the family is asleep, about 3-4 nights a week.

I accumulated, in the past months, about 135 records, mostly used, some mint, some poor, and most above average. Many classical music, operas, symphonies, concertos, some pop, rock, jazz, etc.
Before listening, I clean the records, because they usually come with little to a lot of dirt.

Objective observations: on the mechanical side of the turntable:
I had only one record to get stuck at a location where the record groove is visually damaged, likely a cigarette burn. Otherwise, I never had any record skip or get stuck. So, I can say with great confidence that the mechanics of the turntable are excellent.

Regarding pops, I read two contradicting arguments about the needle: if it is tick, then will not get into scratches, and be more forgiving to imperfections or scratches. The other argument is that, if the needle is thin, will go deeper into the groove, and will not be impacted by surface scratches. Yes, I get pops, especially in classical music, depending on the record. 50-60's records tend to have more imperfections (perhaps dust baked into the groove, or the technology is poor), 70-80's records tend to be of higher acoustic quality. I don't think the cartridge is good or bad in this regard. Cleaning almost always improves, unless there are visible scratches.

Subjective observations:
Since I listen late at night, at very low volumes, I need the loudness curve. So I use an analogue equalizer, which gives about 22 db boost to the bass and some boost to the highs. I say this to explain why I will not comment on the tone of the turntable. This is easily controlled with the turn of a knob on the equalizer. If too bright, or bass is lacking, which varies greatly from record to record, this is solved with the equalizer.

Beyond the tone, the turntable produces very clear sound, and if the record is stereo, it has very nice separation, producing amazing spatial qualities.

As for the scratches on the body and the dust cover: I have young kids at home, so I constructed a heavy duty wood cover on top of the turntable. It is protected when not in use. I have not had issues with scratches, but I tend to agree that the dust cover gets tiny scratches very easily.

Overall, I am very happy with this turntable and the choice of cartridge (Ortofon 2M Blue).