Review Details

RT81 Elite High Fidelity Vinyl Turntable

Product Rating:

Product Review (submitted on March 20, 2022):

I recently moved and in the process ran across a fair trove of vinyl that I had collected over the years. Mostly classical with well-known labels... London, Deutsche Grammophon... mostly have not seen the light of day for well over 35 years.So, what turntable to buy that will not break the bank while still performing well. I went with the Fluance RT-81. This is their entry level model but it has a cartridge not usually found on turntables in this price range.Setup was a breeze. Could not have been easier. The built in phono preamp is decent. Might upgrade to a separate preamp down the road as the turntable has a switch to send signal to a separate preamp. Using a phone app, my turntable spins at 33.6 RPM when in the 33.3 setting. That is adjustable at the bottom of the unit but 33.6 is close enough for me. The tonearm was easy to balance and then set the suggested 2 grams weight for the stylus.Those who spend thousands on a turntable will likely scoff at a 250.00 USD turntable but the way I look at it is this - one can spend a few hundred dollars and get a turntable that will get you 95% to perfection. To move from 95% to 99.5% would take thousands and thousands. The returns on investment diminish quickly. I am a trained musician so my ears are pretty good. I like this turntable.