After getting a desire for a new turntable, reading countless reviews, and watching way too many videos to mention, I became aware that the Fluance RT 85 kept making the short lists. Obviously, there are less and less brick and mortar dealers in 2019, a test listen was unfortunately out of the question. The only places to purchase were on-line. I committed sight unseen and unheard.
I ordered from your company on November 8th, received November 11th. I opened an extremely well packaged collection of various components to assemble, and never once did I feel overwhelmed during assembly. The manual was on top, exactly where it should be. After well less than maybe a half of an hour, it was playing. The Ortofon 2m Blue was mounted and aligned perfectly, while the white linen gloves were a must to attach the acrylic platter. There is no type of platter mat, however I do not see the need for one. The belt used to drive the turntable was an easy install around the platter and the shaft on the servo motor shaft. The specs said the motor adjusts the RPM’s 500 times per second. I love the look of the walnut on the very substantial plinth. There are no mechanical or electrical extras included save the auto-stop. After the end of the play, the platter spins about 20 seconds and then the platter stops. First impression was that this was a keeper.
I must add that during the break-in, my Klipsch tweeters were replaced, the speakers were bi-wired, and lastly the “too lively, too harsh” new receiver was replaced with a one-owner beautifulfuly warm sounding Harman/Kardon 730 from 1976. This latter combo has been in use most for the majority of my listening.
I’m listening to as many variables as possible (for me) concerning my vinyl. Old, new, NM condition, good condition, rock, country, folk, etc., etc. I’ll admit that I’m no audiophile, just the beast that needs soothing by pleasant sounds. I love listening, and the RT 85 with the Ortofon 2m Blue is an answer to a question that I had really never asked. This combination is fabulous! Yes, the cart is very sensitive and surface noise and trapped particulates are audible, but not so much to the degradation of the playback. It is vinyl, after all.
I can not call this turntable entry level, nor can I call it audiophile level. I can call it one of the best points of diminishing return purchases I have ever made. It simply oozes with a retro feel, a great inclusion of quality, and a sound that I can live with for quite a while.

Blew my Holiday bonus on this new turntable because of all the good reviews from YouTube audiophiles. I have it connected to a crappy speaker but I have never heard anything sound so good on that speaker before, so I cannot wait to get a proper set of speakers for it.

sounds and looks beautiful!!

I love this turntable. Super easy set up. It looks great and sounds wonderful. I'm hearing details in my albums that I've never heard before. Spend the extra $ for the T85!

Nice turntable, highlight is the auto stop after 30 sec.

This is my first purchase of this company. Great purchase! Easy to set it up by following the instructions.

What a beautiful piece of equipment! And the sound! Amazing! We dug our (from under the pool table) 25-30 year old vinyl. Fantastic sound! And CS rocks! Our soundbar didn’t have the RCA hookups and CS gave us options to hookup and get great sound. Thank you and highly recommended!

I'd been looking at the RT85 for about 6 months before buying one last month. It arrived in well protective packaging. When i got it out i was stunned at how beautiful it is. Setup took about 45 mins to adjust the counterweight and correct the settings, mount the cart, etc. From the high gloss plinth to the matte black tone arm, ortofon blue cart, and acrylic platter. Amazing. The sound is equally impressive, and it seems to especially excel at the detail in 180 gm records. This has become my favorite deck, and i have 4 including a Thorens, Pioneer, and AT. I highly recommend this turntable. Best bang for the buck out there and def punches above its weight!

Shipping was great, and packaging well protected the turntable. Set up was simple and easy to understand. Do things in the order Fluance recommends, hook up the cables last, it will make the tonearm adjustments easier.

These speakers are okay. Not as mindblowing as I expected from a friend's endorsement and probably not worth the price considering. There is a noticeable ambient hiss from them that detracts from listening

Before placing an order for Fluance RT85 I did a research by reading and watching different reviews, including a popular Craig’s channel for vinyl enthusiasts. I saw plenty of positive opinions that helped me in making a final decision. The key points there were an acrylic platter and the Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge promising an excellent sound quality. I was not disappointed. The turntable looks great (I selected a black piano finish) and sounds great as well. I tried to compare it with the sound of a tape recorder, which is also analog, or a CD player. I found myself having more pleasure in listening to records. Overall, I am happy with the purchase. The reasons that I am not giving 5 stars are:
1. This is a high-end turntable, top in the line of Fluance products, so the quality assurance should be on a top side as well. Not exactly, unfortunately. One of the adjustable legs created a creaking sound, when pressed, as if it was touching something inside. While another required significantly stronger force (torque) for adjustment than two others.
2. On one of the records I noticed a sibilant sound distortion. It was a Louis Armstrong Audio Fidelity clean record from 60s. I can not say if it was a cartridge problem or an early days technology problem (recording equipment). Honestly, I suspect the latter.
At the end I would suggest a small improvement from customer’s prospective: Rather than use one LED for ON/OFF indication it would be better to split it in two, each lined up with 33 RPM or 45 RPM mark. Such way it is easier to recognize the selected speed and figure out in what direction to rotate the knob to turn the table off in dim room conditions, preferable for listening by many audiophiles.

You really can’t beat the price for what you get in this turntable. Beautiful looks, excellent cartridge and stylus, easy to put together and start spinning. The stylus still needs a little more break in time but the sound compared to my old dual with shure v15 cartridge is outstanding. Detailed highs and lows. My older beat up records even sounded better on this. Solid build with good weight.

This turntable converts our house to like a music studio. I just had it for a couple of weeks and the sound is crisp and the base is so amazing. Just the price of the cartridge and the acrylic this is really worth the price. This product is built to last.

Good product at a fair price. The cartridge is excellent. The acrylic platter is visually attractive and functionally superior to other turntables on the market. Turntable arrived quickly and was securely packaged. Turntable was straight forward to assemble. Very solid investment.

I owned a decent entry-level turntable before I upgraded to this one. I am so glad I did! The richness of sound is remarkable. I am able to hear instruments that were previously muffled or incoherent. I also noticed that the speed is spot-on. I noticed on my other TT that it played a little fast. The RT-85 nails it. I am so happy that I purchased this turntable! I always said that if I'm paying this much more for a turntable, it better sound much better. And, this one truly does!