Fluance RT81 Turntable with AT95E Cartridge, Belt Drive, Built-in Preamp, Adjustable Counterweight - Piano Black

First of all very well packaged. I’m dusting off my old vinyl collection and diving back in. I looked at a lot of turntables before pulling the trigger on the RT81. I am by no means an expert, but I did a lot of research before buying. I like the look of the piano black so I actually opted to buy the ‘used’ option from Fluance as the black was back ordered and $50 more than the Walnut finish when I ordered. Looks brand new and was packaged like it was brand new. Thought I would throw that in for anyone considering going that route. Saved me $70. No regrets from me going that route. I chose the RT81 because of the built in preamp and the option to override that if I ever expand my set up in the future. I plan on hooking up a pair of Sonos Five, but those are back ordered so right now rolling with some old speakers I had laying around. Still sounds outstanding. I’m heavily invested in a Sonos setup so I felt it was natural to hook this up to Sonos speakers. I also chose this as I am using in my bar area at home. I don’t have a ton of space so the ability to hook up directly to speakers with out a receiver, external preamp, etc was appealing. Set up was a breeze. Will likely upgrade the stylus at some point, but very impressed twitch the standard stylus. Tested the speed and it was about perfect, so didn’t even mess with it. I have no complaints. I would like if this was fully automatic, but the auto stop works as expected. I would like it if it returned the arm, but that’s not big deal. Had a few questions when purchasing and Fluance was outstanding in responding. 5/5 for me considering the price is very reasonable.

After a long hiatus from the hobby, I decided to start collecting vinyl again. I used to have a big collection of vinyl but sold it all to help pay for my late wife's cancer treatments. Since then, I have been listening to streamed music. After discovering a treasure trove of vinyl at a local yard sale, and buying them all, I ordered a retrolife turntable here on amazon. It was pretty and had good sound, but there were a couple features on it I did not like. So I returned it and ordered this one. I feel like I made the right choice. The Fluance RT81 is a great budget priced turntable. The sound is nice and bassy, and the system is elegantly designed, solid and perfect in its simplicity. There is no bluetooth, which is fine with me. I don't see the point of listening to vinyl on bluetooth speakers. Bluetooth does not have the bandwidth to transmit lossless high fidelity audio. You might as well listen to streaming mp3's if you're going to use bluetooth. But this unit does come with gold rca wires to hook the system up to your speakers. It has one single button to turn on the system and select your speed, and the turntable starts spinning as soon as you move the tonearm into position. What else do you need? Sometimes the simpler something is the better. I love it when a product just does what it's supposed to do, without a bunch of hassle and annoyance. I'm not knowledgeable enough to review the sound quality, but if you want to know my layman's opinion here it is. I think it sounds good. I think it is a little too bassy, and the separation could be a little better, and the pops when the needle hits a speck of dust is a little loud, but it is good enough for me for the moment. I may upgrade to a better needle at some point in the future, but it is good. I just turned the bass down a little on my speakers and make sure my discs are as dust-free as possible before playing an album. Strangely, the much cheaper retrolife turntable sounded better to me, but for build quality and simplicity I would still pick the Fluance. I am happy with my purchase, and I think that says it all. This is a beautiful, beautiful turntable, with a smoky gray lid and artful design and simplicity. Just turn the bass down a little and make sure your records are clean!

Here's the problem with record players and records in general. (Or, you know, turntables and LPs or "vinyls" or whatever.) There's a lot of physical interplay between a vinyl record and the equipment that's playing it. The world's cheapest CD player will play back CD encoding just as well as the world's most expensive one. Not so with record players. If you go looking for a decent record player with a few pro features, however, you are immediately plunged into a world of old white guys with beards (like me) who will make fun of you for calling records "vinyls" (like me) and will recommend that you drop at least $500 on something with none of the automatic features you grew up with playing records from the Goodwill on equipment from the Goodwill, and that's before you then have to shell out for a phono preamp. I don't need an audiophile experience I can brag about from my records. However, I would like playback that doesn't make me regret buying a new release on vinyl instead of CD. This is just about the only good turntable on the market I'm aware of that meets that bill, and I'm only aware about it because some bearded longhair mentioned it in passing as "decent" in a forum about a much worse record player. There's a couple things you really need if you want a decent playback experience from a record. You want a heavy base that won't transfer vibrations. You want a tone arm that you can balance for your needle, and tweak if one of your old records is scratched or scuffed. You want a pretty good needle. On the other hand, there's probably some consumer level features you also want, like auto stop, and a built-in preamp for modern equipment, and a dust cover you don't need to figure out where to set down while you're listening to a record. This is one of the only record players I know of that meets all those needs, and doesn't cost a fortune. And to my ear it sounds FANTASTIC. The setup instructions were thorough and easy to follow. The preamp pares well with a modern receiver. The RCA cable (yes, there's RCA outputs) came with a grounding wire for an external preamp. If you're ready or forced to upgrade from the stereo you bought from the Goodwill in high school to listen to the latest punk 7-inches or your dusty copy of Whipped Cream and Other Delights, this is the record player you're ready for, and the one that wants you, the plebian music consumer, to own it. I'm so glad this exists. Tell all your friends.

Model reviewed: Fluance RT81 Summary: after first trying one of those "suitcase" players - this turntable sounds absolutely brilliant. Key points: • Some assembly required, but the instructions are simple and clear. • Balancing the tonearm is straightforward and inspires confidence that your vinyl is protected. • There are built-in pre-amp outputs AND traditional phono-outs. When using pre-amp, you don't need to connect the "ground" to anything. • It's heavy and solid, feels super well-built. All the controls feel high quality. • Auto-stop feature works well. • Minimalist aesthetic looks great. • Canadian company, made in Taiwan. I couldn't be happier with this purchase. The pre-outs work great with my Sonos Port to add a turntable to my full-house system, and the sound quality is amazing. The first time I heard it play, I became a believer in vinyl. It sounds warmer overall, and the highs just sound somehow more natural than digital streaming. Not to mention it's fun and nostalgic to drop the needle old-school style on your favorite records. The minimalist style looks great and it's very simple to use after a short setup process. I'm no audiophile (yet), but I did a lot of research to make a purchase that wouldn't break the bank and wouldn't be a weakness in some future hypothetical audiophile system. This stylus cartridge is not supposed to be high-end, but it sure sounds nice. As per their support, this model is NOT compatible with Ortofon styli - the heights and the counterweights are just a bit off. Not a deal breaker for most people, but just be aware. However, if I want to go with a dedicated pre-amp someday, it's fully supported by this turntable. Super happy with this purchase, highly recommend this product and this company.

Ooooo, nice turntable. I replaced my Sony direct drive TT (circa 1978) with this, bought new speakers, and started listening to my collection of LP's. Beautiful and simple turntable. Easy to set-up. I needed to increase the tracking force from 2.0 to about 2.2 to avoid skips on some of my older albums, but that was well within the range for the cartridge (1.5 to 2.5). The hook for me was the auto-stop and the price. I really wanted a semi-automatic TT, but this was the next best thing for the $. This TT is great for the cost. And, yes you CAN make MP3 files with this TT. You will need to buy an adapter cable from phono to 3.5mm jack & download some free software, Google it. I'm using a preamp Technolink TC-756USB RIAA Moving Magnet Phono Preamp with AUX Input and USB (Computer) Output and use it to rip the analog to digital. This preamp can also be used to input computer sound files through to an amp. Update 2/10/2017: I encountered a huge WOW. I thought I would be contacting Fluance & returning the TT for repair, BUT, I let the TT run with the arm up for a couple of hours to see what would happen. The WOW went away, and has yet to return. I'll keep an ear on this. I'm glad there's a two year warranty. The auto stop works well. Takes about 11 rotations before it kicks-in. I wish it also picked-up the arm as well, but it is as advertised. I have encountered a lot of skipping on some of my old LP's. I think this is more a function of the cartridge than the turntable. My old DD TT (Sony PS-X20, 1978) did not skip on these same records. I'll look at the cartridge on that machine and see what I have....the old TT is in the basement in a box....I was going to sell it, but now I think I found some parts from EBAY and I might be able to repair the arm lifter. Update 3/24/2017: Noticed wow on a digital recording I made from this turntable BUT upon close inspection discovered that the LP had grooves that were off-center. The tone arm was weaving back and forth as it tracked. Just a heads-up to check the media as a potential source of wow, and not just assume that the turntable is at fault. Update 4/3/2017: The OEM AT95E stylus was at fault for skips. Fluance responded by sending me a new AT95E cartridge, and I swapped out the stylus. The same passages that had been skipping now played through. I blame AT for this, and not Fluance. Fluance was very responsive sending a replacement (no charge). Update 5/8/2017: Upgraded cartridge to Audio-Technica AT120EB. Works well. No issue with install or balancing. Used a spare cartridge shell, so now I have a quick way to drop in a spare.

I will preface by saying that for the price point you are receiving a lot of bang for your buck. The tonearm is superb, the Audio Technica cartridge is clear and mostly uncolored, the rubber mat is high quality, the base is solid and heavy (this is a really good thing), the built-in preamp is enough to get you started and enjoying your favorite records (although, I do recommend getting an upgraded external phono preamp as your next upgrade), and the turntable just overall looks fantastic. I love it! However, I did find that the turntable speed is not quite as stable as I would like to see it. I allowed it to "burn-in" for 48 hours running on the 33RPM setting and played a record, halfway through the sound became distorted so I went to check the RPM and found that it was spinning at ~29.8RPM. So I lifted the turntable and adjusted the speed using the trimpots on the bottom, but I just cannot get it to spin at a constant or acceptable mean average of 33.3RPM. I just measured it again as I am posting this review and it fluctuates between ~32.8-33.5RPM. Fluance does provide two trimpots at the bottom of the turntable to adjust the speed but it requires me to unplug everything and move it somewhere high enough for me to adjust, so far I had to do this four times. The speed discrepancy does not bother my wife, but I can tell clearly when listening to piano or orchestral pieces that the pitch and speed of the notes is fluctuating so it becomes a small distraction during focused listening sessions. I will say that I am using an iOS application to measure RPM and do not have another turntable around to test it's accuracy, but from other online reviews I saw this seems to be an issue that is not isolated to me. After saying that, would I recommend this turntable? Absolutely. I checked the competition and did not find the same amount of value I found with this. From the cartridge, build materials, helpful Youtube tutorials (check out their channel), and aesthetics I don't think you will find a better bang for your buck for the $200-$300 price range. While the RPM issue is distracting when listening to delicate pieces you do not notice it as much when listening to more modern "louder" records. PROs: - Looks great - Built solid - Quality tonearm and cartridge - Good sounding preamp CONs: - Rotation speed not as accurate as I would like it to be - The adjustment for the RPM is located on the bottom and is hard to reach

It's the end of 2019 and my late-70's Sanyo turntable that has been in my family since I was a wee lad has finally given up the ghost. When it was new, it was a solid mid-range turntable with nice features like direct drive, auto play and return, and easily-adjusted speed. It lasted forty years, which is more than I can say about most modern pieces of audio equipment. A moment of silence, please. When looking for a replacement turntable, I found that I wasn't able to find a decent model that had all of the functions of my old turntable unless I was willing and able to plop down more cash than was possible while keeping my marriage intact. I get it. Records are now and will remain a niche format at best, so the economies of scale dictate that the cost of obtaining a solid turntable is going to be higher than the days when vinyl was the dominant audio format. Still, I was determined to get the best quality turntable that I could afford. My demands were few, but important: It had to be well-constructed. - While I don't expect the turntable to last me for the rest of my life, it had to feel solid and use durable materials. It had to have decent sound. - While I still have decent hearing, I'm in my late-40's, so the days when I could easily discern minute differences in frequency are in the past. With that said, I love my records and want to get the best possible sound quality out of them. Yes, records have shortcomings. Even the best-maintained record may have the occasional pop or crackle. However, a well-mastered and pressed album can deliver audio that stands toe-to-toe with most modern digital releases. Yes, high-res digital audio files have been released for many albums, but everything comes down to mastering and there are a lot of albums being sold as high-res that sound terrible. A container is only as good as the audio it contains. It had to allow me to easily change the cartridge, stylus, and shell and allow for the necessary adjustments when doing so. - I don't care how nice the cartridge and stylus are that are included with a turntable; they wear out over time. Also, there are more often than not better-quality options for these items on the market. It had to provide assurance that it wouldn't tear up my records. - When I see people buying a Crosley or any other ultra-cheap turntable I want to grab them by the shoulders and beg them to turn away from the dark path on which they are heading. If you're willing to pay the inflated prices that records go for these days, especially newer pressings, the last thing you want to do is play them on a turntable that has a tracking force so high that you may as well be using a sewing needle. Taking all of this "must-have's" into account, anything else offered by a particular model would be icing on the cake. I looked around at audiophile sites, publications, etc. and, after laughing at some of the models that were touted as "good buys" that cost as much as a semester at college, I saw the same brand mentioned time and time again: Fluance. Fluance has garnered a healthy reputation as a company that offers a wide range of turntables that deliver solid performance for quite reasonable prices. Like all turntable manufacturers, they offer some high-end models, but even the models toward the lower end of their catalog don't skimp on the necessities. The RT81 falls into the lower end of their range, but I have to say that I'm impressed with it. It was easy to assemble and the parts are constructed of sturdy materials. It offers a built-in preamp for those without phono inputs on their receiver, however it is easily disabled via a switch on the rear of the turntable should you have an external preamp or one built into your receiver. I had no trouble at all switching out the included cartridge and stylus with an Ortofon Red that I had been using on my old turntable (Those are amazing, by the way.) and making the adjustments on the tone arm. I've been putting the turntable through its paces quite a bit since its arrival and am very satisfied with the audio quality. It doesn't blow away some of the more expensive turntables I've listened to, but it's very good, especially considering its cost. It is good enough that, should I find myself in a position wherein I can afford a more expensive turntable, I wouldn't hesitate considering one of Fluance's higher-end models. The fact that there was obvious care put into one of their lower-end models speaks volumes about the company. Do I miss the extra features I had on my Sanyo that are lacking on the Fluance RT81? Sure. With that said, the RT81 has so far delivered very solid, no-frills performance and I'm more than satisfied with my purchase.

It's been 8 or so years since I bought a new record player. It was time. I had an Audio-Technica AT-LP60-USB, which was barely a step up from my previous player, a similar lower-level Audio-Technica model. It was fine for my level of interest, played my records well (so I thought!!!), and was durable enough to make it through a few moves. Fast-forward to a few months ago, when I was absent-mindedly scanning a Discogs Forum post about record players. Apparently, my record player (the AT-LP60-USB) was pretty frowned on. As a matter of fact, AT players were generally not recommended, despite their popularity and low price. I jumped over to Amazon and started researching different players. This time, I had a bit more cash to spend on a player. After all, over the past few years I've invested (yes, if done right, it's an investment) a lot of money into my record collection-- shouldn't I have a nice player too? And besides, what was I missing in sound?? To be fair, though I love music-- and can appreciate a nice sounding stereo setup-- I'm no expert. My eyes gloss over when the serious audiophiles go on and on. But maybe there was more to it after all? It came down to the Fluance RT81 Elite and AT-LP120XUSB-SV in my desired price range (both 249$). Reviews were generally great for both. Similar specs. Finally, a combination of a few people's comments on Discogs disparaging AT turntables and a few questions comparing the two on Amazon in favor of the Fluance, I pulled the trigger. In literally three days, it was in my hallway. Setup is not for beginners, nor those without a bit of patience. I wouldn't say it's hard, but you don't just take it out of the box and plug it in like the fore-mentioned AT models. You have to balance the arm, among other things, which takes a bit of finesse. Beyond setup, I've noticed all the parts are heavy and well made; the arm/weight/levers are nice; the turntable itself is very sleek. Beautiful all around. But once it was set up, with the phono switch on and grounding cables attached (I have an older receiver with four passive speakers-- next on the upgrade list!!), and I first *delicately* placed the needle on a High-Fidelity, 200 Gram, 45RPM Stevie Ray Vaughan record... Holy. Crap. It was like hearing SRV for the first time... But maybe this was the record itself (well worth the 50$ I paid for it)? ...Next, I pulled out an original 70's pressing of Neil Young's Decade (the original and best N. Young Greatest Hits imo); maybe I'd wouldn't hear a difference from a record not designed to make me hear a difference? Having recently cleaned it, I fired it up... Sounds brand new. Amazing. I'm looking forward to re-discovering my collection with this beautiful and well-made player. Tldr: This player is amazing. Highly recommended, especially for the price.

Arrivato nei tempi, ben imballato, facile da montare. Messo in funzione subito, ottima prestazione.

Works fine. Good looking, good quality

From hearing the music upstairs.... it's a good player

Tout est ok, platine parfaite pour mon usage. La notice est en anglais et le réglage du contrepoids un peu délicat, mais pour le reste, c'est un excellent produit.

Inkl. normalem deutschen Netzteil. Da schrieb jemand hier gegenteiliges, was mich kurz verunsicherte. Ich bin jedenfalls insgesamt sehr zufrieden mit dem Produkt!