Fluance RT81 High Fidelity Vinyl Turntable

I spent ages trying to find a turntable that suited my needs. It turns out nothing did, so I had to prioritise my needs. They became preamp, auto-exit, adjustable replicable cartridge, sleek looking black, £~200-~300. Bluetooth, USB recording and fully automatic had to become optional. This Fluance RT81 won over Denon SP300F and Audio Technica AT-LP120xBTUSB, the main contender on being sleek and simple, good sound reviews and everything else there except no modern communication methods. Audio Technica lost out due to slightly inferior sound reviews but mainly no auto-stop and rather complex top arrangement with speed sliders that I cannot see the need for. Denon lost out because it was gun metal not black, inferior sound reviews but also the long dangling cables out the back not sockets and no earth that none of the photos show!

When it came, it was a delight to put together. Almost designed to be put together by a normal person. instructions made sense – had words not just impossible universal line drawings. Drive belt had to be clipped over the spindle (easy with tag supplied) – all hidden under the platter. The tonearm weight simply clicked on. Balancing was a dream, just turn the weight till arm was hanging mid air, adjust the indicator ring to zero, and then turn big weight back to 20 and the antiskating to 20.

The auto-stop is the most basic in that the drive stops, leaving the tonearm and needle on the record, but it saves wear! I cannot comment on sound, other than I liked it with my 66 year old ears. However you can easily upgrade to another cartridge, which can solve any issues. Mat is rubber. The whole unit seemed very sturdy on nicely damped feet. Lever to lower tonearm is damped so can be just flicked. Unit supplied with a plug “charger” unit. Good in my books as keeps magnetic disturbance away.

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!

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.