I bought a Fluance RT-85 Turntable around 2018 or 2019 after reading good reviews online and watching a Steve Guttenberg video. I was putting together a budget system for a 4th listening room in my house, I didn’t want to put a huge dent in my wallet.
I must say, I was very pleasantly surprised at the quality build and the sonic output with the Ortofon 2m Blue Cartridge that CAME WITH the turntable at a price right at $500 USD. I hooked it up with a Sutherland KC Vibe MK2 phono preamp to a Reisong A-10 EL34 tube amp I picked up new for less than $325 (shipping price included) that I also bought based on a Steve Guttenberg review, and connected a set Polk Audio Model 10’s I bought new back in 1987 along with a set of Klipsch Heresy from 1985 and a pair of Klipsch KG 1.5’s I bought new back in the early 2000’s. All of the speakers sounded fantastic -- each with their own sonic signatures. I settled on the Heresy’s for right now and have not looked back.
If you are looking for a budget-minded turntable for a secondary system, in my humble opinion you can not go wrong with the Fluance RT-85. Even if it is going to be your primary turntable, I don’t think you will be disappointed. Are there turntables out there that will out-perform the Fluance RT-85 in all aspects...sure, just like every other audio component we could discuss. But will you pay double, triple, or several additonal "zeroes" in the final price tag to achieve these benchmarks? Yep, absolutely.
Bottom line, for the money, I don’t think you would use all the fingers on one hand to count up the turntables for $500 that will outperform the Fluance RT-85. Again, everything I stated in this post is my humble opinion, and like a certain body part, we all have opinions and some of them smell worse than others. I hope this info helps you make a decision.
Happy listening and enjoy a clean groove.
Allen
