I have an RT85 and actually like it! Nice sounding deck. I also now have 3 high-end decks: Clearaudio Innovation Compact, Master Innovation, SOTA Nova V.
Yes, the high end decks are better. The weaknesses of the RT85:
- Bad energy management from putting a high compliance 2M Blue on its heavy-ish tonearm. The table’s feet are on a sort of suspension to try and combat this, with limited success. Any energy coming in from your speakers is gonna cause problems. Ideally you’re on concrete slab to at least eliminate large displacements.
- The tonearm bearings are not great. There’s noticeable "play" and it doesn’t have a silky smooth action like better arms.
I thought about putting an MC cartridge on it to better match the arm mass - something like a Benz Ace SM. But in the end, decided this would be a waste given the tonearm’s quality shortcomings. A Cadenza Black would be way overkill. It’s already nicely matched to the 2M Blue, quality wise (if not compliance-wise).
So anyways, I think SOTA is a always a fine answer for these sorts of questions. Unfortunately their prices have gone up a good bit, though it’s come with significant materials & tech improvements. Unless you’re on concrete slab, you really want to make your like easier with their 4-point suspension on the Sapphire and higher models. You might be able to squeeze in a Sapphire - I haven’t priced them out lately.