Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'm one week in with my RT85 (Walnut) and loving everything about it! About a year ago I got into vinyl. I started with an Audio Technica LP60, which I thought was an excellent starter table. I quickly got bitten by the bug, and have been obsessed with vinyl records ever since. For the past 3 months or so I had been researching what my next turntable would be. While I really liked the AT LP60, it has its limitations, and also much of it is made of plastic, with little possibility of adjustments and/or upgrades. After quite a bit of research, I honed in on the $500 price point. I also had certain features that I wanted to ideally come equipped with the table. I had already upgraded my speakers to the Klipsch RP-160M which I also love. From what I read, your speakers and your cartridge should give you the biggest boom for your buck when upgrading your turntable setup. So I focused on getting the best cartridge I could find that comes in around that given price. I also ideally wanted an acrylic platter, auto stop, removable headshell, 33/45 adjustment without moving the belt, and good looking aesthetics and overall design of the table and the features. The Fluance RT85 was really the only one that answered all of these bells. Along with the features I already named, the RT85 comes with a few other more subtle perks. I really enjoy the way the S-curved tonearms look, and also the feet on the table are well designed, have a nice look and feel to them, and are very easy to adjust (there are also only 3 of them which helps make balancing a bit easier/more forgiving). The box was shipped well, arrived in great condition, and the contents were well protected. Instructions were very clear and easy to follow. They even throw in white gloves to wear as you put everything together to keep things clean and free of fingerprints. The Walnut finish looks great. It's lacquered so it has an almost piano looking finish, but with the wood grain. It's beautiful to look at. My initial test was throwing on side A of Kid A by Radiohead. And true to the song title, everything was in its right place when the needle dropped. Since that initial play, I've thrown quite a range of tunes at the RT85 from acoustic indie, to deep bass electronic, to Jazz. Everything sounds fantastic on this turntable. I'm loving the Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge. Just a quick side note. There is no built in pre-amp on this table, so you will need to consider that. I'm using a Schiit Mani with mine, and I highly recommend that as well. Now back to spinning and grinning :) If you have found any of this information helpful to you, please take a moment and click the "Helpful" button.