Fellow audio enthusiast here: Dude if your mom is cool enough to have Led Zeppelin records, she's probably cool enough to use the internet. Did you just spoil her Christmas present by uploading this? LOL
Haha, fortunately she doesn't do much outside of Facebook and Email, so CZcams should be safe. Also, my wife and brother are the only people who know I make YT videos ;)
You can get some decent upgrades to that stylus which is a cheaper option than a new cartridge. I have that cartridge with an LP Gear Carbon CFN3600LE stylus and it's very good ($29 on Amazon.)
good review jay. about the auto stop feature....i wouldn't warn against it's use, the little backtracking a tt can exhibit is no great shakes. one can actually back-cue a record for effect or for recording maneuvers. the Audio-Technica is a fairly durable cartridge and fluance wouldn't recommend its use if they thought it would damage the stylus/cantilever assembly. it's a lot better than waking up HOURS later to find the record still playing the lead out groove. ...hifitommy
Its great to see you around again, i love the focus you have and the budget friendly way you pick your products. Be strong in this time of change us the loyal viewers will support you
Hey, thanks! This time around I'm planning on trying to be consistent, but not putting the pressure on myself to reach any deadlines. I definitely missed making videos and have no plans to stop :)
I can exchange my old Techniques head shells. I have several that fit and work just fine. Overall a great review, I own one and am very happy with it considering it is a replacement for a Techniques 1200 and 1800. Quite a downgrade from the classic turntables I owned from the 1970's, but also not the maintenance night nightmare that they became. The belt also is the same size that fits many turntables from the 1970's. Also, even my direct drive turntables had vents in the platters. You have to head back to rim drive turntables of the 50's and 60's to not see those.
Couple of comments: (1) Sub $100 AudioTechnica turntables have replaceable styli, so you are incorrect about that price point. Not all brands permit this, but there are some; and (2) Hollowed out platters can be very effective, older Thorens (TD150 & TD160 series) for example, make a two -piece hollowed out platter that is very effective and has very low "Wow & Flutter". The issue is not whether it's hollowed out, but rather the overall mass of the platter. Lastly, there are screws on the top of the headshell; thus, you can mount (change-out) ANY cartridge that will physically fit into the headshell with the overhang correction. Nice review!
Great review and setup video. I would just like to add that like you said you should ideally get yourself a digital scale for setting the tracking force. Ive seen tables in the near 300$ range like the LP120 get the numbers off by almost 0.5 grams in some cases. My hifi shop lets me borrow certain setup equipment so its worth to just ask, but like you said its not necessary. Also, if you have the time and patience you should preferably test out different anti skate values. They are again a little off the mark depending on carts used and so on but setting it matching the tracking force is a good start. After, see at what value the stylus tracks still on a blank record surface, either on a completely blank side or on the deadwax in between where the run out grooves are. The ideal value is generally where the stylus very very slowly rides inward to the center spindle. And try to listen for any stereo channel imbalances. The stylus you were wondering about is actually an AT CN5625al Im quite sure. A fine conical cart for its price range, much like the AT95E is a good elliptical for its price.
My RT80 has been nothing but a problem since I got it. The internal amp is not working as it should and it eventually died and the motor stopped working as it should. Im going to take it apart and see if I can disconnect the internal pre-amp
good review you didn't sound very impressed with it though it sounded like it had way more -'s then +'s but a solid review and you're one of the only people if not the only one who actually reviewed the RT80
This may seem strange.....but I cannot find even one $100 dollar turntable that doesn't have a replaceable stylus. You know the one that needs to be "chucked " when the stylus is done. ??? Who manufactured that? No company i am aware of.
Great video. I'm having trouble with my tone arm. When I place the tone arm over the platter to zero balance it the tone arm keeps moving back to the stand. Which makes it difficult to zero balance it . Any advice to stop this Thank u
Maybe try adjusting the anti skate? That's designed to combat the tonearm skipping across the record laterally, so it sounds like it might help. Also, do you have the whole thing level? It might just be leaning to one side.
Yeah, I need to make a video on it. I got the Orbit with the acrylic platter and the Ortofon 2M Red. So far, it's been great, but I am starting to notice some clicking in the motor (which fortunately doesn't translate to the tonearm).
I assume you contacted U-Turn Audio about this. I wonder if something got loose. I also have the Orbit customised: white plinth, acrylic platter and the Ortofon OM5E cartridge. I also had the preamp built-in as it is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. (I had some Bose computer speakers that I wasn't using and thankfully had the RCA inputs and is powered ... so my setup was pretty straight-forward.) So far, it plays like a dream and I have not had any issues with it. It was a bit of a learning curve with the belt when changing it back to 33 from 45, but I have learned to rethread it fairly effortlessly, even with the cue lever installed and the dust cover still on its hinges =]
To be honest there is not much to complain about a new 200USD turntable that at least plays vinyl in stereo. Personaly i would not call it a hifi turntable,simply because it doesnt has the quality. It certainly is modeled after past age entry level hifi turntables,but the quality is just not there. And how could it be for that price ? Today even turntables in the 500USD class loose clearly against 1980 budget class turntables which sold back then for - 200USD. One reason for this is the inflation over the past 40 years. Its around 200% which results to that you now only have around one third of the buying power of a 1980 $ left. Which results into that real quality is only affordable for the affluent. Another reason is that technical advancements in construction and production over the last bunch of decades mostly benefited the producers but not the consumers and that consumer grade turntables are treated like fashion gadgets in a seller dominated market. You see,most of these turntables are made by OEMs in asia regardless what brandname is printed on their plinths. Mostly its Hanpin and Yelong. Anyway,if youre interested in a real hifi turntable,you have to paths. One is to spend considerably more on a new turntable. Meaning 1K and above,or buying used old turntables from the 2nd half of the seventies up to the early eighties. In that timespan the market was a true buyers market and competitive among producers. Resulting in very good price/quality ratios. Which means you are way better off getting for example a old Technics SL-D2 than a new turntable in the 200-500USD class.
Zockopa that’s why I just purchased a tech nique‘s SL 3300. Since I repair electronics I was able to get it for $50 and do minor repairs to the mechanism. It’s amazing the shake this thing is and even four years later. 1978 was a good year for turntables and this technique is no exception
Thanks for the review. I had been scouring the web for reviews specifically for the RT80 but I couldn't find any most videos focused on the RT81. I had my eye on the RT80 for a while and I went ahead and bought it prior to finding your review. I'll have it in my hands for Christmas. I wanted to ask since you've had more time to play around and test it how do you feel the sound quality is when played through powered speakers? I plan on upgrading the cartridge eventually to the AT95E but is the including cartridge sufficent enough for your ears for casual play? Thanks again for the review!
I actually didn't get a lot of listening time with it. I just played through a couple songs on my main setup, which is Elac Uni-Fi B5s. That being said, it didn't sound terrible and should be fine for casual listening. You'll likely get a minor albeit notable improvement from switching to the AT95E, but would give the stock cart a spin, it might sound perfectly fine to you.
My 2 cents after watching this review. I own this turntable and it sounds good, I tried it with the AT95E cartridge from my LP 120 which I'm trying to replace because of a noisy motor. Anyways in my humble opinion I think there is better choices out there but for $170 is a good choice. I'm new to the vinyl world and and now heavily addicted. I love the sound of vinyl vs cds.
After 2 and a half days with the player I can say that I am very pleased with it. I did have some issues with the set up when trying to balance the tone arm because the anti skate was not set to 0 out of the box and Fluance didn't mention that step in the instructions. The needle touched the mat a couple times before I figured it out (YIKES) but it didn't damage it thankfully. I would have been pissed! I tested it out on a couple of old records for a song and was satisfied that the needle was fine to play one of my new records. I played the 180g Beyonce Lemonade album and I will tell you that I was blown away by the sound quality. Even on my almost 10 year old powered studio monitor speakers the audio was clear, crisp and lossless. It was like hearing for the first time as it was truly meant to be experienced. So I'm highly impressed with the RT80. I am going to upgrade the needle to the AT95E and put a external amp on it and pair it with the Fluance AV5 Speakers next week and I'm sure it will sound even better!
Yes, I enjoyed the review but I personally wish Fluance would incorporate an auto-return feature on their TT's. I see no reason what-so-ever to leave the vinyl spinning on a delicate stylus at the end of the record nor for the vinyl to come to a stop (nice feature) but not return the tonearm to the cradle. Come on, Fluance, 'git-er-dun' in this department and I think you will sell a lot more turntables.
Auto return would increase the price level of the turntable. It would require adding a set of levers to lift the tonearm, move it back to the rest, lower the tonearm, and then allow shutdown. Also, it requires a drive gear and trip mechanism, usually driven by the platter, to move and synchronize those levers, and a more powerful motor and beefier belt to handle the extra load imposed by this mechanism. This could be done, the factory in Taiwan makes turntables for other companies, ie: TEAC, and some do have auto return, but they sell at the next price level up. This turntable was designed to be a step up from the cheap Chinese record players, such as the Electrohome units also sold by Fluance's parent company, Circus World Displays, Inc.
Fellow audio enthusiast here: Dude if your mom is cool enough to have Led Zeppelin records, she's probably cool enough to use the internet. Did you just spoil her Christmas present by uploading this? LOL
Haha, fortunately she doesn't do much outside of Facebook and Email, so CZcams should be safe. Also, my wife and brother are the only people who know I make YT videos ;)
You can get some decent upgrades to that stylus which is a cheaper option than a new cartridge. I have that cartridge with an LP Gear Carbon CFN3600LE stylus and it's very good ($29 on Amazon.)
I think when you said 72 rpm you meant 78 rpm which would also require a separate stylus.
Thanks Man! You Just save for me a lot of time setting my RT81, I hope I took the right choice with this turntable!
If you could do a budget amp and speaker video that would be amazing.
That's a good idea, I'll see what I can do!
czcams.com/users/ZeosReviewsvideos - might wanna check this.
good review jay. about the auto stop feature....i wouldn't warn against it's use, the little backtracking a tt can exhibit is no great shakes. one can actually back-cue a record for effect or for recording maneuvers. the Audio-Technica is a fairly durable cartridge and fluance wouldn't recommend its use if they thought it would damage the stylus/cantilever assembly. it's a lot better than waking up HOURS later to find the record still playing the lead out groove.
...hifitommy
Its great to see you around again, i love the focus you have and the budget friendly way you pick your products. Be strong in this time of change us the loyal viewers will support you
Hey, thanks! This time around I'm planning on trying to be consistent, but not putting the pressure on myself to reach any deadlines. I definitely missed making videos and have no plans to stop :)
Thank you for this review. Your setup tutorial was filmed well and made setup and calibration simple and unintimidating.
Fluance all the way... Hands down the best audio quality and pricing...
I can exchange my old Techniques head shells. I have several that fit and work just fine. Overall a great review, I own one and am very happy with it considering it is a replacement for a Techniques 1200 and 1800. Quite a downgrade from the classic turntables I owned from the 1970's, but also not the maintenance night nightmare that they became. The belt also is the same size that fits many turntables from the 1970's. Also, even my direct drive turntables had vents in the platters. You have to head back to rim drive turntables of the 50's and 60's to not see those.
Couple of comments: (1) Sub $100 AudioTechnica turntables have replaceable styli, so you are incorrect about that price point. Not all brands permit this, but there are some; and (2) Hollowed out platters can be very effective, older Thorens (TD150 & TD160 series) for example, make a two -piece hollowed out platter that is very effective and has very low "Wow & Flutter". The issue is not whether it's hollowed out, but rather the overall mass of the platter. Lastly, there are screws on the top of the headshell; thus, you can mount (change-out) ANY cartridge that will physically fit into the headshell with the overhang correction. Nice review!
I just picked up one of these. I absolutely recommend.
Great review and setup video.
I would just like to add that like you said you should ideally get yourself a digital scale for setting the tracking force. Ive seen tables in the near 300$ range like the LP120 get the numbers off by almost 0.5 grams in some cases. My hifi shop lets me borrow certain setup equipment so its worth to just ask, but like you said its not necessary.
Also, if you have the time and patience you should preferably test out different anti skate values. They are again a little off the mark depending on carts used and so on but setting it matching the tracking force is a good start. After, see at what value the stylus tracks still on a blank record surface, either on a completely blank side or on the deadwax in between where the run out grooves are. The ideal value is generally where the stylus very very slowly rides inward to the center spindle. And try to listen for any stereo channel imbalances.
The stylus you were wondering about is actually an AT CN5625al Im quite sure. A fine conical cart for its price range, much like the AT95E is a good elliptical for its price.
Hey, great info and tips, I'll definitely give it a shot when it's all set up at my parents' house after the final reveal.
I'm having such a a time zeroing the tracking force. I am terrified of messing up the stylus and I can't tell if I'm doing it right🤦🏿♀️
Love the design of this, when im buying id probably buy the at95e stylus as the upgrade
Buy that one and just upgrade the stylus, only $35 at Turntableneedles.com Get a 211-DE, same stylus as a AT95e.
Great overview! I look forward to seeing your video comparing the Fluance to the U Turn
My RT80 has been nothing but a problem since I got it. The internal amp is not working as it should and it eventually died and the motor stopped working as it should. Im going to take it apart and see if I can disconnect the internal pre-amp
good review you didn't sound very impressed with it though it sounded like it had way more -'s then +'s but a solid review and you're one of the only people if not the only one who actually reviewed the RT80
Not automatic, no bluetooth which is very helpful
proud to say a Canadian product! good review!
Agreed I own a few Fluance products hands down the best quality and pricing...
Helpful video. I plan on using this turntable with my 650s. Any potential issues there?
You'll need an amp for the 650s, but otherwise, no issues.
72 rpm?
This may seem strange.....but I cannot find even one $100 dollar turntable that doesn't have a replaceable stylus. You know the one that needs to be "chucked " when the stylus is done. ??? Who manufactured that? No company i am aware of.
Great video. Very well done, Sir. Thank you! 🙂
Great video. I'm having trouble with my tone arm. When I place the tone arm over the platter to zero balance it the tone arm keeps moving back to the stand. Which makes it difficult to zero balance it . Any advice to stop this
Thank u
Maybe try adjusting the anti skate? That's designed to combat the tonearm skipping across the record laterally, so it sounds like it might help. Also, do you have the whole thing level? It might just be leaning to one side.
How do you replace the belt as they do wear out???
Even though you touched on some characteristics, I am still curious about your thoughts on the U-Turn Audio Orbit on its own.
Yeah, I need to make a video on it. I got the Orbit with the acrylic platter and the Ortofon 2M Red. So far, it's been great, but I am starting to notice some clicking in the motor (which fortunately doesn't translate to the tonearm).
I assume you contacted U-Turn Audio about this. I wonder if something got loose.
I also have the Orbit customised: white plinth, acrylic platter and the Ortofon OM5E cartridge. I also had the preamp built-in as it is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. (I had some Bose computer speakers that I wasn't using and thankfully had the RCA inputs and is powered ... so my setup was pretty straight-forward.) So far, it plays like a dream and I have not had any issues with it. It was a bit of a learning curve with the belt when changing it back to 33 from 45, but I have learned to rethread it fairly effortlessly, even with the cue lever installed and the dust cover still on its hinges =]
Derek Power is your uturn orbit still working well?
Great video! Thanks!
Great review!
whats a better stylus for the rt80 can u recommend one?
upgrade the stylus, only $35 at Turntableneedles.com Get a 211-DE, same stylus as a AT95e.
To be honest there is not much to complain about a new 200USD turntable that at least plays vinyl in stereo.
Personaly i would not call it a hifi turntable,simply because it doesnt has the quality. It certainly is modeled
after past age entry level hifi turntables,but the quality is just not there. And how could it be for that price ?
Today even turntables in the 500USD class loose clearly against 1980 budget class turntables which sold
back then for - 200USD.
One reason for this is the inflation over the past 40 years. Its around 200% which results to that you now
only have around one third of the buying power of a 1980 $ left. Which results into that real quality is only
affordable for the affluent.
Another reason is that technical advancements in construction and production over the last bunch of decades
mostly benefited the producers but not the consumers and that consumer grade turntables are treated like
fashion gadgets in a seller dominated market. You see,most of these turntables are made by OEMs in asia
regardless what brandname is printed on their plinths. Mostly its Hanpin and Yelong.
Anyway,if youre interested in a real hifi turntable,you have to paths. One is to spend considerably more on
a new turntable. Meaning 1K and above,or buying used old turntables from the 2nd half of the seventies up
to the early eighties. In that timespan the market was a true buyers market and competitive among producers.
Resulting in very good price/quality ratios. Which means you are way better off getting for example a old
Technics SL-D2 than a new turntable in the 200-500USD class.
Zockopa that’s why I just purchased a tech nique‘s SL 3300. Since I repair electronics I was able to get it for $50 and do minor repairs to the mechanism. It’s amazing the shake this thing is and even four years later. 1978 was a good year for turntables and this technique is no exception
Agree. For that same reason I bought a circa '75 Pioneer in Ebay, and for $200 I'm very happy.
I hate that the rt80 has a hollow plinth.
You can counteract this with a record weight.
I've never seen a turntable do 72rpm
Thanks for the review. I had been scouring the web for reviews specifically for the RT80 but I couldn't find any most videos focused on the RT81. I had my eye on the RT80 for a while and I went ahead and bought it prior to finding your review. I'll have it in my hands for Christmas. I wanted to ask since you've had more time to play around and test it how do you feel the sound quality is when played through powered speakers? I plan on upgrading the cartridge eventually to the AT95E but is the including cartridge sufficent enough for your ears for casual play? Thanks again for the review!
I actually didn't get a lot of listening time with it. I just played through a couple songs on my main setup, which is Elac Uni-Fi B5s. That being said, it didn't sound terrible and should be fine for casual listening. You'll likely get a minor albeit notable improvement from switching to the AT95E, but would give the stock cart a spin, it might sound perfectly fine to you.
My 2 cents after watching this review. I own this turntable and it sounds good, I tried it with the AT95E cartridge from my LP 120 which I'm trying to replace because of a noisy motor. Anyways in my humble opinion I think there is better choices out there but for $170 is a good choice. I'm new to the vinyl world and and now heavily addicted.
I love the sound of vinyl vs cds.
would you say the LP120 is a better choice considering that the RT80 is $50 cheaper?
After 2 and a half days with the player I can say that I am very pleased with it. I did have some issues with the set up when trying to balance the tone arm because the anti skate was not set to 0 out of the box and Fluance didn't mention that step in the instructions. The needle touched the mat a couple times before I figured it out (YIKES) but it didn't damage it thankfully. I would have been pissed! I tested it out on a couple of old records for a song and was satisfied that the needle was fine to play one of my new records. I played the 180g Beyonce Lemonade album and I will tell you that I was blown away by the sound quality. Even on my almost 10 year old powered studio monitor speakers the audio was clear, crisp and lossless. It was like hearing for the first time as it was truly meant to be experienced. So I'm highly impressed with the RT80. I am going to upgrade the needle to the AT95E and put a external amp on it and pair it with the Fluance AV5 Speakers next week and I'm sure it will sound even better!
I think the LP120 comes with a better cart and also does 72 rpm. Personally, I'm just not a fan of the way it looks.
Yes, I enjoyed the review but I personally wish Fluance would incorporate an auto-return feature on their TT's. I see no reason what-so-ever to leave the vinyl spinning on a delicate stylus at the end of the record nor for the vinyl to come to a stop (nice feature) but not return the tonearm to the cradle. Come on, Fluance, 'git-er-dun' in this department and I think you will sell a lot more turntables.
Auto return would increase the price level of the turntable. It would require adding a set of levers to lift the tonearm, move it back to the rest, lower the tonearm, and then allow shutdown. Also, it requires a drive gear and trip mechanism, usually driven by the platter, to move and synchronize those levers, and a more powerful motor and beefier belt to handle the extra load imposed by this mechanism. This could be done, the factory in Taiwan makes turntables for other companies, ie: TEAC, and some do have auto return, but they sell at the next price level up. This turntable was designed to be a step up from the cheap Chinese record players, such as the Electrohome units also sold by Fluance's parent company, Circus World Displays, Inc.
it's 78rpm not 72
Heh heh “the good ones” your mom rocks!
Pretty sure that NO turntable does 72 RPM
I think he means 78, and there are still a few made that will play 78s.
Wow, talk about misinformed
Please enlighten me
Literally no idea what you're talking about. Cheap record players don't ruin records. That's a myth that's been busted.
What do you mean? There’s no counterweight so it will weigh on the record grooves much more
dude, play a stinkin record, lets hear it
You have no idea what you're talking about.