“What does your passion sound like? Fluance knows the answer.“
A nice catch phrase. And if you check any Fluance RT80 review online you’ll turn up opinions that it’s one of the most outstanding turntables within its price range. But it must have SOME shortcomings – right?
Overall Rating: 4.7/5
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Ease of Use 5/5 Easy setup, highly recommended for beginners |
Build Quality 4.5/5 Guaranteed durability thanks to quality materials |
Sound Quality 4.6/5 High fidelity and precise sound reproduction |
Value for Money 4.6/5 Everything you can ask for in one well-built turntable |
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Fluance RT80 High Fidelity Vinyl Turntable Review
Overview
The RT80 High Fidelity Vinyl Turntable from Fluance is easy to use, has a top-quality cartridge for superior output, and you don’t need to stop it manually once your record has come to an end.
In a nutshell, its strengths are in convenience.
Furthermore, thanks to the durable materials, this well-built turntable guarantees a long-lasting friendship with your old vinyl records. You’ll be able to enjoy the high-quality sound from this belt-driven record player for a long time to come.
Designed for Serious Audiophiles
Whether you’re a music professional or listening to old vinyl records is more of a hobby, Fluance believes you deserve high-quality sound and an entirely revolutionized home listening experience.
That’s why they try to use only premium components and the minds of dedicated experts while constructing their products.
The RT80 High Fidelity turntable model was created with care and designed to meet all serious audio lovers’ needs.
Although the main focus is pure sound reproduction, it provides everything you may look for in a quality turntable. This Fluance record player features high durability, top performance, user-friendly handling, and a modern style that easily fits into any room décor.
Who Is The RT80 Turntable Designed For?
This particular Fluance turntable model is less expensive than other brands with similar features. Therefore, it will work well for novices who are not sure how well they’d handle a more complex turntable.
It’s also suitable for music lovers who won’t listen to vinyl records daily and want to stay within budget.
On the other hand, given that the RT80 produces incredibly accurate sound and provides an unforgettable listening experience, it will serve just as well to a more delicate ear.
Any serious audiophile will appreciate that a device you can buy for less than $300 creates such an authentic and enjoyable sound.
What’s Included?
Most people can barely wait for the moment when they finally get to unbox their brand-new turntable. Are you ready to discover what’s included in the Fluance RT High Fidelity Vinyl box?
Besides the turntable, you’ll get:
- A dust cover
- Two dust cover hinges
- Two-year manufacturer’s warranty
- User manual
- AC power adapter
- Pre-installed cartridge
The good news is, you don’t have to buy a pre-amp for this model. It’s built-in, but you might need a phono amplifier or a receiver to connect other devices or gadgets.
Are you planning to use your headphones with the turntable? You’ll definitely need an amplifier.
Fluance RT80 Features
Those who own traditional EP and LP vinyl records won’t be disappointed by the quality of music this turntable provides. It can play records at two speeds: 33 1/3 or 45, but bear in mind it’s not suitable for 78 RPM.
At the two compatible speeds, the player can reproduce the authentic vinyl sound and catch the distinctive, charming crackle that many people love old records for.
Thanks to its premium components and the fact that it’s well-built, you can enjoy a pure analog audio experience, just the way it was initially intended.
The RT80 has a pre-installed Audio Technica AT91 cartridge. The cartridge comes with a moving magnet conical stylus, which is better than other options. It offers incredible clarity, even on musical peaks.
It also helps the turntable produce noise-free sound without distortions and contributes to better channel balance. This stylus is also diamond-tipped, so it tracks the grooves with unbelievable accuracy.
The S-type tonearm comes with improved features thanks to the adjustable counterweight. This will help prevent the needle from scratching your records, which is very important since other brands and models may lack this feature and damage the record.
Instead of sharp movements, you’ll see the tonearm flow over your record seamlessly, enabling perfect playback. This is possible thanks to the smooth bearing movement and an excellent anti-skate system.
And what about the unpleasant vibrations coming from the motor or your speakers? With the RT80, you don’t have to worry about it.
The solid wood plinth reduces vibrations, so the signal is wholly provided by the stylus. Since the turntable also has an aluminum platter and sound isolation feet, you’ll notice that reverberation is also reduced to a minimum.
As for the outputs, the RT80 High Fidelity comes with gold-plated RCA output and ground terminal. Also, there’s a Phono/Line switchable pre-amp, made by Texas Instruments, so you don’t need to buy it separately.
Here’s something else you’ll love about this turntable: you can use the RCA output to connect a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi transmitter. This way, you can use the record player for wireless audio transmission.
RT80 Turntable Highlights
- Belt-driven
- Audio Technica cartridge
- Diamond-tipped stylus
- Adjustable counterweight
- Solid wood plinth
- Isolation feet and aluminum platter for low vibrations
- Gold-plated RCA line outputs
How to Set Up the Fluance RT80 High Fidelity Turntable
One of the main highlights of any Fluance RT80 High Fidelity Vinyl Turntable review is that there’s no other record player on the market that’s equally simple to use.
That’s why this model is rated as extremely easy to set up. Once you assemble it, you can continue to use it just as easily.
With the help of Fluance’s a step-by-step walkthrough video, detailed instructions will let you get the job done in minutes, even if you’re not particularly skilled.
You’ll also learn how to properly balance the tonearm, which is crucial if you want to get the most out of the turntable.
If you’d rather watch a video guide than read the user manual for more details on individual components and usage, here’s another video from Fluance on the RT80 for easy reference:
RT80 Turntable Components
Fluance RT80 Turntable Review: Key Points
The Good
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- Built-in pre-amp
- High-performing Audio Technica cartridge
- Easy to set up and use
- Detailed and precise audio
- Quality materials ensure durability
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The Not So Good
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- Not compatible with headphones without receiver or amplifier
- No Bluetooth
- May experience speed issues
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Comparable Alternative Turntables
Since the Fluance turntable we’ve reviewed in this article has an Audio Technica cartridge – manufacturer of some of the best phono cartridges on the market, it’s only logical to offer one of their record players as an alternative.
Their products are some of the best on the market, and you can also find models in the same price range as Fluence’s RT80.
This particular product, the AT-LP120XUSB, is a well-built turntable with a unique feature that modern audiophiles will love. It enables you to convert your records into audio files that you can save to your computer.
This three-speed player comes with quite a few additions in the box: you also get a built-in phono pre-amp, a USB cable, an AC adapter, a detachable RCA output cable, and more.
For more on this turntable, read our complete AT-LP120XUSB review here
Our second suggestion is another Fluance model – the RT81 Elite. These two products are quite similar – they both come with the Audio Technica cartridges, solid wood plinths, and built-in pre-amps.
Some users claim the cartridge on the RT81 is slightly better – it’s because of the AT95E needle, as opposed to the AT91 needle used by the RT80.
Both turntables produce accurate sound with minimal vibrations and distortion. At the same time, the aluminum S-type tonearm moves smoothly on the record surface without leaving scratches.
For more, check out our Fluance RT81 review here
The third alternative we recommend is the Sony PS-LX310BT turntable: a belt-driven record player that features a fully automated wireless experience. If you add a Bluetooth speaker to your purchase, you’ll be more than ready to party.
This Sony turntable can play records at two speeds while providing incredibly accurate audio that you can convert into MP3 files using the USB output.
Even if you plug in more powerful speakers, you won’t need to worry about unwanted vibrations since the stable aluminum platter does a great job preventing them.
Read more in our SonyPS-LX310BT review here
Fluance RT80 Review – Final Thoughts
Our final verdict on the Fluance RT80 High Fidelity Turntable? – go ahead and treat yourself!
If you take all the features, benefits, and price into account, you can see clearly that this record player is a suitable choice for almost anyone.
The smooth playback, superb sound accuracy, and good noise isolation allow you to listen to your favorite records for hours.
You may like the fact that you can put the lid down for enhanced protection of your turntable and records – this way, it’ll stay dust-free.
Thanks to the magnet moving cartridge and the adjustable tonearm counterweight, you’ll be able to enjoy the full, genuine sound of music from your records.
What’s more, that’ll happen without the needle missing any of the specific details that make your favorite songs so unique.
Check Today’s Fluance RT80 Price >>
- Ease of Use
- Build Quality
- Sound Quality
- Value Factor
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