My adventures in stereo
Senior Member
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2022
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I am a relative new to Turntables and vinyl
Picked up a Fluance RT 85 belt drive turntable, prefitted with a Ortofon blue MM cartridge
Great value at 500$, with acrylic platter and the cartridge
I really enjoyed using it with a Parasound Z phono XRM phono preamp
Learned the ropes with it and wanted to upgrade to a more robust mechanical turntable
Really liked what I read about technics direct drive turntable and their modern iterations
The SL 1200 GR, seemed to have the best value for money
The AT VM 95 ML seemed another excellent value option, with its long lasting stylus, tracking capabilities
Also a friend had the same combo & I liked how it sounded
So picked both up
The Technics comes packed very nicely, arrived with no damage
It is build like a tank and makes the fluance look like light weight in comparison
Connect the RCA, ground and power cables first, as recommended in the manual, before attempting to put the rest of the turntable together
The connectors are all on the bottom & this is a heavy turntable, not easy to hold with one hand and attach cables, I leared the hard way
The rest of the assembly was uneventful
Having a look at unboxing videos on YouTube earlier, paid dividends
If using a relatively light weight cartridge like the AT 95, no need to add the extra weight, at the end of the tonearm, just the regular counter weight will do
set the tracking force & antiskating to 2 gm
The tone arm appeared parallel with the above calibration, hence no VTA adjustment done
The controls on the Technics are very straightforward and robust, love the blue LED
The torque makes cleaning vinyl with a carbon fiber brush really smooth
Went on try my new Steelydan " Cant buy a Thrill" and was pleasantly surprised by the sound
The treble is less harsh than on the ortofon blue, the mids and low end are nicely detailed
Picked up a Fluance RT 85 belt drive turntable, prefitted with a Ortofon blue MM cartridge
Great value at 500$, with acrylic platter and the cartridge
I really enjoyed using it with a Parasound Z phono XRM phono preamp
Learned the ropes with it and wanted to upgrade to a more robust mechanical turntable
Really liked what I read about technics direct drive turntable and their modern iterations
The SL 1200 GR, seemed to have the best value for money
The AT VM 95 ML seemed another excellent value option, with its long lasting stylus, tracking capabilities
Also a friend had the same combo & I liked how it sounded
So picked both up
The Technics comes packed very nicely, arrived with no damage
It is build like a tank and makes the fluance look like light weight in comparison
Connect the RCA, ground and power cables first, as recommended in the manual, before attempting to put the rest of the turntable together
The connectors are all on the bottom & this is a heavy turntable, not easy to hold with one hand and attach cables, I leared the hard way
The rest of the assembly was uneventful
Having a look at unboxing videos on YouTube earlier, paid dividends
If using a relatively light weight cartridge like the AT 95, no need to add the extra weight, at the end of the tonearm, just the regular counter weight will do
set the tracking force & antiskating to 2 gm
The tone arm appeared parallel with the above calibration, hence no VTA adjustment done
The controls on the Technics are very straightforward and robust, love the blue LED
The torque makes cleaning vinyl with a carbon fiber brush really smooth
Went on try my new Steelydan " Cant buy a Thrill" and was pleasantly surprised by the sound
The treble is less harsh than on the ortofon blue, the mids and low end are nicely detailed
