Fluance RT85N Review - Nagaoka MP-110 Makes the Deck Shine?
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- Опубликовано: 30 сен 2024
- The RT85 sits at the top of Fluance's Referrence Series of turntables, which starts with the RT82 model and offers incremental upgrades at each step.
Originally, the RT85 shipped only with an Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge-a superb cartridge at its price point and one I've used for many years.
However, you can now order the popular RT85 with a pre-aligned Nagaoka MP-110 cartridge. Let's see how the RT85N measures up and how the MP-110 compares to the 2M Blue
Hear the MP-110/2M Blue Shootout over at my Patreon page:
/ ortofon-2mblue-103490005
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After doing alot of research I went with the 85 with the 2m blue. I love it. In the states it is the best bang for buck. Less shipping and less middle men then rega or project. The blue is amazing after it blooms, but I love my bronze as well. It shines on the 85
Great stuff. Enjoy! Yes, the direct to consumer model isn’t very popular in the wider hifi industry if you catch me, but consumers love it
@@soundmatters I hear ya, bud. But when it comes to bang for buck for the average man, cutting out the middleman really helps. Great product, I plan to enjoy for years to come.
No. My opinion is no, it isn't a better choice..... not for most. The Nagaoka is too mid-centric and loses some of the detail you get with the Blue. The Blue can be bright, but if it's too much for you, you can dial down the treble to suit you...... but you can't add what isn't available. Most modern receivers or amplifiers have limited tone controls (if they have any at all), and the Blue tends to have a very slight "dip" in the mids, which sounds marvelous in all but the loudest volume settings. The Nagaoka seems designed for the most finicky of listeners, while the Blue is better suited for the masses.
Years ago as I was just getting back into vinyl after 30 years, I purchased the RT81 by Fluance which had received good initial reviews and was shipped with the AT95E. After about a year I changed the cartridge for the Nagaoka MP110. It was like Night and Day. The Nag really works well with the Fluance and I have tried it on my Technics SL1100 and my Audio Technica AT-140LP and it was quite good on both. This is a cartridge that punches well above its weight...in the price range I have not been able to find one that sounded better.
I prefer the Nagaoka's warmer sound.
I know many who do ✌🏻👌🎶🎧
NAGAOKA Cartridge MP-300 👍
To improve fidelity even further than the MP11O, get the Audio Technica AT-VM95SH cartridge! At $199, It's an absolute bargain!
Great! Yes, I’ve heard good things about that cartridge 🎶🎧👍
No way. Go for the MP110. VM95 can't match. Had the EN, ML, E, C - version and MP110 is even better (more detail, better Stereo image' deeper bass, stronger tracking) than VM 95ML
@@LZP1987 I didn't get those results on any of my turntables but that's just my opinion. The MP110 is great but just didn't do it for me.
Not sure why they offer any Ortofon as it is nt an ideal match for this tone arm. Compliance miss match. The MP110 is a far better dynamic compliance match for this tone arm, but it is NOT a better cartridge than the Ortofon.
Nice video. I bought a RT-85 when I decided to get back into vinyl. This was before they offered the 85N. After watching several reviews about the Nagaoka and it's warmer sound, I decided to buy the cartridge and another head shell. At first I liked the Nagaoka and the "warmer, richer" sound. But after a while, especially on some of my older albums, I felt it sounded a little "muddy". So I have gone back to the 2M Blue for now. I'm going keep track of my albums and which stylus sounds better with them. If the recording is "shrilly", I'll use the 110. If it is "muddy", I'll use the blue.
Thanks for watching. Yes, this is quite common with older recordings due to the production style which is often warmer than some of today’s productions which can have more zing up top and sometimes more accentuated bass too. Having one “warm” option and a second “brighter” option can be useful. Enjoy! 🎶🎧
Appreciate your review. I have the RT85 with the blue cartridge. Perhaps since I am a bit over 50 I personally like the blue with a little more high end. It helps me hear more detail without any sharpness at all. But I can see and appreciate why others might prefer the different cartridge. Also I have speakers that tend to be a bit more on the warmer side so the blue cartridge suits them better. Thanks again my friend. It was a pleasure to watch your thoughts about the cartridges. Take care.
Great stuff. Sounds about right: it all depends on the personal taste of the listener, and the context in terms of gear matched up with it. Both have pros and cons and it’s nice that this deck offers something different as Ortofon cartridges are so prevalent on new turntables; nice to have choice.
Thank you for the video review. This may be my favorite video yet.
Thank you for watching! I appreciate the kind words; so glad to hear you enjoyed it. Happy listening 🎶🎧
Can the MP-110 on the RT85N be upgraded to the MP-200,MP-300 or the MP-500?
Since the VTA is setup a little different I plan to stay with the Nagaoka as the measurement of the body is the same.
Thank you,great video.
So how would the MP 300 sound on an RT85 Fluance??
Bought the Nagaoka for use on my Fluance turntable and no matter how much I adjusted azimuth and tracking force and leveling of the turntable, it never stayed in the grooves for longer than 30 seconds before jumping wildly. I spent around $100 on gadgets to adjust every aspect of my turntable and just never got it right. I ended up going back to my Audio Technica green shell and I’ve never looked back since.
Weird. That sounds like a faulty stylus to me. Very odd indeed. I like the Audio Technica stuff, and the new ones have very easy to upgrade styli. You can account for the shorter height on those with shims for VTA adjustment 👍 (if it’s a reference model, of course)
@@soundmatters No it's not weird for Fluance, they build the Fluance for one cart or the other, per Fluance manual, "The standard VTA for turntables is between 20° and 30°. Fluance turntables do not have an adjustable tonearm height so it is important to select a cartridge with a height close to the height of the original cartridge (17mm)." Also, for the RT85, "supported cartridge weight: 5.0 to 7.5 grams". Flaunce changed the height of the tone arm depending on which one of the two stylus options you selected originally, but this was done at the factory level, it cannot be changed once it leaves the factory.
With no VTA adjustment, the easiest thing to do, if you are anal, is to experiment with mats of different thicknesses or headshell shims.
This problem that he has is a resonance issue, not a VTA issue. This could be caused by too light of tracking, and or anti-skating issue, or it could be that the alignment is off, those 3 things need to be checked first. But before you start playing with those adjustments do this first: remove the cartridge and then put it back on, making sure it is on 100 percent correctly, then test it. Make sure your record is clean, but it sounds like you have been dealing with records for a while so I doubt your records are dirty. So first thing to do is to remove and replace the stylus to make sure it's installed correctly; then check the tracking force, then the skating issue, and then the alignment, but you will need an alignment gauge tool to do it correctly. All the instructions on how to do this stuff can be found on-line
It could also be due to a warped record, but I doubt that's the problem since you probably would see that record going up and down as it rotates. And since it didn't occur with the old stylus then I assume you didn't move the turntable to another location thus it's sitting flat on a hard surface as it was before.
I decided to buy the uTurn Theory turntable with the Ortofon Bronze. I belive it was about $1,200. USD. I really like this turntable and cartridge combination. My last turntable was made by a US company called SOTA or State of the Art and it was a much more expensive turntable and wortth every penny. It had 30 lbs of lead birdshot in the plinth to keep vibrations to a minimum. I had this turntable back in the late 1980s.-'90s. I can't remember the cartridge. SOTA sttill makes TT from about $1200 and up and the high end uses a unique vacuum system. Check SOTA out.
Thanks I'll check it out. The uTurn stuff looks good. Sadly, I'd have to use a special step down transformer to make one run in the UK due to their power supplies.
Theyre both elliptical not microline, right? I'll probably stick with my ATvm95ml
Correct 🎶🎧
That's also what I thought for a long time. Then I gave the MP110 a try and after that I rapidly sold the 95ML :)
A big plus for swap-able head-shells! It is possible to get shims to increase the relative height of certain cartridges, but going the other way doesn't seem to be possible. Auto-stop is a nice feature as well. Back in the days of the autochanger, there were pretty strictly adhered to standards about where the cut-off point was. I wonder if these are forgotten in the 'second age of vinyl'.
Thanks Michael. I have heard of spacers at the tonearm side for some Rega models. I’m fairly sure in this case it’s not a thing though sadly. Good call on the headshell shims 👌🎶🎧
The 'Auto-stop' on my RT82 (upgraded platter) is severely lacking in 'stop'. Numerous 45/33 plates tried...I think it has about 0.0007% success rate.
I own a Fluance RT80 and about 300 records. A modest collection by some standards but I've never encountered a record that stopped early due to the auto-stop feature. If I had I wouldn't consider that to be more important than the many, many nights when I passed out listening to an album and the auto-stop prevented my RT80 from spinning unimpeded for 8 hours. Which is 16,000 revolutions at 33-1/3 RPMs.
@@TheRealKaner That's unfortunate. I have an RT80 and I've never encountered an issue with auto-stop.
@kgeo753 fixed it. The switch was disconnected...poor QC.
Just as well, I spent 16 years as a repair technician
I own the RT85 with the ortofon blue cartridge. When I purchased it 2 years ago I bought another Fluance head-shell with the intent of maybe purchasing the MP-110 down the road. I would like to do so but after your video it sounds like it would not be set up properly. What's your take on this. Thanks!
You can do it, but they have tweaked the VTA to better suit the Nagaoka in this case (optimising the stylus taking angle in the process).
I bought a Fluance RT80 shortly after it was released in 2016. A couple weeks ago it started spinning at 30 RPMs. It's possible that I need to re-solder the contacts on the motor to fix it but I was ready for an upgrade so I bought a Pro-ject T1. It came with an Ortofon OM5E cartridge and sounded great. Unfortunately, the built-in anti-skate on that turntable didn't work and the tonearm would occassionally jump out of the runout groove and onto the label of a record. The T1 also lacked auto-stop. I understand why superfluous electronics are undesirable in a turntable but auto-stop seems like something most people would want. Especially if they're prone to falling asleep after a few IPAs or have ADHD. I am going to order an RT85 and I'm glad to know it won't spin for 8 hours while I snooze on the couch. I'll probably order the RT85 with the Ortofon 2M Blue. I was impressed by the cheaper OM5E cartridge on the Pro-ject T1.
Some love auto stop, others don’t. The 2M Blue will be perfect if you liked the OM. Enjoy! 🎶🎧
Have the RT84 w/ Hana EL... Life is GOOD ! Had to get a cork mat to compensate for difference in heights of cartridges (was 2MBlue)
Cool! I’ve heard good things about the Hana. You can use shims to adjust the VTA on that since it’s shorter in height than the Ortofon. That way, if you ever upgrade to the acrylic platter, you’ll still benefit from the “coupling” effect of vinyl direct on acrylic 👍🎶🎧
@@soundmatters Where would the "SHIMS" be placed ? On the headshell ? That will also add weight ? The tonearm's height unfortunately, has zero height adjustments.
I would love to try the MP110 but I consider it too expensive for a bonded elliptical
Bonded elliptical does not say anything about the possible quality. The MP 110 actually has less IGD than the Ortofon 2m blue and even has stronger tracking than an AT-VM95ML. The sound is one step above what a 2m blue or vm95ml delivers.
I think it's by far the most sophisticated bonded elliptical stylus out there. Better than some nude styli.
Curious about your opinion on U-Turn turntables.
I asked them about a year ago if they could send a demo unit. They look great, but sadly the demo unit has never happened
Comparison is paywalled??! 😡
Mark. Can I make a suggestion to you. Get a 2M Black. The difference between the 2M Blue is mindlblowing on my Logic dm101, SME3009 tonearm. I have been using the black for years (way to many hours over the 1000 suggested) but it needs replacing so thought I’d try the blue for like £130. Even my worn black stylus absolutely walks all over the blue brand new. Dig deep and do the upgrade you will be staggered!
On a 250.00 dollar rig. Daft you are
Thanks for the suggestion. I haven't heard the 2M Black yet, but may need to do an A/B based on what you've said here. Thanks for watching and happy spinning!
But how does it sound? This video was an advert 😂
Awesome
I can highly recommend the ATVM540ML. It is so much better than both the MP-100 or 2M Blue.
I have the ATVM95SH. Pretty much the same, but a Shibata instead of Microlinear profile stylus.
It’s a superb cart.
Both yours and mine are a superb match in particular for a Technics 1200.
A few folks have said this. One to add to my list and check out. I nearly bought a turntable that came pre-fitted with one a few years ago actually
I'm currently using AT 440mla myself. I'm not a fan of Ortofon's MM carts. Ortofon shines the best in their MC units but a much greater expense. Nagaoka carts are a good value for what they are but I think AT are about the best overall in any budget.
@@metoo5159 Me too! Lol. I agree. Thx.
Yes! Most definitely. Even the ATVM95ML performs better than the 2M Blue and, it costs less.
I see an El-P Vinyl, I like the video, it's simple!
Love the 2m blue
Me too 🎶🎧
@@soundmattersAs per my other comment try the 2M black. OMG you’ll be happy.
Great video!
Thanks! Happy listening 🎶🎧
If you’re in the UK - which sounds like it by your accent - please can you advise on an imminent problem I’m facing with my Fluance RT85, please? I’ve had one for four years and I’m certain the belt will need replacing very soon, however, going to the Fluance site, a replacement belt is £17 (reasonable) but adding in the cheapest shipping option, it comes to £110! I don’t have any Canadian friends to ask to purchase on my behalf and also can’t find what could be a compatible belt here in the UK… any thoughts? This could be an issue that many will face sooner or later.
Hmm. Yes, that is quite the issue regarding intentional shipping. I will ask the guys at Fluance if they have a solution. I’ll come back to you ASAP.
@@soundmatters Thank you so much.
Is Fluance sold on Amazon UK? Might be able to get one delivered cheaply if that's the case.
try sound deal 888 on the Bay of E. Fluance equivalent belts for much less carriage costs.
@@TheRealKaner Hallelujah! Fluance RT83 >> belt for circa £22 - you’re a ⭐️
Fluance and people who review their products (and don’t live in Canada) need to note the outrageous cost of shipping a small weight item like this internationally… or at least start selling over here.
Didn't care for my Fluance (or ProJect, MusicMan,Uturn...). Are they still doing 3 stabilizing feet? Dont care for Ortofon. I find the high end to be fatiguing (actually prefer their OM carts). I did enjoy the Nagaoka very much until my cleaning lady destroyed it. Thanks for the vid.
Thanks for watching. It’s all very subjective. Yea, it’s 3 feet, which does make levelling the deck very easy. Sorry to hear about the Nagaoka damage! 🎶🎧
Hard to get along with?
I like the idea of a detachable headshell but if you can't adjust the tone arm height for different carts what's the point?this needs to be addressed !!! Then i would definitely consider buying.
I agree it would be nice to see adjustable VTA on this model 🎶🎧
It's nice to have a turn without all the fuss of adjusting every little thing.
Plus before the RT85N I aleady has a preloaded Nagaoka, it plays and sounds great.
Haha! 😂 When first looked at your ON AIR. Sign, I thought it said GWAR, a band whom I loved seeing live until the untimely passing of their front man Oderus Urungus aka Dave Brockie. Damn, do I miss that guy.
Anyway, about your fantastic review of the Nagoka MP-110. Over the years, I’ve owned the 110 and even the 509, but it seems like the sweet spot is the MP-200, imo at least, but they of course sound different depending on one’s system, and if you’ve got speakers with a relaxed sound or a more detailed one. They’re amazing sounding carts and truly special, especially considering their price.
Thanks for the review. I’ve recommended Fluance to a bunch of my friends looking to buy a quality turntable without breaking the bank.
Haha! Glad I could play a part in triggering some nostalgia for you there. Thanks for watching 🎶🎧
these should be called Effluance...
Just another marketing company putting their name on some Taiwan-made 'private label' guff; I'm not saying it's bad - Audio Technica have a deck made from near identical parts, if you get my drift - but in a niche industry it's nice to back companies that actually engineer and innovate. As for the 2M Blue, I wouldn't touch it with yours.
Why should that matter? The Fluance RT85 has better specs than the U-Turn built here in America.
Even when jumping up about $300 more for the Audio-Technica AT-LP7 the Fluance has better specs.
And the Fluance 85 has better specs than the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon EVO.
You are going to be hard-pressed to find a turntable better than the Fluance RT85 for under $1,000 in terms of sound reproduction.
@@Rekmeyata Provenance of no interest to you? How about supporting bricks-n-mortar dealers? Ok, your call. Given the choice, I'll support businesses nearer to home, and I think THAT matters.
RT-85 better spec'd than that Pro-Ject? Fact or opinion? C'mon, convince me. Let's hear it! btw, I have no skin in that game.
Better sound under a grand? Easily done where I live (outside the US).
Junk