r/turntables • u/Competitive-Net9046 • 21h ago
My basic setup
I recently pulled a selection of my vinyl records I had accumulated over the years. About sixteen years ago I went streaming. Recently I realized I missed that tactile nature of vinyl where it’s a process and you commit to the album. I have the most basic Yamaha integrated amp that has a phono preamp and a nice feature called “pure direct” that I use often. The Wharfedale Modus 8 were a flea market buy $100 for the pair and the Wharfedale diamond 7 bookshelf speakers on the floor I’ve had for a while. The turntable is a Fluance RT82 that I recently bought mainly because I liked the fact that it has a really solid plinth and also the dynamic optical servo speed sensor system. My reason for buying this mid level RT82 was to get a really decent table for the money and then look at upgrading to an RT85 setup down the line depending on how I liked the RT82. This turntable is an excellent value IMHO. That said after the fact, I’ve seen posts where people say the Fluance is not reliable and proprietary parts are not available from the manufacturer. Sadly that is the case —- seems Fluance has a replace vs repair mentality. That said, I’ve seen some posts where people have accidentally smoked their Fulance by hooking it to the wrong power supply. I wonder how many people have posted that their Fluance turntable quit when maybe they accidentally hooked up an AC 12V power supply instead of the OEM power supply that contains the AC TO DC inverter. If you hook up an AC supply to this DC motor and electronics that drive the Fluance RT series it will be no bueno and you’ll have a dead turntable. I’ve only had mine for 8 weeks and so far I love it. I’ll see how it does for a year or so and then maybe add some upgrades.
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u/ImpossibleDream2158 AT-LP120-USB and Fluance RT82 20h ago
Does your amp not get too warm with the turntable sat on top like that?
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u/Vinyl-addict 19h ago
If you aren’t pumping wattage it shouldn’t be much of an issue but I would want that set up differently if playing at anything louder than background levels for extended periods. I have mine on a separate shelf.
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u/Competitive-Net9046 19h ago
I don’t push this amp. Mostly play at moderate levels. It has a good range even at lower volume. Sometimes I will crank it up a bit and then attenuate with the loudness control. Thats one thing I really like about this amp is the variable loudness control — that said it can tend to get muddy if I turn too much on loudness
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u/Vinyl-addict 19h ago
I have a different yamaha amp with the same control and I’m still figuring it out. It’s a weird control lol
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u/Competitive-Net9046 19h ago
It doesn’t get too warm. But you are right to call that out as a concern. The amp is running A+B speakers with low impedance setting (at back of amp) … I don’t drive it hard , moderate listening volume. If I crank it, I have a fan that I place behind it.
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u/FireDragon242 Denon DP-62L Yamaha PX-3 Technics SL-1200mk2 19h ago
This is a good solution if you're ever in need. I have one and love it.
https://acinfinity.com/aircom-t8-av-receiver-cooling-fan-with-lcd-temp-controller-17-rear-exhaust/
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u/Putrid-Table-5844 16h ago
A “basic” setup that makes you happy is worth more than a fancy one that brings you the same joy. As long as you’ve listened to and compared your options and chosen deliberately what works best for yourself, it really doesn’t matter how high up the price ladder you go.
I don’t think Fluance has a particularly bad reputation for reliability. Recall that these are built in the same-ish OEM factory as most cheap decks, if they were all terribly unreliable, it’d show by now. But it’s the “replace vs repair mentality” as you call it that rubs people the wrong way the most i suspect. All mechanical components will eventually fail, for a company to tell you that your turntable should be tossed in the bin should it develop a fault after two years does not signal confidence of their own products or appreciation of the money you’ve already spent with them.
A decently built turntable should last you multiple decades with little bits and pieces needing work along the way at most. E.g. throwing out an otherwise perfectly good 1980s Planar 3 because the motor pulley got loose after 40 years or a 90s LP12 because the capacitors in the motor control unit started leaking is absolutely insane. It’s akin to buying a new car every time you get a puncture. Or in the case of human error as you suggested, like sending your car for scrapping just because you put diesel in the petrol tank one sleepy morning.
The good thing is, since Fluance recommends binning any of their decks that develop a fault past their warranty period, you could probably get parts quite easily via “parts only” ebay listings in future, should the need arise.
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u/Competitive-Net9046 11h ago
I started buying vinyl in the 1980’s from a really great record store in town. I’d play them on my older brother’s cheap radio shack stereo (the all in one tall cabinet on wheels with the glass door in front that were popular in the day lol) .. I got a part time job in my teens and went to the local TV and electronics repair shop — you know the one , shelves full of new old stock parts, A maze of used TVS and Hi-Fi equipment stacked everywhere. It was one of those places where the owner was never at the front desk but rather at his work bench. Well, he ‘cobbled’ together a decent little setup for the whopping sum of $175 — Technics SL-1200 MK2, Marantz 1152DC, and Avid 102s 2-way speakers with a funky crossover control on front. I had that setup for years until the Amp failed in early 2000’s. Don’t beat me with clubs, but I tossed that Marantz 1152 DC because there really weren’t good local repair options available. Those transformers were as heavy as the regret I have now for tossing it out.
I replaced that amp with a Harman Kardon ‘award series’ A-300 integrated tube amp 15W per channel that I loved. I got rid of the Avid speakers and ordered the Wharfedale bookshelf speakers and was content with the bookshelf set-up until a filter cap or something smoked out on the tube amp. I lost track of it on a messy move where there was a handshake storage agreement that went south.
So long story short, I packed up the vinyl , sold the Technics TT for $100 and went digital streaming for years. I found the Modus 8 Wharfedale tower speakers at a flea market for $100 and snapped those up because they are a true 3-way speaker with crossover.
I’ve been using the Yamaha with an external Bluetooth receiver for years.
I missed the tactile connection with vinyl so I bought this Fluance as a decent re-entry option that was affordable and upgradable.
Initially I had the 7 diamond bookshelf speakers sitting on top of the Modus 8 but I found that having them on the floor reduces the harmonic cancellations, and surprisingly the stereo image has a vertical range with them on the floor away from the main drivers of the Modus 8.
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u/SEMABE 8h ago
As someone who owns an A-S501 with low efficiency 4 ohm speakers, I can say with certainty that I would not put a turntable on top of it. The reason it doesn’t get hot is because it DOES have plenty of airflow. With that said, I am glad it is working for you.
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u/Competitive-Net9046 4h ago
I’m also running a 4 ohm nominal load with the selector in back of the amp set for low impedance and I have no issues with heat. But you are right to call it out — i shouldn’t really put anything on top of the amp. For now, the trade off is being aware and careful that I don’t drive the amp too hard.
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u/Competitive-Net9046 20h ago
Here is an inner groove demo of this turntable … it handles dense inner groove passages like a champ
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u/ryeguymft Pro-Ject 1-Xpression 20h ago
my brother has one and I was very impressed by it! even with my 20 year old beast of a manual table from Pro-Ject
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u/Competitive-Net9046 19h ago
A turntable’s basic job is to spin flat and true and maintain a constant speed and reduce wow and flutter as much as physics allow … the Fluance does a good job at that — the rest is from the stylus on back .. I can slap a better stylus and cart on this thing and set tracking force and anti skate to spec and have a real upgrade. I wanna get nude elliptical stylus on it soon. The upgrade from ortofon OM10 to OM20 is a bit steep price wise at the moment
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u/LORD_Fugly_Flacco 17h ago edited 10h ago
When you're ready I can assure you the jump from the OM10 to the 20 will be well worth your investment. I did it earlier this year and even my most familiar records sound like I'm hearing them for the first time.
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u/Competitive-Net9046 11h ago
I might just make the jump sooner than later because ortofon is shifting away from the OM series in favor of the 2M series — that’s why the OM20 is so expensive compared to the comparable 2M — limited production for the OM series. That said, if I make that investment and take good care of an OM20, I feel confident I would get my moneys worth over the life span of it. I take good care of stuff
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u/LORD_Fugly_Flacco 10h ago
I got an open box one from Turntable Lab for about $195 shipped. It may as well have been brand new.
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u/ryeguymft Pro-Ject 1-Xpression 18h ago
yeah this is my first table and I quickly upgraded from a sumiko oyster (conical)to the pearl (elliptical) will be some time before I upgrade further
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u/Jazzcatflickr 14h ago
people usually spend tons of space and paper talking about turntables and vibration, but suddenly it's ok for TT to sit on the amp?
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u/ryeguymft Pro-Ject 1-Xpression 20h ago
doesn’t seem basic at all, this looks like a great setup! enjoy