Looking at a fluance rt 81 for my grandmother who has a bunch of old records of hers, she would like to listen to but doesnt have that big of a budget to spend a couple grand on a sound system. We live in a small island where there is no community for record players so please dont suggest used record players as we have to get the turntable shipped to us.
What would it be feeding into, and what functionality are you looking for? Would automatic functions be better to just be able to press a button to play and auto return vs setting/returning the needle by hand? Basic and readily available ATH LP60 for $130 USD with usb output options, or $150 with Bluetooth.
RT-81 is a nicer player, just going for a different end user.
already have a pair of active speakers thatll work well enough as i said she just wants to be able to listen to her old records to some degree of quality without breaking the bank.
If the space is smaller, this might fit better. The LP60 is more narrow (almost square) and all of the main controls can be accessed with the dust cover down. Plus it has auto return whereas the Fluance only has auto stop, meaning the platter will stop spinning on both but the tone arm will stay on the record with the Fluance and go back to its resting spot with the Audio-Technica.
The RT81 is made out of better materials and probably sounds better. The LP60 is made out of plastic and has more convenient features. I had the ATH-LP60X (the newer model of the LP60) for a few months, and I’m certain that a normal person would be more then happy with the sound it produces.
I’m not sure about this but I think you’ll need to balance the tone arm on the RT81 when you first set it up. The LP60 is already set up out of the box, just plug it in and play your records.
The reason I upgraded was the lack of upgradability. The tonearm cant be adjusted what so ever. The cartridge is built into the tonearm and can’t be swapped, you can only change the stylus but you can’t change the tracking force and most upgraded styli require less force. Finally, I really wanted something that felt more premium since I ended up using it more then I thought I would.
I think the LP60X might be a better fit for your grandmother, since it cheaper and has more automatic features. It’s only real downside for a normal person who doesn’t plan on playing around with different cartridges or tinkering is the plastic build. Plus its quite a bit cheaper.
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alright thank you for the help and info