Saturday April 13 is a big day for vinyl geeks and music fans: Record Store Day. Since 2008, stores nationwide and on virtually every continent have been celebrating vinyl’s resurgence with a day full of special releases. If you like colored vinyl, remixes, boxed sets, re-issues of long out-of-print albums and exclusives, you’d better bring your wallet to a local store participating in Record Store Day…
Check the official RSD website for participating retailers and the full list of Record Store Day 2019 exclusives.
Of course you need a turntable to play your RSD haul on. That’s where Fluance comes in. This Canadian company built its reputation with affordable, high performance home audio speakers. A few years ago, Fluance expanded into the growing turntable market, bringing the same approach: affordable turntables built with quality components that punch above their weight in performance.
I reviewed the Fluance RT81 for GeekDad in 2016 if you want to get an idea of what to expect from a Fluance turntable. The company is offering up a free RT80 turntable — worth $199.99 — to a lucky GeekDad reader. This model shares many of the features of the more expensive RT81, including a solid wood (acoustic-grade MDF) plinth, aluminum S-shaped tonearm, sound isolation feet, integrated pre-amp with gold-plated RCA line outputs, an aluminum platter and a two-speed belt drive motor. It’s also equipped with a high performance Audio Technica AT91 MM cartridge with an ATN91 conical diamond stylus.
This is a great turntable for someone who is looking to start a record collection, and it’s also a nice upgrade over many beginner turntables. The Fluance RT80 can be connected directly to most portable speakers through their 3.5mm AUX input, but it can also connect to the PHONO input of receiver or amplifier that’s part of a traditional home stereo system.
And while the RT80 sounds great out of the box and will treat your vinyl investment well, it has the solid basics that support upgrades at a later date if you decide to up your game — including the ability to swap out the cartridge.
Entries are open until noon EST on April 17, 2019. The winner will be notified shortly after and the RT80 turntable will be shipped to them directly by Fluance. Entries are open to residents of the U.S. and Canada.
Congratulations to the giveaway winner, Alvin Lau!
