Rotel RP-1000 what to do question.

[Rekmeyata]

I have a Rotel RP-1000 that fell apart rather rapidly couple of weeks ago.

It has a power hum, the tone arm stopped returning automatically at the end of a record, and because it didn't return it ruined the stylus on an Empire TC400, and then the belt either came off or broke. The estimated cost to repair everything is between $150 to $250 depending on why the hum and why the return won't work, and if parts are needed or not. That price includes lubing everything.

Or, do I instead just add that money to a Fluance RT85N and forget about repairing the Rotel?

I've already put $95 into the turntable about 2 years ago, before that it never needed anything since I bought in 1973 except for a cartridge, so not sure if this turntable is suddenly too old to bother fixing because of its age it's becoming a money pit, or fixing it would be a better turntable than the Fluance. According to the Rotel specs the wow and flutter is .2% WRMS and the signal-to-noise ratio is 70db; whereas the Fluance is .07 WRMS and the signal-to-noise ratio is 68db.

I like the Empire cartridge so I will fix it regardless of what happens to the turntable, not sure how it compares to the Fluance Nagaoka MP110 cartridge. The reviews on the Nagaoka (on the Fluance RT85N) has a warmer sound, and is more in tune with classic rock and blues music than the other RT85 that comes with an Ortofon 2M Blue which that cartridge supposedly sounds brighter which I don't really care for. The Empire was supposedly a cartridge designed specifically for classic rock, and it did sound a lot better than the 2 previous carts I had. Any thoughts on that stuff?

 

[Solypsa]

before that it never needed anything since I bought in 1973 except for a cartridge,

So service after 50 years is "suddenly"?

 

[Rekmeyata]

So service after 50 years is "suddenly"?

No, what I meant was all that stuff that happened occurred like a chain collision accident, one thing happened, then another then another, all of which happened within about 4 days of each other. The humming could be a capacitor gone bad which might be why it suddenly happened? Then a couple of days later the tone arm did not want to return and ran up against the record label destroying the stylus. I then went with a backup cartridge I had and about a couple of days later the belt broke. The motor works, if I put my ear up real close to the platter I can barely hear the motor, so at least it's quiet.

In my post, I mentioned that about 2 years ago I had it serviced to keep it running correctly, that service cost $95.

Another forum I was on doesn't seem to care much for the Fluance turntables, they all said to get mine fixed instead. But what turntable under $500 would be better than the Fluance if by chance the Rotel can't be repaired?