John Darko
Venerated turntable (and electronics) manufacturer Pro-Ject turns 30 years old in 2021. To mark the anniversary, the Austrian company has announced a new turntable in the Debut PRO. Not only. In Europe and the UK, the unit comes factory-fitted with an all-new cartridge, the Pick it PRO – as manufactured by Ortofon – for a “lively and robust sound”. (Americans get a Sumiko Rainer cartridge).
Whatever your territory, the cartridge will be mounted to a new single-piece 8.6″ tonearm that’s made from carbon (for rigidity) and its inner tube from aluminium (for better resonance damping). This brings with it azimuth (horizontal) and VTA (vertical) adjustment to ensure that the needle sits just so in the record’s groove.
More on the tonearm from the press release: “The nickel-finished aluminium components offer a harder, more resistant surface. Very high-quality and sustainable components help us cut down on materials that continue to age over time like plastics. The precision CNC milled parts are optically perfectly matched and underline the modern, simple and, elegant design.”
The speed of the turntable is managed electronically – complete with 33rpm/45rpm toggle switch on the bottom left of the plinth – with the motor decoupled from the plinth in a suspended mounting.
The Debut PRO’s feature set is rounded out by height-adjustable metal feet and a new aluminium platter with a thermoplastic elastomer ring affixed to its underside for resonance damping and wow and flutter minimisation.
The Debut PRO will sell for โฌ750/US$899 when it begins shipping in August 2021.
Further information. Pro-Ject Audio Systems
