Home Entertainment

Pro-Ject marks 30th birthday with Debut Pro turntable

View 4 Images
Pro-Ject marks 30 years in the home audio business with the launch of a new Debut turntable
Pro-Ject
Rear view of the Debut Pro, showing gold-plated RCA connectors, mounts for the included dust cover and power port
Pro-Ject
The Debut Pro comes equipped with Pro-Ject's aluminum/carbon tonearm
Pro-Ject
Pro-Ject marks 30 years in the home audio business with the launch of a new Debut turntable
Pro-Ject
The Debut Pro boasts a brand-new MM phono cartridge developed with Ortofon
Pro-Ject
View gallery - 4 images

Austrian hi-fi brand Pro-Ject turns 30 this year, and to celebrate the company has added a new member to its affordable Debut family of turntables, which retains the company's minimalist DNA but comes with some key enhancements for improved performance.

The Debut Pro features an 8.6-inch hybrid tonearm featuring aluminum inner tubing wrapped in a layer of carbon fiber, the former for damping and shielding and the latter for high stiffness while remaining lightweight.

The Debut Pro comes equipped with Pro-Ject's aluminum/carbon tonearm
Pro-Ject

The tonearm bearing is a fresh design, fashioned from a single block of aluminum and given a nickel finish to increase rigidity. Both azimuth and vertical tracking angle can be adjusted, as can the tonearm's height – to cater for differences in the thickness of turntable mats, and to accommodate various cartridges.

But Pro-Ject has designed a new Moving Magnet cartridge for the Debut Pro, in partnership with Ortofon. The shapely Pick It Pro is reckoned to offer "a more lively and robust sound and convinces with its big dynamic range."

The Debut Pro boasts a brand-new MM phono cartridge developed with Ortofon
Pro-Ject

The electronically controlled motor that drives the belt gripping the die-cast aluminum platter at 33/45/78 rpm is decoupled from the main body to ensure that vibrations don't get to the sensitive cartridge and spoil the listening party.

And that platter is home to a thermoplastic elastomer ring on the inside to offer even more damping, and to minimize wow and flutter (pitch variation). The turntable's hand-painted MDF chassis is also isolated from the surface it's sitting on via three height-adjustable, damped aluminum feet.

Rear view of the Debut Pro, showing gold-plated RCA connectors, mounts for the included dust cover and power port
Pro-Ject

The Debut Pro goes on sale next month for a suggested retail price of €750 (about US$885), taking its place at the top spot in the range above last year's Debut Carbon Evo.

Product page: Debut Pro

View gallery - 4 images
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Flipboard
  • LinkedIn
3 comments
Lowell
Every time a record is played, the needle does some damage. This is why audiophiles would play a record once while taping it. Then the non-destructive laser was introduced.
Sadly, the laser has never come down to affordable prices for most record collectors. Each time I see a new turntable I investigate, hoping it will feature a non-destructive laser. I am disappointed again.
Signguy
Lowell...I agree. For something so archaic, when properly adjusted, the sound I astounding. A friend's son of 26 had never heard a record before, and when he heard his father's system; basic integrated amp, turntable, and speakers, he was truly amazed.
However, adjusting a cartridge on a turntable requires some equipment only shops have. But then there's the P mount.
IvanWashington
i wonder what is the needle geometry of that new cartridge?