Whether you’re buying new records or dusting off old ones, these great players will do your vinyl justice
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Pro-Ject Debut Pro £699
Pro-Ject’s original Debut was introduced at the tail end of the 1990s. It was a terrific budget turntable that married affordability with performance, and despite a gradual move upmarket, that balance remained so.
The Pro model is the most ambitious and sophisticated Debut yet. This isn’t just a mild tweak of the Debut formula. Pro-Ject’s engineers have carefully developed almost every design aspect from adding adjustable metal feet to producing a new dedicated cartridge – the new Pro-Ject Pick It Pro moving-magnet cartridge. This is a development of Ortofon’s 2M Red, with the main changes focused on the suspension to produce a more lively and punchier sound.
The new tonearm is impressive too, using an armtube that combines an outer skin of carbon fibre reinforced by an aluminium inner layer. The result is a smooth movement with no sign of excessive play in the bearings.
This Debut delivers an impressively crisp and detailed sound for the money. We start off with The Boatman’s Call from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and the Pro reproduces the album with considerable skill. It captures the melancholy of Into My Arms superbly, delivering Cave’s rich and gritty tones with enviable finesse. The piano is rendered with precision and a lovely sense of ebb and flow that carries us away with the music. It’s a musically convincing presentation, one where each instrument dovetails beautifully.
The tonality of any record player is largely governed by the cartridge, and the Pick It Pro is a crisp, nicely balanced performer. Its presentation is a little on the lean side, but not so much that the result is thin or forward. The upside of such a balance is agility, with the cartridge digging up plenty of detail on the way.
We switch to FourTet’s There Is Love In You set and the Debut Pro responds with enthusiasm. It’s a great deal of fun to listen to, and is terrific at digging deep into the production and revealing layers of instrumental textures that most at this level ignore. Lows are taut and articulate, and there’s a stable and controlled sound that retains its composure even when the music becomes dense and demanding.
Beethoven’s Fifth is a stern test with its wide-ranging dynamic shifts and prodigious sense of energy. The Debut Pro doesn’t flinch, rendering the music’s drama superbly. We are pleased with the sonic authority on offer and the deck’s a
