Pro-Ject Debut Carbon EVO, Audiophile turntable with Carbon Fiber tonearm, Electronic Speed Selection and pre-mounted Ortofon 2M Red phono cartridge (High Gloss Black)

Product Information

Pro-Ject has worked hard at making its latest Debut a class leader, but also one with the potential to be a steady midrange competitor thanks to the changes the company has made. Of course, that is of little surprise. The company has long proven its ability to offer up a magnificently plush midrange, with vocals so often a particular treat when given so much warmth and held up by plenty of weight in the bass. The metal-based platter is heavy at 1.7kg, it features a thermoplastic elastomer damper on the inside rim that creates a flywheel effect. Pro-Ject claim this delivers a “quieter and noiseless operation with less wow and flutter”. Crucially, the Planer 2 is fitted with Rega’s new RB220 tonearm, which features ultra-low-friction ball bearings, a stiffer bearing housing and an automatic bias setting, making it virtually plug-and-play.

The Speaker Box 5 S2 is an unreasonably good speaker. There’s a fundamental ‘rightness’ to the way it makes music That's why I only spent dirt cheap money for streaming: for convenience rather than sound quality !!! The EVO took me under ten minutes to set up, and everything felt dialed-in and ready to go almost immediately.” – Drew Kalbach, The Absolute SoundFirst up, the purpose of the High Power IT is primarily to help owners who are having ground and hum issues. The supplied PSU is two pin. Connected to the Cyrus Phono stage and Chord amp with three pin supplies, it does not hum. If however, you were to combine it with - for the sake of argument - an iFi Zen Phono and HiFi Rose RS201E, you’d have a string of two pin products and that might not be so obliging. The High Power IT is a three pin design. It means that regardless of what you connect it to, a Debut Carbon Evo so equipped is grounded. Building a great high-end turntable requires design expertise. Building a great & affordable turntable requires not only expertise, but also skilled engineering, flawless manufacturing, advanced material sciences, and relentless passion. Creating a worthy successor to the legendary Debut Carbon required rethinking and reevaluating every component and each design choice. This is more great affordable Hi-Fi but done in a way that is brilliantly user-friendly. It’s hard to see the result as anything other than a Best Buy. Heinz’s belief in the importance of the turntable came to prominence duringa time when vinyl was at death’s door - with the CD revolutionising the wider audio market. However, Heinz stood firm and argued the case for not only analogue replay - but also for the pride and sense of ownership and interaction you simply do not get with digital media. So with this belief, he produced his first turntable - the Pro-Ject 1. Time for Evolution. Pro-Ject have taken Pro-Ject's most popular turntable design and improved every aspect of it. The result is an incredible refined product. Refined in every aspect

One of the most significant aspects of this test has been to discover that some of the upgrades that Pro-Ject offers for the Debut Carbon Evo are more about ensuring it delivers the level of performance you might expect from the basic turntable but when used in more demanding conditions. The Cork IT, High Power IT and Absorb IT are less about boosting the performance of an optimally set up Carbon Evo and more about ensuring that it continues to work in spaces with more static electricity, with devices with two wire mains and in rooms where footfall is an issue. What’s more, they do this very effectively indeed. The Ground IT potentially also fits in this category too as it allows the Pro-Ject to function as the maker intended regardless of the surface you have placed it on. So you THINK loudspeaker placement would improve digital reproduction quality!! Really ?? I wish it could be that simple ! A classic signature feature of the original model that has been carried through is the carbon tonearm. Usually found on more expensive turntables, this provides significant benefits to the sound quality. Being stiffer than steel, the tonearm is more rigid, which helps reproduce the music more accurately. In short, the music sounds tighter, punchier and more detailed.A few months ago, a friend asked me to recommend a record player. This friend knows and loves music as much as I do; when he visits, we spend our time drinking wine and listening to records. Last time, it was Scott Walker, Fela, Joni Mitchell, Jacques Brel, Burzum, and both glorious sides of The Chronic.