Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evolution Audiophile Turntable with Carbon Fiber Tonearm - White Gloss

I was originally set on purchasing the Audio Technica AT-LP120XUSB but they were out of stock and I wasn't going to wait two or three months for them to come back in stock. So I started doing research and I'm glad I did. As an audiophile who is newer to the vinyl scene, I was unaware of some very key points: a) Flashy features and gizmos does not always mean quality b) There are three types of vinyl players out there: plain old cheap bare necessities, DJ players, and players meant for audiophiles. c) The more features usually means sacrifice in sound quality. d) Plain and simple might mean the quality is in the hidden elements of the vinyl player. This player is definitely meant for audiophiles and produces a wonderful sound quality. The isolation on this unit is impressive and is a vast improvement over the Pro-Ject DC; the carbon fiber tone arm is super lightweight but strong, the anti-skate system actually works, the motor is fully isolated from the player to prevent hums and interference and is carefully designed for speed moderation; fully manual tone arm operation is great for those who like to sit and absorb the music; the phono cabling provided is impressive quality; the cartridge included produces a wonderful rich sound. There is so much to like about this, especially for a first time vinyl player for me. I'm glad I spent the extra money as the sound is impressive. I've compared it to a few other units including some higher end Technics tables and was stunned at the clarity and richness of the sound this player produces.

Recently discovered some old vinyl and decided to get a turntable. I did plenty of research, initially looking at used Tecnhics 1200s on ebay to newer “DJ rigs” but who am I kidding, I’m not doing any mixing. Just want to sit back with a beer and listen to some old school R&B, classic hip hop, 80s hits and some Coltrane and Miles. Further research led me to Pro-Ject, U-Turn and Rega. Never heard of these brands before but turns out these are the brands to look into on a budget but you want to listen to your vinyl. I’m by no means an audiophile but I know what sounds good to me and this Pro-Ject Carbon is one critical piece to the puzzle of good sound. I paired it with an old Sony receiver (pre-HDMI / 4K) and a barely used set of Energy Take 5 Classic speaker set and it sounds fantastic! Everything from classic jazz to bumpin’ beats sounds great. It was easy to put together, but I am pretty tech saavy. I also connected this to a Fosi tube pre-amp with GE tubes, which seems to bring out warmer tones and I could swear I hear instruments in the background I didn’t hear before. All around, great turntable and brings back memories listening to old tunes.

Purchased this to replace an older turntable and decided to go with something simple and high quality rather than pursuing bluetooth and built-in preamps. The turntable seems to be well made - heavy, solid and with a tonearm that is equal parts sculpture and function. Set-up is easy (the anti-skating weight being a bit finicky) and it arrived in excellent condition, and the controls couldn't be simpler, with a rocker switch for speed and manual tonearm. As to sound, it seems to do what a good turntable should, which is to convey accurately what is on the vinyl. Beautifully mastered and pressed recordings have great nuance, warmth and transparency. A few of my mass-production 80s rock records sound thin and harsh. In a word, the turntable seems accurate and more than capable of producing wonderful tone and depth. I use a basic preamp and a high end set of powered monitors poached from my studio. Again, a neutral set-up the delivers the goods honestly and without color. The Pro Ject has been a wonderful addition and I'm enjoying getting back into vinyl. If you enjoy simple, well-crafted equipment you won't be disappointed.

Love my turntable. Can from an audio-technia that served me well, but this is a whole different class of turntable.

I purchased this record player to replace my vintage 1998 fully automatic Panasonic PL-990. I had seen one on a trip to eastern Europe at a little record shop and wanted one ever since. It is a beautifully simplistic machine. There is a ton of engineering that has gone into this turntable; you don't see it - in this case, that is a good thing. It is not a chrome and flash monstrosity. The lines are clean and the manufacturing quality is high. It feels solid with no noticeable plastic other than the dust cover, which is in contrast to my old TT that was mostly plastic. The Pros: It is solid, heavy, and has a ton of engineering that you can't see, but I'm sure you can hear. The records do seem to come a bit more to life with this TT than my old one. How much of that is the cartridge and needle - $150 Sumiko Rainer vs. and $20 Audio Technia needle and built In cartridge...not sure...but likely a lot. Speed is consistent. There is no motor noise. The platter is heavy and doesn't resonate. The Cons: It was $500. I enjoyed the music from the old TT just as much as this one, but I wanted something 'new.' Setup was easy, but you have to set up the tone arms/needles vertical tracking force. This is not hard but takes some time and adjustment. If not set properly it will affect the sound of your music; too little force and it will be too bright, too much force and it will sound low. It took me several tries. Conclusion: I purchased this TT because I wanted something with the best engineering I could afford and wouldn't feel the need to upgrade. The Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo checks all the boxes for me. If I didn't have a nostalgic connection to turntable, I would have bought the U-Turn Orbit. It's made in the USA and from my correspondence with them while deciding what to buy, they have top notch customer service. It may not come with all the same bells and whistles under the hood, but that could be good. Their tone arm is fully set up and they have an internal anti-skate. These things aren't hard, but it is less to worry about if you just want to listen to music. For $350 you can get a similarly designed TT with an acrylic platter. I suggest considering both! Update: I’ve lived with the TT now for some time and love it! It brings out the color and sound I didn’t hear from my old TT. As good as a CD, if not better.

This is my third turntable since I started listening to vinyl in 2005. Graduated from a Crosley playing dollar store records to a Technics SL-D2 which was a workhorse but ultimately I wanted to break into higher tier audio equipment. Is 500$ a lot of money? For most people I’d say yes, especially since if you don’t already have them you need the amp or receiver and speakers etc. But I spent a bunch of time reading reviews and best of’s and watching suggestions on YouTube and hands down this was most appealing to me as intro hi-fi. It’s sleek and not cheap, everything feels and looks high class. It’s just satisfying picking up the tone arm and sliding it over the record. Of course it’s not automatic but If you’re worried about walking away you can just invest in a q-up for 40$. I went with the hi gloss white snd it’s so shiny and modern looking. It’s got some weight to it but isn’t a brick, platter felt substantial and firm. The belt install was easy as hell, and of course has a button to switch between 33 and 45’s, but you have to switch belts if you’re into 78s which I’m not. Comes with plugs for US outlets and 2 more I think are European and something else, so if you gotta make an international move you can do so and take it with you. Also I am really pleased with the Sumiko cartridge, of course I’m still breaking it in but no issues and I’m glad I didn’t have to also invest in a cart. I think it’s going to last a really long time, I couldn’t be happier. Took a little while for it to be delivered. It was pouring down with rain nonstop here and Insont know if they intentionally delayed the delivery because of that but I was so happy because I was beyond paranoid it would get ruined. Upon opening realized this was packed so well I had nothing to worry about. There’s an outer Amazon box and inside the other manufacturers box with the name of the product on it and inside custom styrofoam to house and safely ship the disassembled unit. It was easy to put all the parts together with their manual but I’d you really need help I found a couple of YouTube videos that walk you thru it step by step. Works great with my speakers and my receiver. You won’t regret it and if you do you can return or he’ll sell it on eBay they retain their value as long as they’re in good shape. Keep the box so you can ship it back to the factory in case of repairs or later sale.

I was a proud owner of a vintage Technics turntable for 20 years. It was one of the SL models from the 80's to early 90's, I believe (can't remember the model number). It was a direct drive turntable. I bought it used in a small San Francisco record shop in 2001 for like $80 bucks. It worked great with zero maintenance other than swapping out the needles every so often. The tone arm was damaged during a move across country, which was my fault. So, I had to buy a new turntable. And I ended up buying one of these Debut Carbon EVO's in July of 2021. Back then, it was about a $100 cheaper, mind you. I thought it looked pretty slick, and I was happy with it until just a few weeks ago. My records started playing slow at inconsistent speeds. I removed the platter and checked the belt. It all seemed to be good. So, I contacted the Pro-Ject company to see if I could get some technical guidance to fix it. It's been less than 3 years of ownership after buying it brand new, and it hasn't moved from the spot it's been in. I told them the belt seemed fine. They told me it could be a problem with the motor or motor pcb. Then they informed me that my turntable was no longer under the 2 year warranty and gave me the contact info to a service center here in Georgia. I contacted them and they said I could bring it in, but they would charge me $100 to assess the problem and it would probably take up to 8 weeks to actually fix it plus the cost of parts and labor. All of a sudden, I'm possibly looking at the cost of a whole new turntable to fix one that's not even 3 years old. Which, obviously, I'm not going to pay that kind of money to fix this turntable, I'll just buy a new one. As a last resort, I ordered a new Pro-Ject belt to see if that could possibly resolve the issue. Those belts are $40 bucks here on Amazon and they take about 2 weeks to ship. I still haven't received it yet, so fingers crossed it works. But, I'm relaying this info as a warning to potential buyers who may not understand (like I didn't), that this turntable requires more maintenance than just swapping out the needles. You're also going to need to swap the belt every couple of years, apparently. That's $40 dollars with 2 weeks of waiting. If I had known that before buying this product, this turntable would have been a hard pass for me. Perhaps my lack of understanding of the maintenance needed for belt driven turntables as opposed to direct drive is the real culprit here. Or these Pro-Ject Debut's are just not well made, long lasting turntables. But, when I do buy a new turntable, whether that's a few years from now or in about a week depending on this belt situation, you can bet your bottom dollar it won't be another Pro-Ject. I'll be going back to Technics. Preferably a used vintage one. Back when they built things to last a lifetime. Update: Just got a new belt in the mail... and it's still playing super slow🤦🏻‍♂️ It's not the belt, it's going to be a much more expensive fix. I'm pretty upset about it. I'm going to buy a new Technics turntable. This thing is now a piece of hot garbage. $500 down the drain for a lemon of a product that didn't even last 3 years. This turntable is a gyp! I've been swindled. Do yourself a favor and steer clear of Pro-Ject products.

In my opinion, there's not much to dislike about this deck. It comes with a big foldout setup guide that's really clear on how to get everything right. The only thing missing is where they recommend placing the anti-skate line on the tonearm. You have to go to the Pro-Ject web page and get another setup guide you can download that explains where to place it for different cartridge weights. I'd done that shortly after I ordered so I could review it, so it wasn't much of an issue. Once you have deck leveled and the anti-skate set up, there really isn't much more you have to worry about (aside from removing all the packaging). It is a little weird to begin with trying to think about how to level with only three feet, but after playing around with the setup, it's actually a lot easier because you can set your back side up, and work with the adjustments with the two front feet that are a lot easier to manipulate. Make sure you have a good level! I've seen reviews where folks have commented about the tone arm, and the awkwardness of the lifting system and tab to lift it on the arm. I must have different hands or something, I haven't really had any issues like I've read in other reviews. The noise level is very low, I don't hear much in the way of additional that would be caused by the table itself. I'm on my second week with it, and the more I use it, the nicer it sounds. I have a combination of old vinyl I bought back in the 80s and 90s, and 180 gram LPs and re-releases that are more recent. It does every one of my old records justice, as it does with the newer pressings. The Sumiko cartridge sounds pretty good to my ears, but I'm thinking about swapping in an Ortofon Blue I have to see if it makes a difference. The Sumiko seems to be a fair "plays all types of music well" piece, though, and is pretty simple to upgrade the stylus on. I know I'll eventually want to change the cartridge, but the fragility of the tonearm leads relative to my big fat fingers and lack of tweezer practice make me nervous. I can handle the alignment, it's the soldering of tiny objects after I break them that gets difficult sometimes. They did add heat shrink around the lead/contact solder joint, and that's an improvement from the last Pro-Ject I owned. This is also shielded, where the other Pro-Ject I had pretty obviously wasn't. I'm really happy with this purchase, as I was using some vintage Marantz and Pioneer decks with more modern cartridges. I'd like to give those a rest, they've done admirably, but can go into my spares area for now.