We do get a lot of different questions about our products, and here we are answering some of the most frequent ones. Hopefully this page will provide the information you seek, if not, please do contact us. We will make sure to get the correct information to you.

All our turntables are designed to offer best sound in their price range, but many customers notice that turntables from Pro-Ject Audio Systems, like most other high-end turntables do not offer the historically known and desired comfort feature “limit stop”. A limit stop seems to be convenient, because the tone arm is elevated at the end of the record automatically and the annoying “pop – pop – pop” sound is omitted. However, adding such convenience features at a given total price, results in reduced sound quality of the final product. Mechanic components, which are not needed for sound quality but added to achieve convenience, will restrict free movement of the tone arm and limit accurate tracking of your valuable vinyl collection (often irreplaceable records today). This manifests itself in the form of audible distortion and simultaneously increased record wear. Additionally the reliability of the limit stop feature is often not given, because of the very different beginning of lead-out grooves varying from vinyl to vinyl.

The distance from the end of the last track to the label may vary from a few millimetres to several centimetres. Therefore Pro-Ject turntables do not offer built-in limit stop mechanism to preserve best price/performance relation. For those who do not want to miss this feature, Pro-Ject Audio Systems offers Q-UP. Q-UP is a cost-effective limit stop mechanism and can be added to almost any turntable. It does not reduce audio playback quality and lifts the tonearm at the end of a record!

Yes, the model 1 Xpression III Comfort has this feature. When the arm reaches the end of the side an opto-electronic sensor stops the motor and lifts the arm off the record. It does not return the arm to the arm rest.

Vibrations from the motor, footfall and other sources of vibration from outside degrade replay accuracy and sound quality. This can be prevented by:

  • Decoupling the motor from the chassis, platter and tonearm/cartridge
  • Decoupling the subchassis, on which the platter and tonearm/cartridge are mounted, from the chassis and motor
  • Physical separation of the motor unit from the chassis carrying the platter and the tonearm/cartridge

All models apart from the RPM models, Elemental-Line and the Signature-Line come with a dust cover which is included in the price. There are separate dust covers available for these models as accessory. These covers completely protect the turntables from dust and can easily be removed during playback. The dust covers of all other models are fixed by a hinge which allows the cover to be easily removed. Removing the dust cover generally improves playback-quality, as the large lid surface captures airborne resonances and transmits them to the chassis or plinth. This applies equally if the cover is not removed completely but left open during replay. For this reason the record players are pictured without their dust covers in the brochure. When assessing the space required to place the record player please remember that the depth required is slightly greater when the lid is opened. Please refer to the technical data section of the product information.

Since skating force is changing with the position of the tonearm and cartridge it is necessary to provide an antiskating solution that changes with the skating force. Therefore the variable solution provided with our turntables is the only correct and audiophile way to solve this problem.

Traditionally turntables and cartridges have always been sold separately, as they are very different products to build. Turntable manufacturers generally don’t make cartridges themselves, nor do cartridge manufacturers make turntables. Cartridges and turntables, especially in the high price sector, are individually matched to allow the customer to choose the combination which delivers the sound which best satisfies his taste and budget.

Not always. Since, over the last twenty years, customers often no longer required provision for analogue record reproduction, many amplifiers have been built without a phono stage and RIAA equalisation necessary for vinyl replay. This applies to the majority of cheaper amplifiers and surround-sound systems and to virtually all compact systems. A line input took the place of the phono input. Recently, however, the number of quality amplifiers with a phono input is increasing again. Check whether your customer’s amplifier has a phono input or not, Usually the input is labelled phono, but it may also be labelled gram, RIAA or record player. If not, you can find a number of phono stages in our Box Design product range.

Often the amplifier’s built-in phono stage is not of the best quality, so in many cases the sound quality of the record player can be improved significantly by the use of the external phono stage. Phono pre-amplifiers are connected between the record player and a line level input (such as AUX, TAPE IN, RESERVE, LINE IN). They must not be connected to a built-in phono stage. Our Phono USB models have already a phono pre-amplifier integrated, so these models can be connected directly to a line-level input.

 

From the Debut Carbon model, our turntable have an interconnect cable supplied as standard. Using different cables may produce different results. This is a popular area for experimentation amongst hifi hobbyists. The connection cables hard-wired to the smaller models require considerable effort to replace and the results will rarely be worthwhile.

The standard replay speed for most common records (LPs) is 33 r.p.m. for all Pro-Ject turntables. Singles (the record has only one song per side, hence the name) and some specially recorded LPs need to be played back at 45 r.p.m. To do this the drive belt has to be moved to a larger diameter step on the motor pulley. On some models this requires the platter to be removed first. Other models have two openings in the platter which provide access to the belt and pulley after removing the mat.

Yes, some of our models also have electronic speed control built into the motor. These models often have ‘SB’ in their name.

First you will need the 78 RPM Pulley Set, as schellack records need to be played at this speed. Then you will need a special 78 needle for your cartridge. We supply these for the Ortofon OM and 2M series. Additionally we also have the Ortofon OM 78 as complete cartridge ready to mount.

Usually best results are achieved by removing the transport screws! So the motor is hanging free and the vibrations are decoupled by the O-ring, which works like a subchassis. Unfortunately in reality it is not that easy! Because of different quality and cleanness of AC power, Motors react different strong in their vibration behaviour. Although we select the motors according to their vibration pattern, not every motor is the same! Also the used power supply influences the vibrating of the motor significantly. So there are differences by using 110V or 220/30 power supply.

There are lot of combinations possible which are impossible to foresee. In worst case, motor starts to vibrate in a certain frequency area so strong, that the free mounting makes it even worse. So in some cases it is better to fix the motor with transportation screws! If you decide to re-mount transportation screws, it is very important not to tight the screws too hard on the plinth as this will eliminate the damping ability of the mounting! Right strength of screw fixing can be judged by try and error only. If there is no hum noise coming out of the speakers when tracking a groove without signal, you achieved the correct adjustment! Since some time we are using high-tech Thermo Elasto Plastimer (TPE) dampers on each mounting point additionally. These dampers avoid motor vibration transmitted to the plinth in addition.

Attention! Please do not mix up this “motor hum” with electrical ground noise caused by bad or no grounding. If there is a hum noticeable while the needle is NOT placed in the groove, something is wrong with grounding. This has nothing to do with the correct motor fixing. You can find this also by touching the plinth with your fingers. A hardly noticeable vibration on the plinth is the correct adjustment!

 

No. Turntable bearings of turntables from Pro-Ject Audio Systems are factory-equipped with a high-quality film of oil, which ensures years of friction-free function. Regardless of the frequency of use, it is recommended to check from time to time, if a sufficient protective oil film is present. Attention! If a turntable is used in spite of lack of oil, a serious damage of the platter bearing may be caused. To ensure adequate lubrication and prevent the premature wear of the turntable bearing, we recommend using our special lubricant ‘Lube it’ or ‘Grease it’, which can be obtained from any authorized dealer.

There is no time value of when you should change lubrication, because it depends on many factors, such as climate or humidity. Best is to change it as often as you feel necessary. The more you change it, the better.

There is no risk involved in having too much lubrication, worst case is you will have to wipe your turntable clean if some grease or oil spills out of the bearing.

As with lubrication, there is no real recommended time of change. In average a belt is good for about 1000 hours. It also depends on the environment, if the temperature changes too often from cold to hot, it can damage the belt. Also if the belt is touched with greasy or oily (skin oil) fingers, that can harm the quality of the drive belt.

Please review this handy document with pics: Set-Up Guide – Pro-Ject Turntable w/ Sonos System

Absolutely. Please review: Ortofon OM Cartridge Basics

Here’s the best way: VT-E Belt Installation Guide

Pro-Ject has a handy counterweight database where you can search by the model of your turntable. Click here to check it out!