Hello everybody, my old turntable broke and a new one need to come home now. A restricted budget sorts out a lot of good Turntables. For the moment i have my eye in the Pro-Ject Primary E and Debut III. Of course the E1 is new, but i don’t see the benefit of the higher price. So is the Debut worth 60€ more than the Primary E and is it still worth it to buy now? Infos: - I don’t need a build in pre amp - I don’t care about manuell speed change because i listen to 33rpm in 99% of the time. Hope someone can help me Best, Ryan
Pro-ject has a lot of turntables models, it can get confusing. I had the old debut carbon tt, which looks more like the debut III but with a carbon arm. Pretty fun turntable actually. Didn't compare the 2, but the debut has a better motor than the primary, and I believe better platter also, so there's that.
I know it’s not a popular opinion around here, but I think the Debut III is fine. However, some here and there are probably going to have the motor noise issue. Seems inevitable. It’s not like the they’ve changed that turntable much.
Those transport screws were the bane of my existence (I stupidly didn’t know that was a thing) but once I got them sorted out, it’s been smooth sailing since (Project X1)!
I wouldn't buy another pro-ject. Cheaply made and the belt is a nightmare to fit. My pro-ject is gathering dust in the attic. Buy a refurbished vintage like Thorens or Systemdek. Far, far better quality for the same money.
I think the Debut III is fine. I'm speculating but the change to Carbon Fiber tonearms has seemingly been reversed. So it would seem to me that in the long run, lower mass wasn't the best design for this price point. I had the Music Hall MMF-2 with the same arm. It's a good basic arm with the ability to change the VTA. I think it's much better than the E series.
Same here with the 1Xpression Carbon Classic. The ground was also pretty finicky and updating the platter to the Acryl-It helped all but eliminate that electrical bee buzz (not ground hum). So three things you need to sort: 1) motor noise by removing the transport screws and adjusting the little rubber support stoppers, 2) ground hum by attaching the ground wire to the amp ground or other, 3) electrical buzz that seems to be exacerbated by the aluminum platter - it gets louder when you move the stylus over the platter and only when it is powered on. I think it's related to the power source. I removed an extra power strip for some lamps from my medical grade power strip and it went away. Once set up correctly it is a pretty nice turntable. It sounds just as good as my 1210GR. The GR on the other hand is not finicky at all. It just works, and you can easily swap headshells/carts. I also hated having to lift the heavy aluminum platter, which would sometimes stick, on the Pro-Ject to change speeds. The Acryl-It is much lighter and easier to lift off.
Funny. I actually love the minimal look of it along with the matte finish. My 1Xpression Carbon Classic is glossy piano black, but I think I might actually prefer the matte of the Debut Pro. It has an industrial minimalist flair about it. The gloss black on my Carbon Classic has picked up tons of hairline scratches over the years. The matte seems like it would be more forgiving.
My carbon dc is the first TT I've ever bought new. It sounds better than all the vintage TTs I've had in the past. Do any of you guys have this TT and if so are you happy with it?
I have adebut Carbon Esprit ( it comes with an acrylic platter and built-in speedbox) I upgraded to a blue stylus and aluminium sub-platter and a power-supply upgrade. I more than happy with it.
I just got a new X1 last week, and i’m very happy with it so far. After reading comments about Pro-ject quality issues, I was prepared for loud humming, motor noise, and all kinds of other problems, but fortunately my turntable had none of these. All i had to do was slightly adjusting the cartridge, they even included a (printed) alignment guide. I’m in Europe, so mine came bundled with the Pick-it s2 cartridge, which AFAIK isn’t too far from the Ortofon OM10 i was using before. Sure, there are better options out there, for now i’m simply enjoying the ‘table as is. Coming from a NAD 5120 i do miss the auto stop feature, but everything else is so much nicer on the Pro-ject. Motor is quiet, testing with strobe light speed seems to be stable, i don’t need to take the platter off for switching between 33/45, and the arm lifter is sooooo smooth. For me, the Pro-ject was a big step up, and considering the quality and features it was quite cheap too.
Hi Ryan! I had one of the first Project Debut (I) back in the late 90s, when I got back into vinyl. I had it for about 4 years before I upgraded. It was at that time a good choice for about 400 DM (about 210 Euro). If you don't like used gear and do not want to save up for a better one, I think it is still ok for the asked price (270 Euro in Germany). Bye Andrea
