Pro-Ject Debut PRO record player – The record collection’s best friend

Ignore the fact that the player is called Pro. It’s not intended for professional use at all, and you’ll never see a DJ with two Pro-Ject players quite like this one. Debut Pro, as it is somewhat misleadingly called, is a record player for those who are tired of the old player not keeping up.

It is a player for music enjoyment. The long evenings with a stack of vinyl records, something good in the glass and pleasant company. It is perfectly suited for the music lover with a large or small record collection, and the sound shines like a star compared to the cheapest players on the market.

Debut Pro costs a bit more, but we think it’s definitely worth it. The price is slightly below what you have to pay for a Rega Planar 3. Which is the reference in the price range below NOK 10-12,000.

The Pro-Ject player is just as simple, with belt drive, manual operation, and high quality components. It is not as extravagant as a Pro-Ject The Classic, but is better built than a regular Debut Carbon player from the same manufacturer.

The player is also relatively compact, and 41.5 x 32 cm means it can fit where The Classic doesn’t fit. The weight of six kilos exactly the same as one Planar 3 at 6 kilos, but unlike the Rega player, the Debut Pro can only be delivered in matt black MDF. Not to mention eight layers of black lacquer, for a more robust surface.

Thermoplastic resonance damping

Pro-Ject has chosen to spend the money elsewhere than on multi-layer clearcoat in fancy colours, and it is of course to squeeze as much sound quality out of the vinyl as possible. Therefore, it has received a new 8.6-inch arm with carbon fiber drawn on a thin aluminum tube. This is how Pro-Ject manages to create a light and stiff arm that neutralizes resonances.

At one end, the arm has CNC-milled steel components coated with nickel for a scratch-resistant surface. At the other end a Pro-Ject Pick it Pro, Moving Magnet pickup. Incidentally, the arm is adjustable in height, so that you can easily adjust the vertical tracking angle if desired with the included Allen key.

Pro-Ject uses TPE in several places here. TPE is a thermoplastic rubber suspension to prevent resonances from propagating. The TPE material can be found on the engine mount, in the liner for the counterweight, and on the inside of the balanced, black aluminum plate. Together with three height-adjustable metal feet, the player should be able to dampen resonances more effectively, leaving all the sounds coming out of the speakers to the music.

The player is supplied with a flat and a round silicone/rubber strap, where the round should be used if you play 78 records. LPs and singles are handled with the two-way switch that alternates between 33, off and 45 turns.

I measured the walking precision at a very acceptable 33.28. That gives a deviation of -0.16%, which is lower than on The Classic, but also lower than on the direct-drive Thorens TD 402DD which had a deviation of 0.22%.

Pick it PRO

The included pickup is a Moving Magnet pickup with 4 mV output voltage. It has an elliptical needle grind and should have 2 grams of needle pressure. It doesn’t have the fancy silver-plated copper wires in the coils, like a Pick it 2M Silver has on a Pro-Ject X2. But then that combination costs 50 percent more than a Debut Pro.

Full and balanced sound

You notice this in the way an X2 is able to bring out finely meshed details in the sound image, with a sharper focus than the Debut Pro achieves. But the cheaper Debut Pro is so close to the sound of an X2 that the Pro model will be a better buy for many.

Like the X2, it delivers a really big soundstage with credible depth and potent bass reproduction. When compared to a more affordable Rega Planar 1, or a regular Debut player, the dynamics have noticeably greater contrast, and the bass is reproduced with greater authority and weight.

The sound from a Planar 3 can be more light-bodied, but the Debut Pro sounds fuller without the timbre being darker, and it does not hold back the Rega player’s rhythmic qualities.

The classic jazz whisper, The Girl From Ipanema with Astrud Gilberto, sounds magnificent from the Pro-Ject player. Which brings out the nuances in the vocals with terrifying realism, at the same time the saxophone sound of Stan Getz is so close to perfectly reproduced that you get chills when the solo starts.

Acoustic instruments sound free and weightless, and the player delivers sparkling guitar sounds, with real swagger in the dynamics from the strings. There is absolutely nothing to criticize about the Pro-Ject player’s enjoyment of playing or communication skills. It is not sensitive to resonances and plays flawlessly as long as it stands on a rigid surface that is level.

Conclusion

The Pro-Ject Debut Pro is one of the best buys in this price range. Few turntables can match the Pro edition’s impeccable qualities, which become apparent when you unpack the player and see how much quality Pro-Ject has – hand-built – into the player. It does not disappoint when you lower the needle into the vinyl either, and not only appears to be a very good buy, but should be the first choice for music lovers who want better sound from their record collection.

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