This was my first higher-end purchase, and upgrade from a Technics SL-230. This is one great table, it's easy to set up, and the tonearm is adjustable for VTA, and azimuth. I'd have to say that the anti skate mechanism is pretty hokey, and the adjustment screws for VTF and azimuth are hard to get to. Unfortunatly, I stripped one of the VTF screws. Other than that, I get a lot of sonic enjoyment out of this wonderful little turntable. It sounds much better than my CD player.

In every man's life there's a time where he has to go through the burden of choosing the amplifier for his system. That time came for me a couple of months ago when I had to choose an amplifier to drive my Acoustic Energy speakers. So i went to a couple of hi-fi shops I knew and listened to NAD, Arcam, Cambridge Audio and AMC amplifiers. The NAD and the AMC didn't make the final cut. Both remaining contestants had excelent highs, the bass was very well tempered and precise, even though it won't make you forget Bryston or Conrad- Johnson. But what made me go the Cambridge Audio way was its incredible midrange. It's so nice and sweet, it's just flowing around you like a cool autumn breeze in a maple's leaves. This is an integrated, so it won't pack unlimited power, but never was I thinking of cranking up the volume knob of this 30 watts/channel at more than halfway. In my opinion, this is the greatest amplifier bargain anyone has ever built, especially at 469.00 $ cdn. list. Highest recommendations for the money.
I played the A1 with Acoustic Energy AE100 speakers on sand-filled Atlantis stands. The only source I plugged in was an AMC CD player. It was tested in an acoustically perfect room. It couldn't have been under better circumstances.

The cheapest real turntable around. I am thoroughly satisfied with it, as a matter of fact I sold of my Philips CD player within a week of buying the
Pro-ject. The only downsides is the dust cover doesn't operate smoothly, at least on mine and I still have not figured out how to adjust VTA. The screw for it is set very tight and I dont want to force it. Also the turntable performs best with a cartridge in the $100 range, dont settle for anything cheaper. I have the Grado Prestige red on mine.

I heard this *cheap* TT shortly in a system with Alchemistelectronics and Musical Technology speakers (a new UK
brand). With an Ortofon 510 cartridge, I was pleasantly
surprised with its smooth, warmish tonal balance and
the scale of the sound. Up till now, I deemed cheap
turntables really hopeless.

Sound quality, price, good cartridge included.

Sticky dust cover, Instruction manual is somewhat lame (couldn't find any specs for the cartridge, somewhat difficult to set the tracking weight.

It's been at least since 1984 since I've even listened to any of the vinyl (some 700 albums) I own; I bought my first CD player in 1985, and for a while didn't listen to anything since my Panasonic direct-drive turntable started giving me problems (tonearm will not lift by itself anymore). Since that time I've only had FM and the CD player. It has been a revelation to bring home this turntable and listen to vinyl records, some of which I haven't listened to in literally thirty years; I'm sure some will never appear on CD, such as Michael Legrand's "I Love Paris," a classic of its type, plus other assorted classical recordings I've accumulated over the years.
I wasn't even familiar with the brand, but was assured by a located audio store (which has always given good advice) that it was an excellent unit.
The Sumiko Oyster cartridge included with the turntable appears to be an excellent unit; I still have a mint-condition Ortofon in the Technics turntable; would like to find out how it would sound in the Pro-Ject 1.2, but I'm in no hurry.
It's amazing to my that turntable seem to be going retro; direct drive is out, and the belt-drive system from years ago is the best system.

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic Technics SL1400-MK2

Great analog sound for an affordable price

For the price range -- none

This deck will perform well in both modest and higher end systems -- When I bought it 3 years ago my system was quite different(1980s Pioneer receiver, Infinity bookshelfs) and I was impressed by the great improvement in sound over my old Technics DD. As my system improved over the next few years and became more detailed, the pro-ject was right there keeping pace. With the Grado red cartridge it delivers a very true sound which can make you second guess the advantages of digital. Thats alot to say for a combo under $400.

I've also added a few tweaks over the years. I had an Audioquest sorbothane mat leftover from my Technics tt and didn't really find much improvement on the Project as I had when using it on the Technics. Plus I always hated peeling off the records after each play. But after experimenting I put the mat under the platter on the opposite side that it's intended for and found that it really deadened it. This did improve the low band detail quite a bit. I had to cut it to size for it to work and this might not work with the new version of the sorbothane mat. Also the cables that come with this deck suck by any standard and were replaced with some homebrew ones.

If your thinking of purchasing this tt I think you'll be pleased with the sound on just about any system.

rest of system:
Anthem Integrated 1 with phono stage
B&W CDM-1 SE biwired w/ AQ CV-4 cable

Similar Products Used:

Mass market direct drive tts