Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo Turntable Review & Comments

Ed Selley

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Totally agree, this is a stonking little turntable for the money. I've been pretty impressed since it landed in the shop. Bosh a reasonably priced Sumiko on this and you'll be in vinyl nirvana for a reasonable sum of money.

Dan
 
There were good prices on Ebay last weekish with their 20% off job, which will reappear again. The price of a 2M Blue stylus was around £100 so not breaking the bank once somebody wants to move up the ladder a little bit. I have been impressed with Project TTs for some time now, that says something with me coming from a Rega entrenched like.. Am looking myself to get a RPM 5 Carbon.
 
Just moved from a debut carbon to an X1. Love Project. Great value.
 
One minor thing that I can't understand is why they don't put a fastener / lock on the arm rest as a safety feature so that the arm doesn't jump out of the rest. I sent Project a mail about this and they said they would think about it in the future. Most turntables from cheap to expensive have this feature and it wouldn't cost a lot to implement it.
 
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It looks neat. I don’t know much about the Project range. Which Rega RP TT is it closest to ?
 
Nice review @Ed Selley :)

This looks like a great first step into getting a lot out of vinyl. Rather than progress up the turntable hierarchy with upgrades to reach it, the Debut Carbon Evo looks like a great product to get in at and keep for a long time.
 
I just picked up the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Esprit SB, pretty much the same but with a speed change button, great TT ,
 
It's not immediately obvious, but the speed change switch is under front left of the base:
 

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Is this new Evo version worth the £100 plus price premium over the non Evo? It's possible to pick up the non Evo for under £300 now & it would be great to get a view on whether it's worth spending quite a bit more for the Evo. Thanks for any thoughts.
 
Is this new Evo version worth the £100 plus price premium over the non Evo? It's possible to pick up the non Evo for under £300 now & it would be great to get a view on whether it's worth spending quite a bit more for the Evo. Thanks for any thoughts.
If you just play LP's probably not. I had the old one for several years and was very happy. Lifting the platter to change the speed did get tiresome, mind. Takes a cart change well too. I had a Nag MP110 on it at the end, and it sounded great.
 
Thank you Ed Selly

My father passed recently and i inherited some vintage vinyl. This review helped me decide on the Project debut carbon evo. I hadn't heard vinyl since i was a kid on my dad's little old player (cough, cough, 40yrs ago).

Since i turned on this project deck, I had a cheshire cat grin throughout. WOW!

Only criticism i would make is, it did seem a tad soft, i could almost hear it was on a felt mat. What is your experience with the other mats Project sell; the cork or cork & rubber, or even leather.
 
Thank you Ed Selly

My father passed recently and i inherited some vintage vinyl. This review helped me decide on the Project debut carbon evo. I hadn't heard vinyl since i was a kid on my dad's little old player (cough, cough, 40yrs ago).

Since i turned on this project deck, I had a cheshire cat grin throughout. WOW!

Only criticism i would make is, it did seem a tad soft, i could almost hear it was on a felt mat. What is your experience with the other mats Project sell; the cork or cork & rubber, or even leather.
I'd change the cart.
 
Hello, What options are there? I know about the Blue cartridge, Can i use something else?
Personally, I'm not a fan of the 2M Red (not a fan at all) and 2M Blue (a good cart, but too analytical and CD like for me), having used both on a Project deck.
I've had much more satisfactory results with the Nagoaka MP110, Goldring 2200 and now the AT VM95ML. All are £200 or under and to me offered a much more analogue sound.

The mat's an easy thing to change as well to be fair. I used a thicker felt one when I had a Debut Carbon. I found the one that came with it a bit thin and annoying.
 

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