Die-hard vinyl fans know that you won’t find better audio quality elsewhere. But the best turntables don’t always look the part. Just because vinyl has a retro charm, it doesn’t mean you should play records on something that looks like you fished it out of your gran’s loft. But Pro-Ject’s new transparent turntable might be the best looking vinyl player I’ve seen.
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This acrylic plinth isn’t just for show. According to Pro-Ject, this material does wonders for sound damping, which means you’re in for a “wonderful sounding” experience. Packed with True Balanced technology, the XA B turntable sports a mini-XLR balanced output aimed at reducing noise and interference. To fully enjoy this feature, you’ll need a balanced phono stage, which doesn’t come as standard. Instead, the turntable comes with a high-quality phono cable to keep things humming along nicely.
The Pro-Ject XA B turntable features a 10-inch aluminium tonearm with a new Pick It Pro Balanced moving magnet cartridge. This isn’t Pro-Ject’s first rodeo with balanced outputs – models like the X1 B and X2 B also flaunted this. But, the XA B ups the ante by including the balanced cartridge straight out of the box.
This tonearm borrows heavily from Pro-Ject’s premium EVO range, including an oversized bearing housing to cut down on unwanted resonance and a TPE-damped counterweight to keep your vinyl spins smooth. The drive system is an AC synchronous motor with a built-in DC/AC generator to nix the nasties from external power supplies.
Add in a sub-platter mounted into a stainless steel main bearing with brass bushing, crafted to a meticulous 0.001mm tolerance, and you’re looking at some seriously smooth spinning. The main platter? It’s a 1.7kg chunk of TPE-damped aluminium, with a handy speed control switch for flipping between 33 and 1/3rd to 45 RPM.
While we haven’t laid ears on the XA B yet, Pro-Ject’s previous models with the same cartridge have been impressive. Pro-Ject’s track record is solid gold, being the top turntable pick for many. The Pro-Ject XA B is priced at $1,499/£1,099/AU$2,125 and is available to order direct.
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