The most obvious upgrade, and the one from which the turntable gets half of its name, is the completely carbon-fiber tonearm, which increases stiffness while decreasing unwanted resonances, making for "a higher-fidelity presentation of your treasured recordings." Mounted on the tonearm is an Ortofon 2M Red cartridge, a true budget-priced high-end reference point. The Debut Carbon has a resonance-reducing MDF plinth and a heavier 300mm-diameter metal platter, which boasts "smoother rotation and lower wow and flutter." The platter and plinth assembly sit on four-point O-ring feet designed for energy absorption, and the plinth-mounted motor is isolated by a new Sorbothane-based suspension, "keeping unwanted noise and vibration to a bare minimum." Connection is via chassis-mounted RCA jacks. The Debut Carbon is available in seven high-gloss colors:
black, red, green, blue, yellow, silver and white. A felt record mat and full-sized hinged
dustcover are also part of the package. |
ro-Ject's Debut turntable,
which, according to the company, sold in the "several hundred thousand[s]. . .in
different versions and colours," set a high standard for budget-priced analog
playback. With its new Debut Carbon ($399), Pro-Ject has seemingly topped itself,
producing once again a turntable whose look is basic but whose design promises high
performance.