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Pro-Ject Debut Pro turntable takes on under-$1000 competition

The $899 Debut Pro offers a wealth of features including electronic speed control, adjustable feet and a carbon fiber tonearm.

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Ty Pendlebury Editor
Ty Pendlebury is a journalism graduate of RMIT Melbourne, and has worked at CNET since 2006. He lives in New York City where he writes about streaming and home audio.
Expertise Ty has worked for radio, print, and online publications, and has been writing about home entertainment since 2004. He majored in Cinema Studies when studying at RMIT. He is an avid record collector and streaming music enthusiast. Credentials
  • Ty was nominated for Best New Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism awards, but he has only ever won one thing. As a youth, he was awarded a free session for the photography studio at a local supermarket.
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The Pro-Ject Debut Pro

Pro-Ject

Hi-fi manufacturer Pro-Ject is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a follow-up to its excellent Debut Evo turntable: the Debut Pro. 

At a $899 retail price, it's plain to see the new Debut Pro is gunning for the Rega Planar 3's dominance of the under-$1000 landscape. The Pro-Ject even manages to outdo the Rega in several key areas, including adjustable feet!

The Pro features a new 8.6-inch, carbon fiber tonearm with a wrapped aluminum arm tube. The thick platter is also black-colored aluminum and, like the Debut Evo, features TPE damping underneath.

The turntable features a preinstalled Sumiko Rainer cartridge (a $149 value) and -- for the first time in a Debut model -- the tonearm height and azimuth are both adjustable.

The Debut Pro also includes a number of convenience features missing from the Rega Planar 3, including the height-adjustable metal feet and electronic speed selection. No more removing the platter to change to 45 rpm.

In its 30 years, Pro-Ject has proved to be one of a handful of companies that can deliver tremendous bang for buck. For example, the Debut Evo and T1 turntables are my favorite models under $500 and $400, respectively. I look forward to listening to the Project Debut Pro in the near future.

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Watch this: How to set up a budget turntable