Turntables — Pro-Ject Debut PRO S

The Debut PRO S is a direct-drive turntable built with Pro-Ject's own tonearm and cartridge, for a listener who wants the fixed platter speed of direct drive rather than a belt. It marks a genuine departure from the belt-drive Debut lineage the brand is best known for, rather than an incremental update to it.

Position in line

It sits above the belt-driven Debut Carbon EVO in Pro-Ject's range, trading belt drive for direct drive and swapping the third-party Ortofon cartridge for Pro-Ject's own Pick it S2 C MM - both changes represent a deliberate shift in engineering philosophy rather than a simple price-tier upgrade within the same platform. The gap between adjacent tiers in a source-component range like this one is often narrower in practice than the price difference suggests, particularly once the signal reaches a well-matched downstream system.

Key specs that matter

Drive is direct rather than belt, which removes belt-stretch speed drift as a variable over the unit's life, since a direct-drive motor holds platter speed through direct coupling rather than through an elastic belt that can stretch or slip over years of use. Suspension is fixed rather than sprung, so placement on a stable, non-resonant surface matters more than on a suspended design, which isolates the platter from external vibration through its own mechanical decoupling. The platter is aluminium, driven by a 15 W motor, a notably more powerful motor than a typical belt-drive design needs since it must maintain speed directly rather than through a belt's mechanical advantage. At 462 x 145 x 345 mm and 7 kg it is a larger, heavier deck than the Debut Carbon EVO.

Sound and use context

Expect the steadier long-term speed stability associated with direct drive, at the cost of the belt-drive isolation from motor noise that lighter designs rely on, a genuine engineering trade-off rather than a straightforward upgrade in every respect.

Pairing

The pre-fitted Pick it S2 C is a moving-magnet cartridge, requiring standard moving-magnet phono gain rather than a moving-coil step-up, so any amplifier or phono stage built for a typical MM cartridge will suit it directly.

Alternatives

The Debut Carbon EVO is the belt-drive alternative at a lower price, with a different factory-fitted cartridge and tonearm - the two represent different drive philosophies rather than a simple step up, and the choice between them should rest on which trade-off matters more to the listener