Turntables — Pro-Ject The Classic Reference Turntable

The Pro-Ject Classic Reference Turntable comes from the Austrian manufacturer as a belt-drive deck sold complete, with its tonearm and cartridge mounted in the factory. Buyers do not need to source and match a separate arm and pickup themselves, because both come installed and set up on the deck.

Key specs that matter

The chassis is a fixed design without spring suspension. The factory-fitted tonearm is the Pro-Ject EVO 9 AS HG, and it carries a VPO Anniversary MC moving-coil cartridge. The platter is made of aluminium and has a diameter of 300 mm. The turntable measures 460 x 131 x 351 mm.

Engineering and use context

The deck relies on a rigid, mechanically grounded structure instead of the spring isolation used on some other turntables. The aluminium platter carries a ring of thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) to damp resonance, which avoids the extra mass and cost of a full sandwich-construction platter.

Pairing

The only component the owner needs to add is a phono stage suited to a moving-coil cartridge, with gain and loading that match the output and impedance requirements of the VPO Anniversary MC. This can be a separate phono preamplifier or the MC input of an amplifier, and from there the turntable joins the rest of the system as a complete analogue front end.

Alternatives

The Pro-Ject Signature 12.2 sits higher in the Pro-Ject range as a belt-drive model whose platter is magnetically decoupled.