Проигрыватели виниловых дисков — Pro-Ject RPM 5 Carbon

The RPM 5 Carbon is a hand-switched, belt-coupled record deck from Austria's Pro-Ject that borrows several ideas from its bigger sibling, the RPM 9 Carbon. It was offered either without a cartridge or with an Ortofon 2M Silver fitted, and the European list price for the bare deck was EUR 1,399. Three high-gloss finishes were produced - piano black, red and white - and a lid was an optional extra rather than standard.

Key specs that matter

Speeds are 33 and 45 rpm, changed by hand. The 300 mm acrylic platter rides on an inverted bearing that combines a stainless steel axle with a ceramic ball. Noise from the drive is rated 73 dB below signal. The 9-inch EVO arm is made of carbon fibre, has an effective length of 230 mm, an effective mass of 8 g and an overhang of 18 mm, and accepts a tracking force of 0 to 25 mN. The deck works on 110 to 240 V mains at 50 or 60 Hz through its supplied external 15 V DC adapter, and draws 5 W at most. The chassis spans 430 mm across and 323 mm front to back, stands 150 mm high and weighs 8.0 kg net. Standby consumption stays below 0.5 W.

Engineering and use context

The outboard AC motor sits apart from the chassis and is driven by a precision AC generator that is itself fed from a DC supply, an arrangement meant to steady platter speed against mains fluctuations. The chassis is a low-resonance design, and the inverted bearing with its ceramic ball was introduced to cut rumble. Acrylic was picked for the platter because it is acoustically inert. On the arm, the counterweight is damped with thermoplastic elastomer to stop it ringing, and anti-skating is applied magnetically. Adjustable aluminium tip-toe feet let the owner level the plinth. Pro-Ject packs a Connect it E phono cable, a record clamp, a 7-inch single adapter and the power supply.

Pairing

Pro-Ject states that the carbon EVO arm suits any quality moving-magnet or moving-coil cartridge, so the deck can move beyond the factory 2M Silver. An MM cartridge needs a standard MM phono input, while a low-output MC requires a phono stage with MC gain or a step-up transformer. The effective mass sits in the medium range and works with most modern cartridges of moderate compliance. Any new cartridge must be set up using a protractor matching the arm geometry, and the downforce scale covers typical MM and MC settings.

Alternatives

The Pro-Ject RPM 9 Carbon is the larger model from which the RPM 5 Carbon inherits its inverted ceramic-ball bearing and outboard motor concept.