Проигрыватели виниловых дисков — Pro-Ject Scorpions

The Scorpions turntable is a limited edition belt-drive record player in the Pro-Ject Artist Collection, built as a tribute to the German rock band. It is based on the Pro-Ject T2 and is produced in limited quantities in Europe. The clear glass platter shows Gottfried Helnwein's artwork from the band's Blackout album, and the plinth carries an exclusive Scorpions design. Pro-Ject lists the deck as a fully manual design, and it stands on absorbing feet that help isolate it from vibration. The release commemorates the band's 1982 album and is priced at GBP 629 or EUR 649, available by special order.

Key specs that matter

Playback runs at 33 and 45 rpm, with speed deviation of 0.6% and 0.5% and wow and flutter of 0.19% and 0.17% respectively. Signal-to-noise ratio is 67 dB. The platter is 10 mm thick glass weighing 1.7 kg, topped by a felt mat and turned by a DC motor via a belt. A straight 9-inch aluminium arm with low-friction bearings is used, with 230 mm effective length, 22.0 mm overhang and 9.5 g effective mass, and it comes with a factory-set, pre-fitted Pick it 25A moving magnet cartridge with an elliptical stylus. With the lid closed the deck measures 465 x 135 x 347 mm, and it weighs 5.5 kg net.

Engineering and use context

Speed change is electronic, so there is no need to move the belt between pulley steps when switching from LPs to singles. The plinth is CNC machined and enlarged compared with a basic chassis for greater stability, and Pro-Ject builds it without plastic components and without hollow spaces, both aimed at reducing vibration. Pro-Ject uses the heavy glass platter, rather than plastic or light steel, for low resonance and rotational stability. Anti-skating is set by a spring mechanism with fine adjustment. The Pick it 25A cartridge uses pure silver coil windings. Power comes from a 15 V, 800 mA DC universal supply, consumption is 4.5 W in use and 0 W on standby. Supplied accessories are a dust cover, the felt mat, a singles adapter and an RCA cable.

Pairing

Since the fitted cartridge is a moving magnet type, the deck plugs via the supplied RCA lead into an amplifier offering MM phono or to an external MM phono preamplifier. Other entries in the same Artist Collection pay tribute to Metallica, AC/DC, Pink Floyd and The Beatles.

Alternatives

The standard Pro-Ject T2, on which this edition is based, offers the same belt-drive platform without the band artwork.