Pro-Ject Debut Carbon EVO Turntable (2M Red cartridge) – Walnut

The Evolution

Building a great high-end turntable requires design expertise. Building a great & affordable turntable requires not only expertise, but also skilled engineering, flawless manufacturing, advanced material sciences, and relentless passion. Creating a worthy successor to the legendary Debut Carbon required rethinking and reevaluating every component and each design choice. The new Debut Carbon Evolution represents the epitome of Pro-Ject’s philosophy: high performance, clean aesthetics, and superb value. The elegant, simple aesthetic is unmarred by gimmicky lights, sliders, and buttons. It is a pure, high-performance turntable. Should requirements call for a phono preamp, Bluetooth or digital connectivity, USB interface, etc., Pro-Ject offers a wide range of external electronics, optimized for any application.

Good Vibrations – From the Record to You

Vinyl playback starts with the cartridge, converting what’s in the three-dimensional record groove to an electrical signal. The new Sumiko Rainier phono cartridge combines superb trackability with uncanny accuracy and clarity without sacrificing smoothness. Factory mounted and aligned on an 8,6″ low-mass carbon fiber tonearm, the Rainier offers a replaceable stylus that can be easily upgraded to a Sumiko Olympia (or even a Moonstone!) in a matter of seconds. No need to replace the cartridge, reset the alignment nor rebalance the tonearm. The signal from the Rainier is transmitted via a single run of high-quality copper wiring direct to high-quality RCA connectors with a completely separate ground, preserving the balanced signal from the cartridge output. The Debut Carbon Evo is supplied with our Connect It E: a semi-balanced, low-capacitance cable with superior shielding designed specifically to carry the delicate phono signal.

Modern Materials Meet Mass

The main platter upon which the record is played should be heavy and non-resonant. The Debut Carbon Evo approaches this problem by using our proven 12” steel platter, now lined around the outer edge (bottom side) with an anti-resonant thermo-plastic elastomer (TPE). The result is a heavier platter with minimal noise over an expertly engineered main bearing and sub-platter. The added rotational mass enhances the flywheel effect, yielding reduced wow & flutter and higher stability while damping resonance.

A Stable Stance

The Debut Carbon Evo benefits from the huge range of higher-level design elements Pro-Ject has to offer, incorporating the special TPE-damped metal feet from our award-winning X1 turntable. Not only do the vibration-absorbing feet help isolate the turntable, but they are also easy to adjust, and leveling the turntable is now as simple as can be. A perfectly level, solid & stable platform is crucially important for proper vinyl playback.

Vibes We Don’t Want to Hear

Motors vibrate. That is a challenge for any turntable designer to overcome as those vibrations can transfer to the tonearm and cartridge, negatively affecting sound quality. The Debut Carbon Evo features a new motor suspension system, decoupling the motor from the plinth to reduce the transfer of vibration. The only vibes we want are in the record grooves. Leveraging advanced damping solutions with high-mass composite construction, we created the new motor suspension system using a steel plate and TPE decoupling to isolate the motor while ensuring the spindle is perfectly aligned with the sub-platter for impeccable speed stability and smooth transfer of rotational force.

No Need to Watch Your Speed

Many turntables utilize AC motors that rely on your power line to maintain the correct speed. Many are so erratic they have to provide speed-control which needs to be monitored and adjusted over time. Some high-end designs offer an additional, usually expensive external power controller to stabilize speed. The Debut Carbon Evolution implements a sophisticated onboard power control circuit that generates a very precise signal to ensure accurate and consistent speed regardless of power fluctuation. There’s no need for adjustment nor gimmicky lights and sliders. You can simply rely on spot-on accuracy. Given the increasing popularity of 9″ and high-quality 45rpm records (due to their superior sound quality), we have incorporated electronic speed switching on the Evo. The speed selector switch is cleverly integrated with the power switch under the front left corner, which also maintains the sleek ergonomic design the Debut is known for.

Time for Evolution

The heavy, solid MDF plinth is painstakingly layered with eight coats of paint, available in finishes that look and feel luxurious. Debut Carbon Evo is crafted in traditional high-gloss black, white and red as well as in beautiful satin finishes including new soft pastel colors and a real walnut veneer. Engineering and manufacturing are the culmination of decades of know-how, investment, and passion. Pro-Ject builds products for the love of music, knowing that they might be handed down to future generations along with lovingly curated record collections. Pro-Ject has taken their most beloved turntable design and improved nearly every aspect of it. The result is an incredibly refined product with a price/performance ratio that sets a new standard.