HiFi Subjectivist ¦ Audio Forum ¦ NVA User Group

That's quite the journey, considering you started out looking for an inexpensive "workhorse" cart for an old deck Fret.

The vinyl bug has bitten - I seem to have contracted an incurable audioholic's virus.

Fretless wrote: ↑Fri May 28, 2021 3:15 pm The vinyl bug has bitten - I seem to have contracted an incurable audioholic's virus.

There's no hope for you now

Try writing 'vinyl' backwards -

you end up with something that looks suspiciously like 'lyme'.

I rest my case.

Nurse! Quick! My pills!

"... and what has happened to the humble Pro-Ject Debut?" I hear you cry. "Has it been condemned to the great attic in the sky, full of forgotten and discarded audio apparatus?".

No, it hasn't (sighs of online relief) - it has been quietly sitting and waiting for a cartridge. After months of travel, postal vagaries and the infinite bungling of Brexit-regulated customs there has arrived a neat little Goldring Elan, provided by the immense kindness of HFS-stalwart 'The Marlin' (he of the many jokes & funnies).



The Goldring Elan is a budget workhorse, designed to operate under almost any circumstances and looked to be a good match for this TT. Fitting was a tricky process as the unit is quite small and extremely light; so light that I was unable to set the tracking weight at first as the counterweight couldn't go any further up the arm. Then I remembered the Debut's removable finger-lift, added that and the extra grams of mass were just enough to give me useable tracking force.

Soundwise the Debut / Elan combo is FUN! Bouncy, punchy with surprisingly sharp detail and imaging. Bass isn't too deep but comes across as well-defined and foot-tappingly hefty. Putting an old favourite on, 'Angel Station' from Manfred Mann's Earth Band, I was transported back in time as the LP sounded exactly as I remembered it from my teenage years. Brilliant!



A photo for the archives of the Logic and Debut together. Excuse the messy cardboard under the Pro-Ject - temporary fix to level it out for a listen. Putting the DM101 back into the system did reveal what the Debut lacks - but it has acquitted itself well with the Elan cartridge and will serve nicely as a backup TT for the foreseeable future.

Thanks again to The Marlin.

Next stop - Grado Signature MCZ. Stay tuned.

Just for fun I have joined a Facebook group dedicated to ProJect turntables.

Put up a photo of my Debut 2 as an introduction - only to be told that it isn't a Debut at all but the sonically superior ProJect 1.2 model - which apparently closely rivals the performance of the Rega P2.

Can't complain about that!



Tweak in progress - more later ....

Tweaked the Project deck a bit:



Apparently the successor to the 1.2 model is the X1 which has a vinyl platter. So I have implemented the spare, acrylic W-mat that I got for the Logic TT.

Then Arnold at Sowell in Gorinchem (we go way back - he sold me the deck 20 years ago) advised me that too much mass wasn't good for this turntable and recommended a clamp rather than a record weight.



A search on Amazon quickly threw up a cheap n' cheerful LP clamp from Dynavox and I was ready to go again.

There is an absolutely tangible improvement in SQ from this setup now: less surface noise, more solidity, better-defined bass. What you could describe as a thoroughly satisfying budget-audiophile rig.

Currently playing that battered copy of 'Wish You Were Here' again and it is sounding just great!

My 'second system' with the Project TT is starting to live again, after a period of unuse, and I am in the process of rebuilding it.

The Kenwood KA4010 amp is a fine-sounding powerhouse but the (30+ year-old) selector switch is a pain, constantly distorting one or both channels. And I have an NVA pre/power combo that can be used - if only I had a phono stage ....











Looking around the Net, a certain device is constantly praised as the cheapest, best-sounding phono-stage for under €100: the ART DJPre II.



It was a toss-up on Amazon between this and the Pro-Ject Phono Box MM. The ART has variable gain, a low-cut filter and adjustable capacitance.
Word on the web is that it is a great starter device.

So that is ordered as well and my plan is to rejig this system next weekend (other commitments allowing).

To be continued ...

I had that Art pre in use some years ago and can confirm that it is good phono stage. Power led is very bright, thought.

Thanks for that Firebug.

It is the 'fun' side of the HiFi Hobby - trying to get the best out of budget components. Rather than being dissatisfied with overpriced esoteric gear.