Price: £210
Website:
www.project-audio.com
Size: HxWxD: 12x42x33cm
Weight: 6.3kg
Type: Turntable, arm & cartridge
Carbon fibre arm
33/45rpm speeds
Ortofon OM10 cartridge
Plus points:
Good design and components for the price, easy to set up, carbon fibre arm, VTA and azimuth adjustment options
Minus points:
Check cartridge alignment, arm not as robust as the Rega alternative
|
|
The Pro-Ject 1 Xpression is an evolution of the longstanding Pro-Ject 1, a slick looking design with a nicely soft-edged plinth and a carbon fibre tonearm. The fact that an Ortofon OM10 cartridge is included in the £210 price is pretty impressive when you consider what carbon fibre arms go for when less competitive companies make them. Similarities with its predecessor extend to the cast alloy platter, rubber motor suspension and choice of cartridge. All else is new - it has an upgraded motor, higher density plinth and of course carbon fibre where there was previously aluminium in the arm, the latter also featuring better bearings. This is a deck that has its guns aimed squarely at Rega's P2 (£198) but includes a £35 cartridge. On paper it's not a very close contest.
In construction the Xpression has an MDF plinth that sits on four rubber feet and supports a felt covered platter on a belt-driven sub platter. Changing speed is a slightly fiddly manual operation but at least does not require the removal of the platter as is often the case, you just have to peel back the mat and insert the supplied plunger. The belt is a flat rubber type that's driven by a motor suspended in the plinth. To turn the motor on and off you feel under the front edge of the plinth for a little rocker switch.
The tonearm has gimbal-style bearings and a line and weight anti-skate system that can be tricky to thread on but doesn't fall off once it's on. Downforce can be dialled in and the arm picked up with a lift lower device or finger lift bolted to the cartridge and headshell. For dust-free playing, a lid is also supplied but it will not enhance sound quality and we'd suggest you remove it for concentrated listening.
Sound
The factory-set cartridge alignment on this deck left quite a lot to be desired, dealers are supposed to check this with the decks they sell but we'd recommend investing in a decent alignment gauge (such as the Polaris Plus) to make sure it's done well, because poor alignment means worn vinyl. In all other respects it's an easy deck to put together, just balance the cartridge, set downforce and away you go.
Slipping an LP onto the felt mat and lowering the needle reveals a pretty together and weighty sound that is a good reflection of the material in the groove. The bass is full and fruity and, while the scale may not be as substantial as it could be, the sense of timing makes up for this, grabbing your ears and drawing you into the groove. High frequencies are a little restrained and you'd get a more energetic, lively sound from a Rega, but this combination delivers most of the goods all of the time and has a smoother balance than one expects of a basic Rega deck and cartridge.
Music is reproduced with decent resolution, dynamics and edge, the Pro-Ject combo conjuring up a good portion of the atmosphere on each track. It is sensitive to the variations in pace and energy even if guitar breaks don't have quite the attack that is possible. Voice and acoustic guitar sound great, full of expression and tonal richness. The sound could perhaps be a bit more substantial but has power and never threatens to grate on the nerves, however angular the music becomes.
It doesn't thrust things down your throat but lets the music ebb and flow in a natural, relaxed fashion. It does however need a decent phono stage to prove as much. Most of our listening was done with Pro-Ject's Tube Box but by swapping in another phono stage, the Trichord Dino, much of this laid-back feeling disappeared. The Dino delivers a significantly more lively and open sound from the Xpression and reveals that it extracts the reverb and space in the recording with little difficulty.
Up against CD the Xpression shuts out some of the reverb and softens the bass but produces a more musically coherent result despite such hi-fi shortcomings. Turntables nearly always better CD players in this respect because they usually have intrinsically better timing, and the Xpression is no exception. However, if it's ultimate resolution of detail you are after it's a closer call and at the frequency extremes a good (ie more expensive) CD player has the advantage.
|
This is the sort of turntable that warrants cartridges costing more than it does itself. You can tell by the detail levels revealed that this is a surprisingly good deck for the money, it does space, light, energy and bass whilst keeping its finger firmly on the musical pulse.
|
