Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

It was 1990 and despite CD being at its commercial height a young entrepreneur and 'vinyl evangelist', Heinz Lichtenegger, persuaded the owners of the Tesla factory (SEV Litovel s.r.o) in the Czech Republic to continue manufacturing turntables. With the tooling and engineering know-how already on site, Heinz set about crafting his first belt-driven turntable, his ambition, then as now, 'to offer the best analogue experience for a very reasonable price'. Launched in 1991, the Pro-Ject 1 was a reworked version of the 'Gramofon Tesla NC 500', a two-speed belt-driven deck with an AC motor mounted, as with so many of Pro-Ject's current decks, using a two-point rubber suspension at 10.30 o'clock in the back of the plinth.

Pictured here is the subsequent Pro-Ject 1.2 model with its straight armtube and headshell. What followed, as every audiophile knows, is arguably the biggest success story in hi-fi history. Pro-Ject Audio Systems' new headquarters is based in Mistelbach, Austria [see HFN Sep '18]. PM