Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

Pro-Ject's X2 turntable/arm/MM combination shares the same PSU, motor and bearing as its more affordable X1 cousin [HFN Aug '19], but the platter, arm and plinth have all been beefed-up, contributing an added 3kg to the X2's weight. The deck is supplied with both a round-section and flat rubber belt – so while bloggers can occupy web pages debating which sounds best, I'll urge HFN readers to leave the round-section belt in the box and use the flat version instead. The former causes a measurable deterioration in W&F and rumble and a speed error of +1.3% that some listeners might mistake for extra 'pace'!

Measured directly through the stainless steel/brass/Teflon bearing, the heavier 2kg acrylic platter causes a slight increase in rumble from –66.7dB (X1, DIN-B wtd) to –65.5dB here, a figure that improves to –66.6dB (through groove) with the felt mat in place and –67.0dB with the mat removed. Start-up time is necessarily slightly slower too at 4-5secs while absolute speed is super-accurate with the flat belt at +0.02%. Wow is improved over the X1, which was already very good, down to 0.02% and witnessed by the sharpness of the test signal [Graph 1, below]. However, the 83Hz (motor/rubber band suspension?) resonance is much more obvious in the X2 (just –50dB re. 1kHz/5cm/sec), the ±83Hz sidebands contributing to the higher 0.07% flutter.

The 9in X2 tonearm is based on that fitted to Pro-Ject's 'The Classic' deck [HFN Aug '16], the alloy/carbon tube construction and bearing yoke are identical, as is the 13.5g effective mass. The main tube mode is diffuse at 145Hz, while the harmonic/twisting mode at 280Hz and cluster of resonances at 510Hz and 645-860Hz are of higher Q, but quickly damped. PM