Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

Measured directly through its latest stainless steel/bronze/Teflon bearing, rumble is a little higher than measured with Pro-Ject's inaugural Classic [HFN Aug '16] at –68.7dB (DIN-B wtd), a figure that improves substantially to –72.3dB (through groove) thanks to the isolation afforded by the felt mat. We saw a similar trade-off between the X1 [HFN Aug '19] and X2 decks [HFN Nov '19] where a heavier sub-platter/platter was also employed. The Evo's start-up time is just a fraction of a second slower too but absolute speed is more accurate at –0.07% and drift and low-rate wow are reduced to just 0.02% [see Graph 1, below]. Flutter is a modest 0.05% with mild sidebands at ±12Hz and ±41Hz, the latter also appearing as a very well-defined peak on the unwtd rumble spectrum (–60dB re. 1kHz/5cm/sec).

The tonearm fitted to Pro-Ject's original Classic deck was its answer to earlier HFN lab reports that revealed the high-Q resonances inherent in carbon tubes. Its solution was an alloy tube with an outer layer of carbon fibre, combining the stiffness of the latter with the improved damping of the former. A very similar 9in tube is used in the Evo, albeit mounted into a more substantial bearing block. The moderate 13g effective mass is unchanged but is better suited to the Ortofon Quintet Red MC than the higher compliance 2M Silver MM packaged with the Classic. The resonant modes of the tube and integral headshell are better defined in this version of the arm, the sub-100Hz bending of the original now lifted to 120Hz with the harmonic/torsional mode up from 165Hz to 175Hz, along with distinct resonances at 245Hz and 450Hz [see Graph 2]. The 'Evo' Carbon arm is, from a resonance standpoint, simply less 'cluttered'. PM