Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

Behind the numbers illustrating the growth of LP consumption there are two stories – the followers who buy vinyl as part of the paraphernalia associated with their favourite band or performer (including the speculators who deal in rare memorabilia), and the music fans who actually listen to the stuff. While the volume of turntable sales is a fraction of that achieved in vinyl’s heyday, there is still more choice spanning a wider price range than ever before. This is illustrated by the Pro-Ject catalogue that hits every spot from the sub-£200 Elemental to the £6500 VPO 175th anniversary turntable [HFN Jan ’18].

On a trip to witness the opening of Pro-Ject’s new Mistelbach headquarters [pictured], the dominance of this one brand was evident. Pressed on Pro-Ject’s market share, export sales manager Günter Rathammer replied, ‘I would say that more than 40% of all turntables sold in the world over €200 are made by Pro-Ject’. Weigh in all those other decks made by Pro-Ject on an OEM basis for other brands and perhaps over half the ‘real’ turntables sold worldwide originate from this one supplier. PM