Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

Nearly all current Pro-Ject turntables are equipped with a straight aluminium/carbon sandwich tonearm. However, you don't need to travel too far into the company's past to discover multiple decks fitted with S-shaped arms. That came to a stop a few years ago, as the required diamond polish technique became too expensive, and Covid-related labour shortages added to the burden. 'That's resolved and producing them is easier now', says Pro-Ject founder Heinz Lichtenegger, and he sees some advantages in embracing this type again. 'The effective mass is greater with an S-tonearm than an equivalent straight arm, which gives you another resonance frequency to work with.'

Traditionally, S-shaped tonearms were made from aluminium. The Austrian brand isn't changing that, opting to forgo its signature aluminium and carbon mix. 'This would be very hard to do', says Lichtenegger. 'Carbon is not a material we can easily form into a curved shape. Also, it is difficult to fit a detachable headshell. An aluminium tonearm also has a bit of a softer sound, which is why we chose the Pick it S2 to emphasise a bigger, louder presentation.'

According to Lichtenegger, a lot of vinyl lovers want to change cartridges on a regular basis. This desire has increased pressure to bring back S-shaped tonearms, as the SME-connector makes changing a headshell and cartridge extremely easy. And it turns out the Debut PRO S isn't a one-off – according to Lichtenegger, Pro-Ject has big plans to do more with S-shaped arms in 2023...