Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

Pro-Ject’s irrepressible CEO/president Heinz Lichtenegger has been on a mission to promote the advantages of ‘balanced’ LP replay. Here the ‘signal’ and ‘return’ paths of both left and right channels float clear of ground, promising improved noise rejection and reduced distortion. All this depends on a tonearm with balanced internal wiring (not connected to the chassis earth) and a phono preamp offering both balanced XLR inputs and truly balanced RIAA equalisation. Outside of the high-end, few phono preamps offer this facility and so Pro-Ject’s own balanced-operation Phono Box S3 B [HFN Sep ’22] and premium DS3 B – alongside the ‘full sized’ M6x Vinyl, upcoming flagship M8x Vinyl and existing Nu-Vista Vinyl 2 [HFN Feb ’24] from sister brand Musical Fidelity – are true gateway products.

Above: Pro-Ject’s Pick it PRO Balanced

Of course, your choice of cartridge must also have a balanced output... In practice the vast majority of MC pick-ups are balanced by design, with both the positive and negative arms of their ‘moving coils’ floating from ground. By contrast almost all MMs, including Pro-Ject’s own Pick it PRO, have their right (green) output pin connected to ground, thwarting any chance of balanced operation. Not to be defeated, Pro-Ject tasked its pick-up partner (Ortofon) to develop a truly balanced version of the Pick it PRO MM. Fitted to the XA B turntable, this new MM features separate, fixed L/R coils with both ‘green’ and ‘blue’ pins disconnected from ground.