Pro-Ject Audio Systems was founded by one of Austria’s leading high-end audio distributors, Heinz Lichtenegger in early 1991. A genuine music lover and a dyed-in-the-wool audiophile, Heinz challenged the common “cost-no-object” approach to analog audio equipment by manufacturing turntables, tonearms and accessories at a reasonable price without compromising build quality or sonic performance. With his passion for high-end audio fueling a desire to take a familiar industry in a new direction, Lichtenegger took Pro-Ject as a locomotive to bring quality electronic components to all.
Pro-Ject turntables have dominated the industry due to its clever combination of minimalistic designs, choice of colors and materials, and great value for money, very frequently retailing for less than what vinyl enthusiasts pay for a good-quality cartridge. And yet, Pro-Ject turntables play vinyl decently, and are very frequently a great conversation piece for people who bought one to pretend they still care about their record collection and can still impress audiophile friends who can tell a difference between Chinese plastic things and a decent equipment.
With time, Pro-Ject started to release ever more bold designs and expand the catalog in all directions, with limited edition pieces, and also upscale, luxury experiments that helped retailers please a larger number of customers with only one brand. For this latest product launch, the brand apparently decided to do something bolder and go ugly. Moderately ugly in silver and black, with a design that could belong in a funeral home, or really ugly with a brass and acacia wood model - both enhanced with leather details.
The two "beauties" are constructed with the EVO 9 AS HG tonearm, using high-precision ABEC 7 bearings housed in a massive aluminum gimbal for frictionless, resonance-free operation. An internally-damped S-shaped aluminum armtube makes way for a removable headshell so that cartridge enthusiasts are empowered to swap transducers to their liking. The high-mass aluminum alloy record platter is damped with TPE (Thermoplastic Elastomer), eliminating unwanted resonance. The Clamp it record clamp and Leather it record mat are included in-purchase for additional resonance control.
The tonearm is mounted to a massive aluminum alloy top-plate supported by TPE pods sandwiched between it and the MDF plinth. The record platter rotates on an aluminum sub-platter which is belt-driven by the AC motor. The AC motor is fed steady, clean power by Pro-Ject’s own DC/AC generator which decouples the turntable from the AC mains. Balanced, full-sized XLR outputs are also included. This means that users have the option of connecting The Classic Reference to any phono stage with corresponding inputs. RCA/ground, of course, remains onboard as well and is ready for use with the supplied Connect it Phono E cable set.
Fortunately, The Classic Reference turntable will not be produced in volumes and is available only as a special order for people with really weird taste. The silver model with a gloss black plinth retails for $5,999 USD, while the "boy-that's-ugly" brass with an Acacia plinth model sells for $6,999 (quickly glance at the image below at your own risk...). For those who are shocked with the vision of ugliness and want to recover their eyesight and sanity, we recommend checking out the recently upgraded Pro-Ject Debut EVO 2 turntables, with some really great designs.
www.pro-jectusa.com
www.project-audio.com
