{"id":1441,"date":"2009-05-22T23:23:27","date_gmt":"2009-05-23T04:23:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.soundadviceblog.com\/?p=1441"},"modified":"2009-05-24T20:38:10","modified_gmt":"2009-05-25T01:38:10","slug":"product-of-the-day-day-23-pro-ject-debut-iii-turntable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.soundadviceblog.com\/?p=1441","title":{"rendered":"Product of the Day, Day 23: Pro-ject Debut III Turntable"},"content":{"rendered":"<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.soundadviceblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/debut4web.jpg\" alt=\"debut4web.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><strong>Pro-ject Debut III Turntable<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.refer-a-buddy.com\" onclick=\"rab0308('soundadviceblog-com.cgi-data.com','165479773','0','0'); return false;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"147\" src=\"https:\/\/www.smallgreentree.net\/buddybuttons\/default.gif\" alt=\"Tell A Friend!\" height=\"43\" style=\"border: medium none\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s no secret that I am a big fan of vinyl records and believe a turntable belongs in the system of every music lover.\u00a0 Vinyl records are one of the few mature segments of packaged media that is showing growth; DVDs and CDs are down but vinyl sales have picked up to the point where Best Buy is starting to carry new vinyl again.\u00a0 Of course, there is a treasure trove of used vinyl out there too.\u00a0 There are thrift stores, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.halfpricebooks.com\">Half Price Books and Music<\/a>, and for those lucky enough to see it in all its glory, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.soundadviceblog.com\/?p=203\">Jerry&#8217;s Records.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>I am often asked what is the best turntable to get started with.\u00a0 I always have the same answer: The <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.sumikoaudio.net\/project\/products\/debut.htm\">Pro-ject Debut III<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The Pro-ject Debut III sells for $349 in the USA and comes in a wide variety of colors (Ferrari Red shown.) It comes from a long line of high performance, affordable turntables manufactured in the Czech Republic for <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.project-audio.com\">Pro-ject of Austria<\/a>.\u00a0 The US importer is <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.sumikoaudio.net\/\">Sumiko,<\/a> a\u00a0 Berkeley-based marketer of high-end audio and something of a legend in analog circles.\u00a0 The main competitor to the Debut III is the Rega P1.\u00a0 I compare them in a feature <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.soundadviceblog.com\/?p=530\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.soundadviceblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/debutom5e2.jpg\" alt=\"debutom5e2.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><strong>Pre-mounted Ortofon OM-5E cartridge <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Debut III comes ready-to-go with a pre-mounted Ortofon OM-5E cartridge.\u00a0 All you have to do is mount the counterweight, balance the arm, set the tracking force, and you are ready to go!\u00a0 Given that proper cartridge installation is usually beyond the capabilities of beginners, getting a turntable that is set properly from the get-go goes a long way to exposing them to the true beauty of analog.<\/p>\n<p>One of the fun parts of analog is you can always make your system sound better with an adjustment or upgrade here or there, and the Pro-ject Debut III also has a nice upgrade path that is easy for most anyone to follow based on their budget.<\/p>\n<p>Suggested upgrades for Pro-ject Debut III vinyl playback system:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Record cleaning machine, such as a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nittygrittyinc.com\/1.0_2.0.htm\">Nitty Gritty Model 1.0 ($389)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This costs about the same as the turntable, but with proper cleaning technique will resurrect even the dirtiest of thrift-shop records.\u00a0 It will make all of your records, including new ones, sound more delicate and detailed while getting rid of noise.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.sumikoaudio.net\/project\/products\/speedbox2.htm\">Pro-ject Speed Box II ($159)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Speed Box II is an electronic speed regulator that sends a pure sine wave to the turntable&#8217;s motor, adding precise pitch and solidity to the sound as well as giving you 33\/45 rpm capability with the press of a button.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.needledoctor.com\/Online-Store\/Ortofon\">Stylus Upgrade for OM-5E<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The only difference between the entry-level OM-5E and the top-of-the-line OM-40 cartridge (discontinued) is the stylus.\u00a0 The stylus of the OM-5E can be replaced with the stylus of a more expensive model such as the OM-10, OM-20, OM-30, or OM-40.\u00a0 All you have to do is pull out the old and plug in the new, and you have a whole new cartridge!\u00a0 The stylus is the part of the cartridge that touches the record, and a more advanced stylus design will extract more detail from the grooves.\u00a0 It makes a bug difference!\u00a0 The sweet spot for this upgrade is the $139 OM-20.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Upgraded Phono Preamp<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I recommend the $150 <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.soundadviceblog.com\/?p=1381\">Parasound Zphono<\/a>.\u00a0 See the link for more info on phono preamps.<\/p>\n<p>So, start with a Debut III.\u00a0 Add the phono preamp, stylus, Speed Box II, and record cleaner in any order you want.\u00a0 Each one will make a difference on their own, and then when you add them all up, the difference will be night and day.\u00a0 The record cleaner and phono preamp can work when you move from the Debut III to bigger and better turntables, if you ever want to. Chances are you will be thrilled with it out of the box and it is all you will ever need.<\/p>\n<p>So, don&#8217;t wait&#8230; get a turntable, spin some records and see what all the buzz is about!<\/p>\n<p>Stop back Sunday afternoon (I&#8217;ll be traveling Saturday) for the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.soundadviceblog.com\/?cat=262\">Product of the Day<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.refer-a-buddy.com\" onclick=\"rab0308('soundadviceblog-com.cgi-data.com','165479773','0','0'); return false;\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"147\" src=\"https:\/\/www.smallgreentree.net\/buddybuttons\/default.gif\" alt=\"Tell A Friend!\" height=\"43\" style=\"border: medium none\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<!--tell a friend from http:\/\/www.refer-a-buddy.com ends here --><\/p>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n  addthis_url    = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.soundadviceblog.com%2F%3Fp%3D1441';\n  addthis_title  = 'Product+of+the+Day%2C+Day+23%3A+Pro-ject+Debut+III+Turntable';\n  addthis_pub    = '';\n<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/s7.addthis.com\/js\/addthis_widget.php?v=12\" ><\/script>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pro-ject Debut III Turntable It&#8217;s no secret that I am a big fan of vinyl records and believe a turntable belongs in the system of every music lover.\u00a0 Vinyl records are one of the few mature segments of packaged media that is showing growth; DVDs and CDs are down but vinyl sales have picked up [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[30,262,22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.soundadviceblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.soundadviceblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.soundadviceblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.soundadviceblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.soundadviceblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.soundadviceblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.soundadviceblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.soundadviceblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.soundadviceblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}