This Sleek Turntable Uses A Transparent Base For Better Sound
Spin the black circle in style.
Aesthetic and aural excellence converge in the the new X AB turntable by Austria’s Pro-Ject Audio Systems. The X AB slots in at the more affordable end of Pro-Ject’s X Series turntables, which “are designed to get you well into the high-end of analog playback” through purposeful designs and material usage. The most eye-catching piece of the X AB is its acrylic plinth (i.e. base), a material chosen for its sound-dampening capability and minimalist-friendly transparency.
Through testing, Pro-Ject found that acrylic was actually a little too good at its job and could cause “over-damp sonics,” so they built around the XA B’s acrylic plinth with parts best-suited to mitigate the issue. The 10-inch tonearm and record platter are both made of aluminum to brighten the sound, while the Pick it PRO Balanced cartridge is designed to deliver crystal-clear signal transmission by removing noise and interference.
That transmission still has to reach a receiver, so Pro-Ject also includes a Connect it Phono E 5P > RCA cable that has been engineered with metals in an optimal configuration to ensure lossless signal transmission. The XA B stands on three damped and height-adjustable feet to facilitating ideal leveling on uneven surfaces, which is a crucial part of setup. A sound system is only as good as its best component, so Pro-Ject recommends pairing the turntable with one of its Phono Box preamps.
Priced at $1,499, the Pro-Ject arrives in the U.S. this fall.
