Verdict
The Evo 2 take everything that the original Evo did well and proceed about making it that bit better . This is a superb lazy Susan and one of the very best models available under £ 1000 right now
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
When we look at the affordable turntable marketplace today , a great many of the rationality of why it looks like it does can be attributed to Pro - Ject .
When the original Debut come along in the recent nineties , its simpleness , wide-eyed accessibility and more than respectable sound quality meant that it sold in quantities that serve to make the vinyl radical revival that followed something that was supported by promptly available hardware both from Pro - Ject and other mark that had followed their lead .
These days , the Debut ambit has move upmarket a little . It ’s no longer the starting compass point for the Pro - Ject range and has become a more sophisticated and well fit equipment at the same clock time .
There are now variegate levels of Debuts of which the Evo 2 you see here is towards the middle . When the original Evo was launched , it was at the top of the megabucks but since then , the Prohas arrived to become the flagship . The Evo 2 takes some characteristic from the Pro with a view to offering higher performance – how well does that work ?
Availability
The Evo 2 is uncommitted in the UK for £ 599.99 and , thanks to considerable drive on the part of the distributor , it ’s very wide available indeed . In the USA , it will arrange you back $ 699 , while Australian vinyl radical fans will take to be willing to part with $ 1,299 AUD for the exclusive right .
At the clip this reexamination was being write ( October 2024 ) , a measure of the original Debut Evo were still on sale at a decreased price . This is still an fantabulous lazy Susan but it is not the same as the Evo 2 for the reasons I will insure so be sure to check which Evo you are bribe before spending your money .
Design
Something that has helped the Debut serial be as successful as it has over the twelvemonth is that the basic essence of what make a Debut a Debut has n’t change in the entire time that Pro - Ject has been making them . Every Debut has been a belt drive , unsuspended turntable with a tonearm that is an exactingly specific 8.6 - inches long . The Evo 2 does n’t passel with any of these staple and it look entirely like a Debut as a result .
This does n’t signify that there have n’t been refinements though . There is no suspension on a Debut , which means that its isolation from the outdoor world comes via the infantry . The Evo 2 has excellent illustration of these that make the deck of cards itself impressively tolerant to me stomping around it . These new foot can also be adjusted to see to it that the playing surface is layer even if the open that you have put the turntable on is not .
Another little shade that sound minor but really is n’t can be line up lurking at the back . Up until now , all Debuts have put their connections – both for the cables lead out and the power heading in – in belittled sub chassis under the main plinth . This work well enough but made connecting up fractionally more fiddly than it really needed to be . The Evo 2 is the first Debut model I have tested to put these connector on the back of the plinth itself and this makes relate it up rather simpler . Pro - Ject also supplies a decent interconnect with priming cable in the box as well .
As you will see in the pictures , the sample distribution render for examination was blue and I sense it looks jolly good . Do n’t like the blue ? No job . No less than ten finish are available ( one woodwind instrument , three burnish , six ‘ satin ’ sheen ) and it appropriate you to have a Debut that is sympathetic to your home décor in a way that is beyond almost any other turntable disregarding of price .
In a sodding world , all the finishes would be in rubric but you ca n’t have everything . The turntable itself is well made and stop to a measure in keeping with the price . You also get a lid which is an underrated addition for anyone with pets , kid and no consecrated listening space . About the only chemical element of the designing that might gain from a melodic phrase up is the head start / stop permutation on the underside ; it works well enough , it simply feel a little crude .
Features
While the Evo 2 expect like every Debut that has come before it , it reflects proficient growing that Pro - Ject has been working on across all of their turntables and more specifically , it borrows parts from the Pro which get in as the Modern flagship ( and which has now been replaced by the raw Pro B ) . This includes a change to the bearing assemblage on the arm . The C character armtube is the same as before but this aim is stiffer and more stiff which in act helps the cartridge to track better .
The cartridge has also been improved . The original Evo used an Ortofon 2 M Red which is a comme il faut but not unfeignedly spectacular pick . The Evo 2 has a Pro - Ject Pick it MM EVO cart which , while very similar in basic design ; it ’s built by Ortofon , use the same bodywork and retains lineament like split pole pins which are an Ortofon trademark , is designed to work with the Debuts and should be a utile step forward .
The other key orbit that has been shift is the disk . It ’s still made of aluminium but turn this new unit upside down and you ’ll determine a annulus of TPE ; thermoplastic elastomer . This process is imposingly efficient in how it works . An aluminum phonograph record , even one that is relatively duncish like this one , ‘ should ’ anchor ring when impress but this does n’t . The result is a playing surface that is more inert for the record itself . This platter posture on a sub phonograph record which the rap play on and this is simpler to fit than one that runs around the phonograph recording itself . The motor and it ’s interesting on board DC conversion arrangement are carry over from the original Evo because there is perfectly nothing wrong with them .
Something else that has also continued is the selection of available upgrades for the canonical Evo 2 . All of the upgrade parts that fitted the original ( and there are alot ) also fit the unexampled model . The ones I would be realize a priority to apply would be the metal sub - platter to replace the plastic one and clamp to procure the disk to the platter . The fact that these component live to get more from the basic lazy Susan without needing you to trade it in is another huge strength of the design .
Sound Quality
Given there was n’t very much incorrect with the original Evo , the novel one has its work cut out but it does a safe job of justifying its existence from the outset . significantly , this still go like a Pro - Ject turntable should . Compared to aRega Planar 2 , this is a less urgent and slightly soft sound machine but this is n’t always a bad thing . When you listen to something less out and out ballistic like The Woman you Want by Eliza Shaddad , the Pro - Ject is able-bodied to make things sound bouncy without take in anything feel inexorable or squeeze .
The technical improvements over the original Evo make themselves felt too . This is an exceptionally subdued turntable at the cost point . There is effectively no undesirable dissonance in the signal path and this imply all you pick up is the information on the record itself . Even when I have test the Pro - Ject into an exceptionally quiet Cyrus phono point , there has been very piddling perception of the turntable itself . What this means is you get to listen more track record alternatively and this means plenty of all right item on the record book makes it through . Into Dust by Mazzy Star becomes a superimposed and incredibly intimate carrying out that wrap you in Hope Sandoval ’s beautiful vocal .
Some of the benefits are down to the unexampled cartridge . It ’s surprising how something that is so clearly related to the Ortofon 2 M Red that was on the original Evo ( and that is not significantly more expensive ) is so much better . The jump in functioning it offer is very similar to the parachuting in operation I batten by changing the 2 M Red stylus to a 2 M low-spirited one on the original Evo ; and that change on its own is pretty much the price difference of opinion between the old Evo and the new one even without the other change being taken into account .
Those other change , mainly trickled down from the Debut Pro , have also give the Evo 2 bass extension more in keep with its big brother . There is n’t ‘ more ’ bass ; that would n’t be right and would go a flake funny . Instead , the bass part it offers has more texture and definition . Play Song of the Stars by Dead Can Dance on the Pro - Ject and the enormous grim tone at the get-go unveil a point of detail and control that is very , very rare to come up on a turntable that costs less than £ 1,000 . When you consider that , thanks to the upgrades useable , the Evo 2 has more to give , it ’s a deeply telling showing .
What about the rung up the ravel , the newly launched Pro B ? Does it make the Evo 2 nothing more than an interim step ? I ’ve yet to learn one but I suspect that , unless you find to have a balanced input available on your system ; something that the Pro B ( B stand for ‘ balanced ’ ) is designed to make utilisation of , the gap between the Evo 2 and the Pro B is going to be quite tight . It ’s quite likely that , for a system that use RCA connectors , this might be the sweet situation of the cooking stove .
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
The Evo 2 depend good , sounds full , is easy to use and has a huge amount of stretch to the canonic intent and a colour for every juncture . It is fundamentally as good as it catch at the cost stage .
If you have a balanced comment , the more expensive Pro B might be better still as it is designed to deliver a balanced outturn and this should offer even higher performance . That ’s literally the bound of thing you’re able to say against it .
Final Thoughts
The Evo 2 has almost nothing in common with the original Debut but the same ethos of being a huge amount of performance for the money , being combined with an attractive and exploiter friendly design is very much alive and well and the effect is a genuine joy to utilise .
Trusted Score
How we test
We essay every lazy Susan we brush up thoroughly over an lengthened period of time . We utilise industriousness standard tests to compare feature in good order . We ’ll always tell you what we retrieve . We never , ever , accept money to review a merchandise .
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FAQs
The Debut Evo serial does n’t current feature a model with Bluetooth streaming .
