Just bought its bigger brother the X8, ran balanced into the matching Pro-Ject Ds 3B phonostage, it bettered my Rega P10/Apheta 3. So much so I sold the Rega and are enjoying Vinyl again the way I rememeber. P10 sounded like a very good CD player, not "digital" sounding, but lacked the vinyl Magic. Music is more enjoyable through the balanced Pro-Ject system, which (to me nowadays) is kinda the point. Fantastic kit.

About the mat. I saw a video some years ago where the founder of Pro-Ject talked about 3 different turntables and discussed the difference between them. He mentioned the mat At said the reason they included it was because some people wanted to change or flip records without switching the turntable off, and using the felt mat allows that without risking scratches on the record if you don’t have the mat. Sounds crazy, but it’s what he said.

Nice to see Ian Dury, ELP, and Ultravox in the backround! Great review, Paul!

Pro-ject discussed the felt mat. They said it’s not the best thing to use. It’s only for people who keep the platter spinning while changing records.

Thank you for another always informative review. I most likely will go the balanced route in stages as you suggest. Still researching phono stages and MC cartridges...

Nice one with the Ultravox on the wall! Systems of Romance is great!

I like felt mats too. One possibility is the felt /acrylic combination isn't providing enough grip. A record clamp might solve the issue or as you said, don't use one.

I don't have a clue how to solve the balanced connection problem. When I use the rca (unbalanced) cable then there is no noise (hum or buzz). When I switch back to the balanced connection then there is a problem with disturbing buzz/noise. The disturbing noise als happens when I dont play a record. I mean when you switch on the turntable and the phono preamp. And the tonearm is still in it's resting position. Please note that I bought a brand new Pro-ject IT balanced cable to see if there was a problem with one of the cables. I still have to take a look at the cartridge wires. But I believe everything will be ok because the unbalanced connection is working very fine I have just checked the connection on the blue quintet cartridge and everything is connected correctly. I have also checked the wiring connection from the cartridge to the end of the rca connector with a multimeter. Including the ground wire from the tonearm to the endpoint ground wire of the stock Pro-ject rca cable. Everything seems to be connected correctly. Unfortunately I have returned the new Pro-ject IT balanced cable to receive a refund. I am waiting for the arrival of a new Cardas din 5p, so I can repair the damaged balanced cable and give the balanced connection a new tryout.

Great review Paul!

Thank you very much Paul for another very very nice review. Excellent as always ! 🙂

The reason project recommends the mat is because people like to put on and take of the record while the platter is spinning, the felt stops your vinyl scratching. If you’re careful you don’t need it.

Happy with the x1 hooked up to my fluance fi70 sounds great great turntable might upgrade to a sumiko moonstone

Just curious. At approx. 11:25 there's a clip showing the cartridge /arm on the record in the un-matted platter configuration. This depiction *appears* to show an extreme tail-dragging VTA setup. Is this VTA setting appropriate for this particular cartridge or was the clip only intended as as a "hero" shot?Perhaps an optical illusion? Thanks. Vid clip aside, 'Nice review, as always. best, k

I read they included the feltmat because some customers thought it was missing and asked for it. Pro-ject knows for sure that you shouldn't be using it on the X2

Great video! Thank you!

The tonearm is said to be a carbon and aluminium hybrid, and since aluminium is a non-ferrous metal (that is insensitive to magnetism), I find that magnet in the armrest a bit odd...

Hi Paul, another good review cheers. I recently succumbed to all the on-line peer pressure 😂, bought a Pro-ject T1 turntable and moved my modest viny collection down from the attic. I have a querie, if you would be so kind. The turntable comes with an Ortofon OM5E cartridge. The turntable is connected into a Linn Kolektor phono pre-amp, then an Iota VX -PA3 power amp and Golden Ear Aon 3 speakers. Do you think this system is sufficiently revealing to merit an upgrade to the Ortofon OM20 stylus? Thanks again, oh wise one.

I’ve seen vinyl put directly on to the acrylic platter to reduce static. Is there a bigger reason why you’ve used a felt mat?

Interesting, food for thought.. Dunno if it is the close up film of the Quintet Red, the back end of the PU looked very close to the record surface (leaning back), did You consider VTA at all? (might this be an optical illusion in your film? 🤓) I have a Quintet Red as an alternative set up myself (different arm and table), to get the "correct" rake angle for the diamond at Ortofon's suggested tracking force of 2.3Gr, the bottom of my pickup is parallel to the record surface. Will have to investigate Balanced Phono-Stages!

Ortofon 2m red, Shame! Why not go with the 2m blue? Looks like a great great turntable, nonetheless, stylus is a personal preference tho

That's a lovely turntable, but out of my budget!

Any advantage toe RPM 5 Carbon has to this leaving balanced connections out of this?

Hooray! An other turntable review 👍. Was a tad surprised at the sub platter, then again Project do like to upsell with their o😂 own brand parts.

I will take that felt mat

If you want balanced operation install a balanced tonearm cable.

I'm getting ready to add a turntable to my system Paul, I've had my eyes on a project debut carbon evo, I think they're around 500 and need a pre-amp. Any thoughts on that choice please? I have Cambridge CXA 61 Amp, the CXC cd transport to partner and a nice pair of Dali Oberon 5 floorstanding speakers. What do you think of that set up and with the turntable please? Great presentation on your reviews and excellent professional advice. Cheers for all your time and hard work 👍 Southampton, England.

Your Evil plan so why show the rear of Project phono box S3B using Project’s own balanced design rather than true xlr mic connector as used by the musical fidelity m6x vinyl then once past the phono amp is the sound degraded by using single ended phono to amplifier ? A luxury sometimes beyond even the modest project S3B let alone M F m6x vinyl great review but some questions for Part 2 please ta smile 😊

I wish it had a removable headshell. Does it have an adjustable VTA?

HI Paul! I have the X2 with acryl platter. Is it better to use a mat or not? Greetings!

10:39 not strictly true that Pro-ject recommends the felt mat. As the owner of Pro-ject explains here kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qr2qrZmH0ZOwZ6c.html. the felt mat is included to protect the record in case users place it while the platter is spinning. What they actually recommend is no felt mat with a clamp. I agree though that the communication around this could be improved and this should be metioned in the manual.

That cart looks like it is a little low in the back, and would bottom out on any slightly warped record.

A nice review Paul. I find it a little worrying that Project being experts include the felt mat with an Acrylic Platter Turntable. It seems quite odd they did.

if there are no "cons" then how is it an 8 out of 10? What knocks of 2 points? Is there a 9 or a 10 ever?

Wow never knew they have turnatables with balanced outputs

Its pointless having a 78 speeed on a turntable that doesn't have a removable headshell.

The fluance rt85 is much better value