A classically styled belt-drive turntable with a floating sub-chassis, aluminium alloy platter and electronic control for 33, 45 and 78 rpm. It carries the S-shaped EVO 9 AS HG arm and has RCA and balanced XLR outputs; the cartridge is chosen separately.
The Classic Reference: the design
The Classic Reference grows out of The Classic EVO and out of what Pro-Ject learned building its turntable for the Vienna Philharmonic. The 300 mm platter is turned from a special aluminium alloy and has a TPE ring inside to damp it. Below it is a sub-platter, also aluminium and diamond cut: compared with plastic sub-platters it allows tighter tolerances and adds mass to the drive system, with less noise and less resonance.
Platter and arm are mounted on an aluminium sub-chassis that floats on TPE balls, which keeps them isolated from vibration in the motor and the main plinth. The motor is fed by an AC generator, itself DC powered, that produces a clean sine wave for the steadiest possible speed; speed selection is electronic.
The EVO 9 AS HG arm uses an inverted gimbal bearing of ABEC 7 grade with four stainless steel points, set in a heavy aluminium housing whose outer ring is left open against resonance. Its heavily damped S-shaped aluminium tube ends in an SME-type headshell; the internal wiring is high-purity copper. Outputs are RCA and balanced XLR. Supplied are the Clamp it record clamp, the Leather it leather mat, the Connect it Phono E RCA lead and an acrylic dust cover that stays put at any angle and lifts off easily.
Specifications
- Speeds: 33, 45 and 78 rpm, switched electronically
- Drive: belt, motor fed by a precision generator
- Platter: 300 mm aluminium alloy, TPE ring for damping
- Sub-platter: diamond-cut aluminium
- Bearing: stainless steel
- Sub-chassis: aluminium, floating on TPE balls
- Wow & flutter: ±0.03 % at 33 rpm, ±0.04 % at 45 rpm
- Speed variance: ±0.08 % at 33 rpm, ±0.10 % at 45 rpm
- Signal-to-noise ratio: 73 dB
- Tonearm: EVO 9 AS HG, S-shaped aluminium tube, SME-type headshell
- Arm effective length: 230 mm
- Arm effective mass: 24.2 g
- Stylus overhang: 18 mm
- Outputs: RCA and balanced XLR
- In the box: acrylic dust cover, Leather it mat, Clamp it, Connect it Phono E RCA lead
- Power: 15 V DC / 0.8 A supply; 5 W at most, under 0.5 W on standby
- Size: 460 x 131 x 351 mm (width, height, depth), cover shut
- Finishes: black and silver, acacia and brass
