Company & Product Overview

This article is on a new turntable from Pro-Ject, the X1B True Balanced Turntable. The X1 has been around for a few years and has been updated to the X1B version, which offers balanced connections.

When Heinz Lichtenegger founded Pro-Ject Audio Systems in the 1990’sm vinyl sales were at an all time low. He must have had a crystal ball as they have been breaking records every year for the past several years. His vision was to produce turntables and electronics that almost anyone could afford, that offered great performance for their cost. Pro-Ject is now the world’s largest producer of turntables with several factories across Europe.

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Their first turntable was called the Debut, as it was their debut into turntables. This series of turntables has been one of our most popular ones at Audio Advice. But for those of you wanting a higher level of performance, that is where the X models come into play.

These are similar in design to their famous Debut turntables but take things to the next level in just about every aspect.

Design & Build Quality

Like all Pro-Ject turntables, the X1B is a manual, belt drive turntable. This means you need to flip a switch to start things up, move the tonearm over the record, lower the cue lever, then raise the cue lever when the record ends. This is how almost 95% of turntables made today are designed as there is no need to put a bunch of gears and parts under the tonearm which could reduce the performance.

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You’ll be able to pick from gloss black, gloss white, or walnut for your finish on the X1B.

While the X1B sells for about double the price of the latest Pro-Ject Debut EVO, it is far from Pro-Ject’s most expensive turntable as they make some that reach into the $10,000 price range. But what is great about Pro-Ject is all of these are made in the same European factories to the same very high standards. Everything about the fit and finish on the X1B is just first class.

Features & Technology

Unlike a lot of tables where you need to change the belt to flip from 33 to 45, the X1B has an upgraded electronic speed control where you can change it at the push of a button. You can even change the belt to a different one if you want to play a 78.

Let’s take a look at all the great tech you’ll find on the Pro-Ject X1B starting from the bottom and working our way up.

Adjustable TPE-Damped Isolation Feet

The three feet that support the plinth are made from a combination of a thermoplastic elastomer and aluminum. These are also adjustable in height so you can get the X1B perfectly level. This elastomer or TPE for short does a really good job at damping out resonances. The fact they use three makes it much easier to get things leveled up.

Thick CNC-Machined Plinth of Top-Quality MDF

The plinth itself is a very heavy CNC machined piece of top quality MDF that gets finished with either eight layers of paint or a real wood veneer. This is one part that attributes to the almost 16 pound weight of the X1B.

Electronic Speed Changer & Stabilizer

The electronic speed control uses a precision crystal to generate the signal that goes to the motor. This means you will get great speed consistency giving the X1B an excellent sense of rhythm and pacing, a feature we always listen for on better turntables.

The models below the X1B, like the EVO and Pro-Ject Pro, both use the same motor, but the X1B gets a higher and larger motor that runs even more consistently. It is mounted in a large metal enclosure which prevents any electrical noise from making its way out. TPE grommets are used to mount it to the plinth and a round piece of TPE sits under it on the front and back to further isolate it. All motors make some form of vibration and this innovative isolation system will minimize any vibrations making their way to the platter.

Massive Acrylic Record Platter

The subplatter and main bearing are also a jump up from the other tables in the X1B. First, the subplatter is machined to tolerances of .001mm. That is super precise! They then use a stainless steel platter bearing with a bronze bushing and what they call teflon mirrors to reduce rumble and noise to the lowest level possible.

This great subplatter and bearing assembly supports their classic acrylic main platter. This is the same material they use for other platters but the X1B gets a big jump in thickness and mass. The platter is 20mm thick and weighs in at 3.3 pounds. The heavy platter will give you great rotational stability.

8.6″ Carbon-wrapped Aluminum Tonearm with Adjustable Arm Height (VTA)

The 8.6” tonearm on the X1B is also pretty special. It takes what they did for the less expensive Pro-Ject Pro and goes even further. We can’t say enough about how important the tonearm is. It has what might seem like a simple job of holding the phono cartridge above the record while it traces the microscopic grooves. It has to do this with minimal friction and resonances. This is why at the top end of tonearms, you can find some that cost more than a performance car!

With their own in-house CNC machines, the Pro-Ject engineers can make anything they want to very tight tolerances. The bearing housing begins as a single block of aluminum and is machined to extreme tolerances. It houses a Karden ultra low friction 4 pin point bearing that is far superior to the one used in the Pro model.

The tonearm itself is a one piece sandwich construction with an aluminum arm tube wrapped in carbon fiber for strength. The counterweight also uses TPE damping in their quest for zero resonances. And we like the fact you can not only adjust vertical tracking height but azimuth as well.

Speaking of adjustments, getting your turntable set up properly can make a world of difference in its performance. If your turntable came premounted with a cartridge, you do not have to worry much about anything other than simple set up, but if you start to venture into the world of buying the turntable and cartridge separately, getting the set up done right is critical. When you purchase your turntable and cartridge from Audio Advice, it will go into our setup lab where we use the latest testing equipment to make sure it arrives to you perfectly set up. All you will have to do are some basic things to be up and running.

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Mini XLR Balanced Phono Output

Finally, and this is really one pretty big deal about the X1B, it has two types of output connections on the rear. One is the standard very nice RCA jacks, but the other is a mini XLR connector.

This connector lets you connect your X1B up in a balanced audio configuration. Balanced audio connections are the standard for recording studios, professional musicians, and live performances. The big advantage is that a balanced system cancels out any noise the cable may pick up. And in this day and age of wireless with all kinds of devices in our homes, noise is everywhere.

Reducing noise is actually the most important thing you can do for a phono signal as it is about 1,000 times less in level than that of say a CD player. When we first saw Pro-Ject was going to offer balanced on their turntables, we were so happy to see this as previously it had only been available on some of the most expensive turntables in the world.

The way balanced works is pretty simple. There are double the number of conductors for a signal feed. One side of the feed gets inverted so it's essentially out of phase with the other. At the receiving end, the inverted feed goes back to normal and the two feeds are then combined. This means anything other than the original signal disappears when the feeds are combined. Plus you get more output this way. It's why musicians love balanced cables as you can run them great distances without picking up noise.

The receiving end of this signal will need to be a phono preamp that can accept a balanced feed. Up until now, this was also a pretty high price barrier, but Pro-Ject has released several great value balanced phono preamps to use with their new balanced turntables.

Sumiko Rainier MM Phono Cartridge

The last fact to bear in mind for this great system to work with a turntable is you must use a moving coil cartridge. They are naturally balanced whereas a moving magnet is not.

This is why we were a little puzzled to see Pro-Ject offering the new X1B turntable with their very good Sumiko Rainier moving magnet cartridge. Granted, this is one heck of a great moving magnet. Sumiko spent years developing these in conjunction with some engineers in Yokohama, Japan. All of the models have the same body so you can even upgrade to better sound when you replace the stylus if you want, but it is a moving magnet.

They did present us with a pretty good explanation. The original X1, which the X1B replaced, was not balanced and was only $100 less than the new X1B. The X1B turntable on its own for its price with the Rainier is just a super good sounding turntable. Had they packaged it with a moving coil, the balanced cable, and the necessary balanced phono preamp, it would have been a lot more expensive and out of range of many people who would appreciate the X1B even without going balanced.

But, we have to tell you, after playing around with one of these and comparing balanced to regular RCA, the difference is amazing and we would like to see all better turntables offer this option.

Performance

We set up the X1B with the low output moving coil from Sumiko called the Blue Point Special EVO III low output moving coil cartridge. We used their new Phono Box S3 B True Balanced Phono Stage which is their entry level at $499 balanced phono preamp.

The first cut we tried was “The Boxer” from Simon and Garfunkel. Playing the system using the RCA connections sounded fantastic and it really let you hear how great the X1B does with rhythm and pacing along with tracking. It also told us this upgraded tonearm is fully capable of supporting any serious moving coil cartridge with its outstanding bearings and anti resonant characteristics. This is a great turntable even without the balanced option.

But, when we disconnected the RCA cables, inserted the balanced cable and then used balanced outs to go into the Mark Levinson integrated driving the speakers, it was like a big veil was lifted off of the sound. Things got more effortless with tiny details emerging from what was a completely silent background. It was not subtle.

We then tried the classic “Come Away with Me” by Nora Jones and had the exact same experience. The X1B in RCA mode sounded great, but switching to running things balanced just made a huge improvement.

Overall Recommendation

The new Pro-Ject X1B turntable on its own is an excellent performer. For only $300 more than the Debut Pro turntable, it has a lot of technology that will extract more information from your vinyl and spin the platter at an even more consistent speed. You could buy the X1B as is and be happy with it for decades. But, if you want to delve into the world of moving coil cartridges and their far better sound, you have a turntable that will do them justice and at the same time allow you to go balanced. You would need to buy a moving coil phono preamp anyway if you went this route, so why not get one of the excellent new Pro-Ject models that offer balanced connections along with great sound.

The X1B will give you outstanding audio now, but open up a whole host of potential upgrades down the road. And let us tell you, this balanced thing with moving coil cartridges is a big deal and a great leap forward.

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