This is my first turntable review for the SoundStage! Network, but I’m no vinyl newbie. My collection includes the many records I bought as a kid and teen before CDs took over, and I’ve steadily added to it over the years, even after streaming became my default method for music playback.
Over the past two decades or so, those records have been played on a starter turntable—a Pro‑Ject Audio Systems 1.2 that fit my modest budget at the time. Starter turntables are supposed to be exactly that: a first turntable that you use to dive into listening to vinyl before moving on to something better. In my case, however, the Pro‑Ject 1.2 remained a stubborn fixture on my rack, even though I knew better-sounding turntables were easily within reach.
Given my historical inaction on the turntable front, it was a happy day when the Pro‑Ject Debut Reference 10 arrived at my home for review. The Debut Reference 10 (US$1499, CA$1799, £999, €1199 with preinstalled Pick it Pro B cartridge) is the new flagship in Pro‑Ject’s Debut turntable lineup, which starts out with the Debut Evo 2 (US$799, CA$999, £599, €699 with Pick it MM EVO cartridge), and it’s a thing of beauty.
Description
Take a close look at this new Pro‑Ject ’table, and it’s easy to understand why it costs nearly twice as much as the entry-level Debut. The Debut Reference 10 is a study in deep contrasts, with a translucent, moon-like platter and an array of gleaming, precision-machined aluminum parts set against a satin-black plinth. Gazing at it after setup, I felt like I was upgrading from an old Toyota Corolla to a new Mercedes S‑Class.
Satin black is the only Debut Reference 10 color option, and it’s perfect. With its hand-painted, eight-coat plinth, the Debut Reference 10 measures 5.7″H × 18.2″W × 13.6″D and weighs 13.2 pounds. An angle-fronted dust cover made from thick acrylic is included, which by virtue of its substantial build and difficulty to remove from the rear latches indicates it’s meant to be left on permanently. Fortunately, the cover can be easily raised and lowered, with a gentle resistance creating a gliding motion that prevents it from slamming down on the plinth.
The 10″ hybrid carbon-aluminum tonearm on the Reference 10 features a TPE-damped aluminum counterweight, and has vertical tracking angle (VTA) and azimuth adjustments. The belt-driven platter has a stainless-steel / bronze bearing system, and there’s an adaptable antiskating mechanism.
A resonance-free acrylic platter differentiates the Reference 10 from the other models in the Debut lineup, which feature aluminum platters, and it’s mounted on an aluminum subplatter. A DC-driven AC power generator is said to create “a completely clean new sine wave for the motor,” a factor that contributes to the speed stability of the ’table. The Reference 10 has a specified speed variance of 0.4% at 33⅓ rpm and 0.5% at 45 rpm.
Accessories packed with the Reference 10 include an AC power cord, an adapter for 7″ singles, an antiskating weight, a tonearm counterweight, 33⅓- and 78-rpm belts, Allen keys for VTA and azimuth adjustments, and a Pro‑Ject Connect it E RCA phono cable. There is also a gauge for setting tracking force, a cartridge alignment protractor, a felt platter mat, and a Record Puck E turntable weight (which I used for my listening).
Controls on the Reference 10 are super-minimal. A speed-control switch (oddly, unlabeled) lets you choose between an off state, 33⅓ rpm, or 45 rpm. To play 78s, you’ll need to attach the included round belt to the motor and select the 45-rpm setting. Lastly, there’s a tonearm lift with precise control for lowering the needle onto the record.
The Reference 10 provides both a set of RCA jacks for phono-level output to an amplifier with built-in phono stage or an external phono preamp, and a mini balanced XLR output, with the latter intended to support the Pick it Pro B cartridge’s “True Balanced” phono output. Balanced connections can be useful for noise rejection with vinyl playback, given that a phono cartridge’s output is extremely low. Moving-coil cartridges are naturally balanced, while moving-magnet cartridges generally are not. Pro‑Ject has worked directly with Ortofon to develop the Pick it Pro B as a balanced moving-magnet cartridge. You can use either output (both are simultaneously active during playback), though a balanced interconnect is not included. For my review of the Reference 10, Pro‑Ject sent me its Phono Box DS3 B phono preamplifier (US$799, CA$889, £599, €569), which supports both balanced and single-ended RCA inputs and outputs. The DS3 B is the big brother of Pro‑Ject’s Phono Box S3 B, which Philip Beaudette reviewed two years ago on SoundStage! Hi‑Fi.
Setup
I was initially intimidated by the prospect of setting up the Reference 10, but in practice it turned out to be just as easy as setting up my old Pro‑Ject 1.2. Pro‑Ject’s printed setup guide features color photos and clear instructions for each step from unboxing to finish. After installing the subplatter, drive belt, and platter, I leveled the platter surface by adjusting the height of the three metal feet attached to the plinth’s bottom with reference to a spirit level.
Next, I attached the tonearm counterweight, placed the included tracking force gauge on the platter, and balanced the tonearm by twisting the counterweight until the gauge leveled out to 2g. This proved to be the only challenging part of the setup, but later I was able to confirm the accuracy of the results using my Shure stylus tracking force gauge.
Once that was all done, the only remaining steps were to attach the antiskating weight to the tonearm, plug in the power and audio interconnects on the turntable’s rear panel, and attach the dust cover. I was now ready to connect the Reference 10 to the Phono Box DS3 B, which I did using both the balanced and single-ended connections in order to compare the outputs. For my listening, the Pro‑Ject phono preamp was hooked up to a Hegel Music Systems Röst integrated amplifier using Nordost Purple Flare interconnects, and the Hegel amp connected to GoldenEar Bookshelf Reference X speakers with Nordost Purple Flare speaker cables.
Listening
Ray LaMontagne’s Till the Sun Turns Black (RCA / Legacy 88697 39842 1) is an album that I loved when it was first released in 2006, mostly for the music, but also for Ethan Johns’s spare yet spacious production. I’ve long used a CD copy of Till the Sun Turns Black as a sound-quality reference, but the LP version I also picked up at the time never floated my boat in the same way. Listening to the track “Barfly” played on the Reference 10, LaMontagne’s voice floated effortlessly between the speakers, and I could distinctly hear the separation between his voice and the female backing vocals. The guitar, bass guitar, and drums were all positioned solidly in the mix, and details like a drumstick lightly striking the bell of a ride cymbal cut through vividly. The sound of my LP played on the Reference 10 was a strikingly close match to what I hear on CD. For me, that was a good thing, and also something of a revelation.
Staying in the same musical lane, I next cued up Van Morrison’s Moondance (Warner Bros. Seven Arts Records WS 1835). Morrison is a forefather of LaMontagne’s blues and Memphis Soul–influenced brand of acoustic folk, and “Into the Mystic” is about as representative a track as you’ll find in his vast catalog. The vocals in this recording have a bit of a sibilant bite, and that was faithfully conveyed by the Reference 10. Otherwise, the horn section had notable presence, with the alto sax that sounds out each time Morrison sings “When that foghorn blows, I’ll be coming home” coming across as full and textured. The soundstage also had impressive width, and there was an easy pacing that made listening to this track a perfect, DJ-level follow-up to LaMontagne’s “Barfly.”
I always love listening to Aimee Mann’s Lost in Space (Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab MFSL 1‑278), even on my modest turntable setup. Playing the album’s title track on the Reference 10, the drums and bass sounded solid, well-rounded, and propulsive. Mann’s vocals, as usual in her recordings, were firmly centered and dry, providing an anchor for ethereal elements like the backing vocals and keyboards to hover above. The chorus in this track gets dynamic and loud with the addition of guitars, strings, and even more keyboards (harpsichord and Wurlitzer), and the Reference 10 conveyed it all in a fluid, well-layered manner.
Keeping with audiophile reissues, I next spun “Re: Person I Knew,” the first track on the Bill Evans Trio’s Moon Beams (Original Jazz Classics, Riverside Records OJC‑434, RLP‑9428). Evans’s sparse piano in the intro of this song displayed a quiet depth between notes on the Reference 10. As the pace picks up and the piano gets sprightlier, a range of creamy-to-crisp tones was revealed; the stand-up bass, too, had an impressively subtle range, with the lower notes sounding full and deep, and the ones further down the neck having a crisp tautness.
Boards of Canada’s Inferno (Warp Records WARPLP496X) is one of the only LPs I’ve listened to straight through in years, and I’ve done it twice: first, during a recent listening event for the album’s release at a local record shop, and the second time immediately after I had gotten my deluxe, red-vinyl version home and unwrapped it. Listening to “Prophecy at 1420 MHz” on the Reference 10, there was a notable sense of weight and dynamic slam to the electronic beats and bass. Even so, the sound was well balanced, with finer elements like processed voice samples, synths, and guitar clearly audible in the mix. Each track I listened to with the Reference 10 had solid imaging, but this track had a particularly widescreen presentation, and an almost surround-sound effect.
Comparisons
My first order of business for listening comparisons with the Reference 10 was to play the tracks I’ve mentioned while switching between the DS3 B phono preamp’s balanced and single-ended inputs. While it’s possible that some golden-eared listener would be able to discern a significant difference between the two connection types, to me the difference was negligible. To my ears, both sounded equally good. Would a fully balanced signal chain, with a balanced connection from the phono preamp to the integrated amp, have made a difference? Possibly. But the Debut Reference 10’s balanced output is something of a unicorn feature, and ultimately I don’t think using a single-ended connection to an outboard phono preamp is in any way a compromise.
As a logical comparison to the Debut Reference 10, I was provided with a Technics SL‑50C (US$899 or CA$999) on loan. This model is a new lower-cost option in the Technics turntable lineup, and it features both a built-in phono preamp and a phono-level output. The cartridge included with the SL‑50C is the Ortofon 2M Red.
Starting off with LaMontagne, the Reference 10 had a more subtle tonal range that could most clearly be heard in the treble. High frequencies on the Pro‑Ject sounded more detailed and less forward, and that was also in evidence when I compared Morrison’s “Into the Mystic” on both turntables.
Listening to Mann on both, the main difference was slightly better depth and body to the bass guitar and drums with the Pro‑Ject. The complex chorus section in the title track of Lost in Space also sounded more congested on the Technics, while the Pro‑Ject had a better sense of dynamic ease.
Before I received the Reference 10 for review, I had already spent many hours listening with the Technics SL‑50C, which I found to be a very solid step up from my old Pro‑Ject 1.2 and a great turntable for the price. Ultimately, I found the Reference 10 to be the better-sounding option, but I wouldn’t hesitate to buy the Technics if my budget was capped at $1000.
Conclusion
At US$1499, the Pro‑Ject Debut Reference 10 is hardly entry level, but it’s still an affordable turntable. Just look at the turntables reported on by the SoundStage! Network at the recent High End show in Vienna, some of which were priced over $100,000.
For those of us who live in the real world, $1499 is a fair amount of money to spend on a turntable, but the Reference 10 earns a high value rating for its striking looks and design, solid build quality, user-friendly setup, and excellent overall sound for the price. For me, listening to my record collection on the Reference 10 after years of making do with a starter turntable was a revelatory experience—some records I had expected to sound great were in fact less than that, while others I thought would be just okay impressed me with their sound.
Of course, a key feature of the Reference 10 is the Pick it Pro B cartridge with its balanced audio output. And while I didn’t find that feature to be crucial—the Reference 10 sounded equally good to my ears using its single-ended output—there’s a lot to be said for a balanced connection, especially if your system is subject to electrical interference or hum. Balanced output or not, the bottom line is that the Pro‑Ject Audio Systems Debut Reference 10 is a great turntable, and great value, too.
. . . Al Griffin
alg@soundstagenetwork.com
Associated Equipment
- Integrated amplifier: Hegel Music Systems Röst
- Phono preamplifier: Pro‑Ject Phono Box DS3 B
- Loudspeakers: GoldenEar Bookshelf Reference X
- Digital sources: Oppo BDP‑105 universal disc player, WiiM Pro streamer
- Speaker cables: Nordost Purple Flare
- Analog interconnects: Nordost Purple Flare (RCA)
Pro‑Ject Debut Reference 10 turntable and Pick it Pro B cartridge
Price: US$1499, CA$1799, £999, €1199
Warranty: One year, parts and labor
Pro‑Ject Audio Systems
Wirtschaftspark A5
Analogweg 1
2130 Mistelbach
Austria
Website: project-audio.com
