- The Pro-Ject’s Debut Reference 10 costs €1,199 (about $1,410 / £1,047)
- Newly developed hybrid aluminium/carbon tonearm
- New bearing block design and clean power
Pro-Ject’s Debut line of turntables launched in 1999 with the goal of bringing high-quality vinyl playback to a wider audience, and since then the Debut line has been a constant presence in our best turntables rankings: the Debut Carbon Evo is our current number one. And now there’s a more advanced, more premium model: the Pro-Ject Debut Reference 10.
It’s a typically gorgeous and minimalist design with some important new features, including Pro-Ject’s first hybrid carbon/aluminum tonearm. That’s matched with a Pick it PRO Balanced cartridge, a revised version of the original Pick it PRO that promises a “true balanced” signal transmission.
Pro-Ject Debut Reference 10: key features and pricing
The Debut Reference 10 features a resonance-free acrylic platter, a diamond-cut aluminum sub-platter and a power generator that Pro-Ject says delivers a “completely new clean sine wave” for the motor, which in turn delivers enhanced speed stability. There’s a new bearing block design too, with a TPE damped aluminium counterweight and adaptive anti-skating mechanism at the rear.
The tonearm is fully adjustable for both azimuth and vertical tracking angle, and height adjustment for different cartridges or turntable mat heights is just a matter of loosening two grub screws. The three feet are height adjustable too; there are three rather than four feet because the former configuration is less likely to wobble on an imperfectly flat surface.
The turntable is manual, but there is a switch here to change between 33 and 45rpm without having to do it manually. And the package includes the familiar Connect it Phono RCA phono-optimized cable for its gold-plated RCA outs.
The chassis is MDF underneath eight layers of hand-applied lacquer, with MDF chosen for its ability to reduce vibration, and all the visible metal bits are diamond-cut.
Price-wise, the Debut Reference 10 is positioned between the affordable Debut EVO 2 and the premium high-end turntables that Pro-Ject also makes: it’s €1,199 (about £1,047 / $1,410).
Four figures might seem a bit much for something in Pro-Ject’s beginner-friendly line-up, but just look at this thing – it’s a beautiful bit of gear, so who am I to nitpick?
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