Carlo_M
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Oct 31, 1997
- Messages
- 13,392
Amoeba was having 20% off turntables on Record Store Day this weekend. As some of you may recall, I bought my first turntable (Pro-ject Debut Carbon) about three years ago, and it helped rekindle my love for music in general, and the Led Zeppelin deluxe editions in specific.
Well I realized I spend much more time nowadays in my bedroom (I have a desk in there where I do a lot of work-from-home) so I thought, what the heck, let's buy another one for the bedroom. So I purchased a Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Esprit SB.
I can truly say this was an upgrade over the original in several ways. One is the DC motor, which is much quieter than the original. I can't hear it spinning at all whereas on the other TT there was a low, barely audible rumble. This is dead quiet.
Also the acrylic platter comes standard with the Esprit SB, so no additional $99 upgrade price.
Third, is that the "Speedbox" functionality is now built-in (hence the SB moniker). So it's a allegedly a more accurate 33 1/3 and 45 RPM speed stability (I don't have tools to measure this so it's up to you to believe the marketing hype) but the biggest improvement is the ability to switch from 33.3 to 45RPM via push button as opposed to switching belts. A few of my LPs are mastered at 45RPM for improved sonics and now I no longer have to remove the platter to switch belts.
I did order a new Ortofon 2M Blue stylus, scheduled to arrive today, which apparently is an easy plug-n-play swap with the 2M Red that comes with these turntables. It's supposed to be a noticeable sonic improvement, which would be saying something because the 2M Red is already a great stylus!
The coup-de-grace for me? The color. My original Debut Carbon was piano gloss black, which is elegant and understated, which I wanted at the time. The new color? I'll let you decide, but I love it:
I can't fairly do an A/B to my living room system as the amps and speakers are totally different (Pioneer SC79 in the living room, SC05 in bedroom, MB Quart QLS1030 in living room, Energy C6 Connoisseurs in bedroom), but the sound I'm getting in the bedroom is superior to the living room. Most of that is likely owing to the speakers and the room setup (my living room is very large and has weird dimensions, vs. my bedroom is more acoustically friendly).
But no matter the reason(s) I'm truly enjoying the new turntable and have been playing LPs non-stop the last 2 days.
Well I realized I spend much more time nowadays in my bedroom (I have a desk in there where I do a lot of work-from-home) so I thought, what the heck, let's buy another one for the bedroom. So I purchased a Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Esprit SB.
I can truly say this was an upgrade over the original in several ways. One is the DC motor, which is much quieter than the original. I can't hear it spinning at all whereas on the other TT there was a low, barely audible rumble. This is dead quiet.
Also the acrylic platter comes standard with the Esprit SB, so no additional $99 upgrade price.
Third, is that the "Speedbox" functionality is now built-in (hence the SB moniker). So it's a allegedly a more accurate 33 1/3 and 45 RPM speed stability (I don't have tools to measure this so it's up to you to believe the marketing hype) but the biggest improvement is the ability to switch from 33.3 to 45RPM via push button as opposed to switching belts. A few of my LPs are mastered at 45RPM for improved sonics and now I no longer have to remove the platter to switch belts.
I did order a new Ortofon 2M Blue stylus, scheduled to arrive today, which apparently is an easy plug-n-play swap with the 2M Red that comes with these turntables. It's supposed to be a noticeable sonic improvement, which would be saying something because the 2M Red is already a great stylus!
The coup-de-grace for me? The color. My original Debut Carbon was piano gloss black, which is elegant and understated, which I wanted at the time. The new color? I'll let you decide, but I love it:
I can't fairly do an A/B to my living room system as the amps and speakers are totally different (Pioneer SC79 in the living room, SC05 in bedroom, MB Quart QLS1030 in living room, Energy C6 Connoisseurs in bedroom), but the sound I'm getting in the bedroom is superior to the living room. Most of that is likely owing to the speakers and the room setup (my living room is very large and has weird dimensions, vs. my bedroom is more acoustically friendly).
But no matter the reason(s) I'm truly enjoying the new turntable and have been playing LPs non-stop the last 2 days.
