Pro-Ject launches sleek and minimalist X8 turntable ahead of Vinyl Week
Pro-Ject also claims the V8 offers “true-balanced” connectivity
Credit: Pro-Ject
Pro-Ject has launched a new minimalist turntable for Vinyl Week called the X8, which comes with XLR connections to cancel out opposing signals among other features.
The mass-loaded X8 deck, weighing in at 15kg, also boasts a precision-lathed, TPE-damped aluminium platter on a heavy plinth that offers stability during play time, a nine-inch Evolution tonearm, and an inverted ceramic-tipped main bearing with magnetic support for fluid rotations.
The tonearm in particular is usually found in higher-end decks rather than those at the X8’s £2,099 recommended retail price as well, a one-piece carbon fibre tonearm tube, tapered off and mounted in a heavyweight bearing block with ABEC 7 ball bearings.
Available in high-gloss black, high-gloss white or real-wood walnut veneer, the X8 also comes with a removable dust cover and a felt mat, height-adjustable TPE-damped feet, and a Connect-IT E 5P>RCA phono cable.
Pro-Ject also claims the V8 offers “true-balanced” connectivity from the cartridge to the phono stage. The company asserts that any pre-mounted moving coil cartridge will output a balanced signal through the deck’s 5-pin output jack when adapted to XLR with a 5P/XLR cable, including the factory-fitted default Ortofon cartridge that comes with the X8, claiming on the X8’s product page that the “true-balanced’ connectivity will lead to “increased dynamics, less noise and improved signal to noise ratios”.
The X8 can also be set to 33 and 48 rpm speeds manually with a flip of a switch.
In other turntable news, Japanese manufacturer Technics is releasing a limited number of special edition turntables to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the highly acclaimed Technics SL-1200 Series, set to ship later this year in July. Only 12,000 units will be released globally, with seven colours (black, red, blue, white, green, yellow, beige) available.
The special edition turntable has features identical to the SL-1200MK7, featuring a coreless direct-drive motor, an S-shaped aluminium tonearm and gimbal suspension system, reverse play function, and a starting torque/ brake speed adjustment function.
