We might seem too enthusiastic about a player in this price range, but the truth is that for the asking price, the Debut Carbon EVO does it all so well that it is hard not to admire the merit of the Austrian company. The Debut doesn’t have any isolating suspension (unless you count a set of compliant feet) so make sure its support is as rigid and vibration-free as possible. Right from the beginning, the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon EVO was far better: more emotional and weighty, more living-and-breathing, more detailed, more dynamic, more spacious. Also much more engaging and resolute without any distraction of harshness. The system has well-controlled, articulate, and detailed bass, without overemphasis.Rhythm sections were performed with a good sense of timing, good speed, and volume, avoiding any exaggeration. That’s not to say the Pro-Ject’s performance is clinical: it’s expressive, clearly displaying a good deal of subtlety and fairly wide dynamics.

There’s heat in the low frequencies, certainly, but they’re not overcooked and it’s certainly not at the expense of detail or texture. There’s a similarly lavish amount of detail retrieved in the midrange – it reveals so much about the glee and malevolence Nina Simone imbues her performance with it’s almost hair-raising – and while the top end is rolled off just fractionally, it’s far from a blunt instrument. Prices valid in stores (all including VAT) until close of business on 28th November 2023. (Some of these web prices are cheaper than in-store, so please mention that you've seen these offers online.) This is a display of strength: with its construction quality and sonic characteristics, it‘s the new reference in this price category. With specs like these, it is highly recommended! While it's not the cheapest record player on the shelf, the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon is still an incredible value. We can’t recommend this turntable enough. This is more great affordable Hi-Fi but done in a way that is brilliantly user-friendly. It’s hard to see the result as anything other than a Best Buy.Our review sample is in Fir Green, and very nice it looks too. The finish is flawlessly smooth, and as reassuring as the build quality.

A classic signature feature of the original model that has been carried through is the carbon tonearm. Usually found on more expensive turntables, this provides significant benefits to the sound quality. Being stiffer than steel, the tonearm is more rigid, which helps reproduce the music more accurately. In short, the music sounds tighter, punchier and more detailed. The Pro-Ject handles tempos and rhythms with equal assurance. Oh, you’ll get a straighter edge and a more martial approach from a similarly priced Rega turntable, but the Evo counters (and strongly) with its unfussy nature and the almost ostentatious amount of detail it digs out.While it's still incredibly easy to use (especially for anyone used to setting up more complicated players), you are giving up conveniences like auto start/stop, an anti-skate dial and a built-in phono preamp but for audiophiles, none of these downsides matter as the turntable’s sonic performance vastly outweighs its minor trade offs. It has a kind of seductive, organic richness and woodiness, that we never were aware it was hidden inside the Ortofon 2M Red moving magnet – not until now. It’s not the newest turntable around, and the competition may be tough, but even after a few years it has proved that it’s still among the class leaders at this price. Speed change is manual: you’ll have to take off the platter and move the belt by hand to go from 33⅓ to 45rpm.

We're loath to call it a negative – some would probably welcome the more subtle approach – but it did take a little sheen off our overall experience. Pro-Ject Debut Carbon EVO review: The alternatives There is no doubt that the entire performance of the Debut Carbon EVO model escalates to new levels of richness, realism, and detail retrieval, entering ‘restricted’ audiophile ground territory.

Anytime the perfect stand

New for this model are a set of three height-adjustable, damped aluminium feet that will ensure the turntable always sits perfectly level on your cabinet or table, while reducing vibration. They look pretty cool, too, especially when contrasted against one of the more funky-coloured variants.

When the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon launched in 2012, three things initially stood out for us: the turntable's minimalist aesthetic, the range of bright colours variations, and the fact it had a carbon-fibre tonearm (hence the name). Well, all of those attributes are still present and correct in this new version.

The Evolution

Pro-Ject includes a well-written manual and also a well-designed guide for the initial setup, something that we rarely find at this price point. with the Debut Carbon EVO winning clearly. It achieved a phenomenal physical impact for its category, truthful tonal colors, and soundstage height. Like any worthwhile turntable, it’s very adept and tying everything together. There’s a tangible sense of performance from the Evo, even when it’s playing cut’n’paste collages from the likes of A Tribe Called Quest. The unity of a recording, the way the midrange rides on the low-frequency underpinnings, and the way the treble balances securely on the top, allows every record to sound coherent and convincing. Even with the most processed, machine-derived recordings, this Pro-Ject glides along with the sort of casual authority of sound that can only come from a well-sorted record player. There's no built-in phono preamp with this model, though Pro-Ject goes some way towards compensating for this by including its high-quality Connect It E phono RCA cable in the box, ready for you to connect up your own device.