Pro-Ject Pro Ject Primary E Traditional Plug & Play Turntable Black

Author: Liam

Rating: 5

Review: Fantastic sounding turntable and perfect for any budding audiophile! I originally started out with an Ion Pro 80 a few weeks ago which was perfect for getting me into the hobby whilst I was slowly building my collection but I felt with my system there was a lot more potential. I am running a Rotel RA01 with a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 loud speakers and Chord cables with banana plugs. With this combination using the Rotels inbuilt phono stage I get a sound that's dynamic, big and detailed. There's a lack of sound stage depth compared to my Schitt Modi DAC and Roon streaming setup but for an entry level turntable with it's factory fitted cartridge this is more than good enough for anyone to get up and running with vinyl and is providing satisfying results that have me listening over and and over and over and over again! A word of warning however, this record player is very finnicky and requires some extra patience as there's no auto stop or button to change speeds, this has to be done manually with the belt but if you're careful and crave excellent sound quality at a reasonable price look no further! This is a fantastic step in anyone's vinyl journey and I'm very excited to continue to build my collection and making small upgrades to this turntable to get the best sound I can!

Author: Eric Hesner

Rating: 2

Review: I don't write reviews for purchases I make. I've ordered all sorts of things; things that arrive broken in the box, things that don't fit the product description at all, totally different items to what I actually ordered, the lot. I've never written a product review because I just don't see the point. An adulthood of working in hospitality and retail has made me a little cautious when criticising people just trying to do their jobs. Alas... This record player is not worth the money you will spend. The sound quality is worth the money, in fact the sound quality is every bit as good as the higher end models. Unfortunately, with this particular turntable there are certain, irrefutable factors that make it a bad purchase. Primarily, the drive belt. It will fall off over and over again, it is tricky to put back on (may even require a second pair of hands!) and it will eventually break. Mine snapped after having listened to one record. I know have a very expensive, sleek looking table to put my keys on. If you try to order more drive belts (which are essentially glorified rubber bands), firstly you'll have a hard time figuring out which one you need (it's called the "essential", which is a perfect irony). Secondly, you'll notice they cost about £20. That's £20 for, as I mentioned, a rubber band. THEN, you'll notice that they're out of stock. This is likely because so many people have had to order more to replace their broken, original drive belt. Naturally, you might contact customer service, which will be met with lots of non-speak and the subtle art of distraction. They'll perhaps offer, as in my case, to send you two new belts as a replacement. This is very kind of them! But, they don't know when they'll have any in stock, and they can't tell you when you'll be getting them. I care to remind you, reader, that I have listened to one album on my new Primary E. It sounded incredible, but whether it was worth £170 for the privilege, I am unsure. Now, this whole thing could have been easily dealt with in manufacturing, had the company carved a groove around the platter for the belt to fit into. This wouldn't have costed much for them to do, let's be realistic. Still, when you bring this point up to their staff, you're met with comments like "the belts are designed to fit tightly around the platter, and will not fall off or break unless constantly touched or moved around". This is false. I wouldn't have needed to touch my drive belt had it not fallen off after the initial fitting of it. If it had just sat on there and stayed in perfect position, I'd never have adjusted it. I don't even own enough 45s to justify adjusting it on the pulley. Other user reviews will attest that these belts fall off constantly. So you keep touching them, so they break. How interesting. How convenient, too, that the replacements are a further £20!! Not sure if that's a very well executed scam or not, but it's certainly expensive. Other terrible features include the three rubber feet (two on the left and right at the front of the turntable, and one in the centre, at the back) this is a short-sighted design flaw which, if any pressure is applied, will tilt the player to the right or the left. So, in summary/TLDR: Your drive belt will (italics) break. You won't be able to replace it easily. The player sounds good, but so do other players that function better. The product has other design flaws that were avoidable. Customer service is polite and helpful on the surface, but actually useless. In the item manual, there's some verbiage to the effect of "this turntable will make enjoying music easy, and will last for years". I am paraphrasing, as I don't have the manual to hand, but I assure you that this is false advertising. It makes music very, very difficult, and lasts for about the length of Dark Side of the Moon, and then the drive belt snaps. BUY SOMETHING ELSE. You could learn to play the guitar to a decent enough standard to make your own records, in the time it takes for these people to replace your drive belts, or respond to an email.