Richer Sounds - THE UK's HI-FI, HOME CINEMA & FLAT PANEL TV SPECIALISTS!

Open box models that may have been used for display or demo.

We've always thought that this was a top quality turntable, but don't just take our word for it.

Reproduced from What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision, December 2004

"Having bestowed a glowing First Test in November and subsequently a best in class Award, the time seemed right to pit Pro-ject's fine Debut III into a Group Test. Such is the competence of this record player that we're sure if turntables could speak, this one would say, "Bring it on!" This is a solid, well-engineered deck, complete with a more-than-adequate aluminium tonearm and Ortofon OMB5 cartridge. It's the work of just a few painless moments to put it all together, and once it's assembled it rewards with a sound that utterly defies the budget price. The Debut III offers fast, taut and well-defined low frequencies that drive along with impressive speed and no suggestion of overhang. King Tubbys meets Rockers Uptown is a pitch-black dub collection, but the Pro-ject brings its superb timing to bear and paints a complete picture in an entirely unflustered way. High frequencies offer crisp, attacking counterpoints and the Debut's instinctive grasp of tempo creates a coherent, beautifully integrated presentation. A switch to the clean-cut pleasures of Joni Mitchell's Court and Spark displays the Pro-ject's admirable ability to create a large and convincing soundstage. Again, great timing is to the fore and the sparkling, airbrushed sound is composed and unwaveringly musical. Transients are fully represented, but never intrusive or at the expense of the overall picture. It's a rapid, responsive presentation. This Pro-ject turntable can offer deft subtleties just as competently as full-frequency bombast and remains serene throughout. However, there's more fine detail buried in some of these recordings than the Debut III can extract, but this nit-picking is the sum total of our reservations about this remarkably impressive budget turntable. Compared to a similarly priced CD player, the Pro-ject is way more musical, more communicative and more fun. If you listen to one of these, you won't for a second think vinyl is dead."

VERDICT

If you've only ever heard CD players at this price, the sweet, communicative and musical sound will be a revelation - though it doesn't always extract every ounce of detail."