THE project debut carbon evo in satin steel blue

The Project Debut Carbon has been around for a few years now, yet is still one of our best selling turntables. Like many, I was interested when I heard that an ‘Evo’ version had been released. What would the difference be between the two? Well, looking at the two side by side I must say they look identical (apart from the finish of course!)

the proven 8,6‘‘ one piece Carbon tonearm design. The super stiff, but lightweight tonearm delivers an insane sound quality with a convincing sound stage.

The signature, high quality carbon arm, factory fitted with the excellent Ortofon 2M Red cartridge. The connecting cable included with both models is the well respected, semi-balanced Connect-it E. And whilst it would appear to be the same looking platter, the Evo boasts a newly designed platter which we will discuss a little later. As well as this, there are now nine elegant finishes available, including Satin Steel Blue - A touch of class indeed!

So what else are we getting for the £80 premium?

To find this out we must look a bit deeper. First of all, the “Evo” has an electronic speed change. The simple on/off switch on the original has been replaced with a three position switch, flick to the left for 33 and to the right for 45. No need to remove the platter to change speed.

Whilst we’re talking about speed; this deck is also capable of playing 78’s with a special belt that is supplied. Just simply place it on the larger pulley and away you go. Just make sure you change your stylus to play your old shellacs - Ortofon manufacture an easily replaceable stylus for this very purpose.

While looking underneath the deck I also noticed that the feet were different. It now sits on three height adjustable aluminium feet which are further dampened with TPE (Thermo-Plastic Elastomer). This will ensure an absolutely stable platform, with good isolation from the shelf it is placed on.

So what’s new under the bonnet so to speak? On removing the platter we can see two noticeable improvements. The first is the in house designed motor and the way it is mounted. It is now decoupled from the chassis using a new mounting plate. This is again dampened with TPE, which isolates the motor whilst keeping it perfectly level with the sub-platter drive system.

As mentioned before, the Evo’s platter also features all new TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) technology which helps to damp the resonance completely and also increases the weight to 1.7 kg. Also, because the TPE is mounted to the inside of the platter‘s rim, the extra mass there will also create a flywheel effect. The result is an even quieter and noiseless operation, with less wow and flutter.

So, all-in-all, some worthwhile improvements for a megre £80. However the proof is in the listening…

Let the shoot-out begin!

I set both turntables up with a system that they are likely to be partnered with, consisting of the excellent Rega Brio amp and Dali Oberon 5 loudspeakers. I set them both to play for a couple of hours to make sure the system was fully warmed up. I randomly selected some vinyl from my home collection, but ones that should show the difference between these two decks.

First for a spin was Karen Souza and her cover of Bruce Hornsby’s “The Way it Is.” Karen’s close mic’d vocals sounded good but with a very slight sibilance but this was not enough to spoil the performance. Imaging was good and the bass was slightly on the warm side.

So, over to the “Evo”

The first thing that was noticeable was the lower surface noise. The stereo image now was a lot wider, filling the space between the speakers nicely. Her voice was also slightly more forward in the mix, putting the band firmly behind her. In fact it was now a lot easier to individually follow the musicians. The bass was also tighter; no doubt a result of the extra damping. I didn’t seem to notice the slight sibilance.

Next, the Vivaldi. An early digital recording and not the best out there, however, with a performance amongst the top. This recording has a slightly shrill top end, and this was the case on the Debut Carbon. This was still the case with the “Evo”, however, the wider soundstage and greater bass weight made the performance much more enjoyable.

Again I had similar results with the Christine and the Queens LP. A wider soundstage with the heavy bass lines of the track “iT” much cleaner and more focused.

Last but not least was the John Mayer disc. This is a fine example of a well recorded and produced album, and both turntables shone here. The track “Gravity” is fairly narrowly mixed, and this was the case on both turntables. The biggest difference here was in the depth. The “Evo” bought Mayer’s vocals forward, and it was the same with the background vocals towards the end of the track. I imagine just as the engineer intended.

Funnily enough I was quite happy swapping from the Carbon to the EVO but not so much the other way. I just wanted to listen to the whole album. This for me would be well worth the extra £80 spend.

Project turntables are available from all Audio-T branches. Find you local store here.

Hefin, Nick & Kerrin - Audio T Cardiff

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