Debut III Esprit Review „moderndesign.org“ 10. 2012

CLASSICAL TURNTABLE: Pro-Ject's Debut III Esprit

The "industry" first told us that vinyl was dead and had to be replaced with a fancy new technology; the 8-track. Years later, they old us the same story: buy CD's people! Shortly after; CD's suck...buy the Minidisc; remember that one? Now they are telling us: put your CD's out with the trash and buy MP3's! And in a couple of years they will be telling you to forgot your downloads & spend on some new technology that makes use of telepathic brain- waves. Every time they tell you to change; the house wins and the sound of cash registers ring. But is this really good for the consumer? Perhaps for some who don't know any better. But step back for a moment and remem- ber how fun it was to play vinyl, the feel and look of the jackets, the ritual of taking the vinyl out of its sleeve and placing it on your turntable. And the occasional paper scratch... If you grew up with vinyl; you know that vinyl sounds so much warmer compared to MP3, CD or whatever. Digital is fine for the car but when it comes to the comfort of the home; nothing beats the good old vinyl record and a decent turntable. In fact...don't take our word for it; you should ask Apple's Tim Cook what he plays when at home behind closed curtains...

When it comes to turntables; the mythical Technics SL-1200 is hard to beat. But we have a profound new appreciation for Pro-Ject's Debut III Esprit; a minimalist interpretation of the classic turntable. This ultra-modern and super sleek turntable was styled in Mies van der Rohe's "less is more" philosophy yet includes all the components of a Clearaudio Master Reference; well not exactly but it's sufficient for us and it doesn't cost $28,000.

The Debut III Esprit is a great entry-level turntable for the audiophile vinyl player on a budget; with a ticket price of $399. The Debut III Esprit will please even the most discerning ears. We tested it with Miles David's Kind of Blue and Beethoven's Symphonies 5 and 7 (Carlos Kleiber's rendition of course). We had tears in our eyes as we heard underlying notes we never even knew existed.

Link: http://www.moderndesign.org/2012/10/classical-turntable.html

Update: JK Datum 12710.2012