Pro-Ject T1
Couldn't load pickup availability
Free Shipping On All Orders, No Minimums.
We offer free 2-day shipping on most products within the continental US.
Weekdays - Orders placed by 2pm EST ship same day. Orders placed after 2pm EST will ship the following business day.
Weekends - Orders placed on Saturday and Sunday will ship Monday.
Orders requiring motor freight delivery may take more than two business days. Once your order has shipped, you'll receive a shipping confirmation email with a tracking number for easy tracking.
Orders that contain items that are currently backordered, special order, or out of stock will ship complete once all items are in-stock unless otherwise requested.
If you need it faster, you will have the option of choosing a quicker shipping option when you checkout on the website.
At this time, we do not ship internationally and orders to Hawaii and Alaska may incur an additional shipping charge. Please contact us at 888.899.8776 or email support@audioadvice.com to confirm.
Rerouting and Address Changes
We cannot make ANY address changes once an order is placed. If you are unable to accept delivery of your package as ordered, we will need to cancel your order, return the package to sender and have you replace your order through our website.
Keep the Box
We suggest you keep the shipping box or boxes for at least 30 days. It is actually a great idea to keep boxes for audio products for the life of the product. Having the box and all packing will increase the trade-in value should you decide to move up and they are handy to have should you ever need to send the unit in for repair.
How To Receive a Motor Freight Order
The trucking company will contact you to schedule a convenient time to deliver the order. Please note that you must be present for delivery.
Visually inspect the box to make sure you see no signs of damage. If you notice any damage at all, take some pictures with your phone and make a note of them on the delivery receipt the driver will ask you to sign. If it is obvious that the product is damaged, please refuse the order and contact us immediately at 888.899.8776 or email support@audioadvice.com.
Open your box as soon as possible and inspect the product for damage and contact us if you find anything wrong.
uShip In-Home Delivery
Due to current concerns surrounding COVID-19, uShip is able to offer THRESHOLD SERVICE ONLY at this time. To ensure everyone’s safety, uShip is advising carriers to refrain from making room-of-choice deliveries. Threshold service consists of the shipment being brought into the first door of the address or the lobby of an apartment/condo, and does not include set-up, installation, assembly or debris removal.
What to Expect: Most oversized items will be delivered within 2-3 weeks. Your carrier will place your item inside the first door of the address or the lobby of an apartment/condo.
Appointment Scheduling: Your delivery partner will call 24-48 hours prior to delivery to arrange an appointment window.
How to prepare for in-home delivery:
- Determine the clearest path from the street to your home
- Measure entrances and hallways to ensure your item will fit
- Remove any wall hangings or clutter to ensure a clear path and to prevent damages
- Remove old furnishings to allow placement for your new piece
Check your furniture for damages: We rarely expect damaged furniture, but in the instance it does happen, we have you covered. Once your item’s packaging is removed, check for any damages that may have occurred in transit. Take pictures of any damages and notate appropriately on the delivery receipt. Keep possession of the damaged piece and contact us via phone or email and we’ll start the process to repair/replace your new piece of furniture. For uShip customer support, please call 800-698-7447.
At Audio Advice, we pride ourselves on customer satisfaction. We'll bend over backward to make sure you're 100% satisfied and we won't accept anything less. We offer 30-day hassle-free returns and personalized service from real, live people.
If an item doesn't meet your expectations, you may return or exchange it in its original condition and packaging within 30 days for a full refund, minus shipping fees. Items shipped back in like new condition through standard shipping carriers will only incur a flat fee of $15 to return. If the items were initially shipped through free scheduled delivery via motor freight (commonly referred to as LTL), returning them will result in return shipping fees starting at $150. These items include but are not limited to, oversized items such as TVs, certain subwoofers, floorstanding speakers, furniture, and most items weighing over 75 pounds. Return fees will also apply for exchanges. We want to treat your system as if it is our own and want you to be completely satisfied with your purchase.
Please see the instructions below. We only accept returns for any product purchased directly from our website. If merchandise is not returned in its original condition or is missing packaging, manuals, accessories or other parts, or the resale value of the product has been impaired, a partial refund will be given and calculated on a case-by-case basis.
Non-Returnable Items
The following items cannot be returned or cancelled:
- Special/Custom Order Items
- Open Box Products
- Gift Cards
- In-ear headphones cannot be returned once the packaging has been opened due to personal hygiene reasons. Please contact our customer care team if you'd like help choosing.
-
Turntables With a Broken Stylus: All turntables ship out with the stylus intact. If you return a turntable or phono cartridge with a broken or missing stylus you will be subject to a return fee. Please be careful when setting up your turntable and contact us with any questions.
Is It Easy To Return An Item?
Yes, simply give us a call at 888.899.8776 or you can email our support team at support@audioadvice.com. Many times our team of experts can help figure out why the product might not be working like you expected and get things fixed over the phone, so don’t be surprised if we ask a few questions, we love troubleshooting!
If our tech help can not make you happy, we will email over a return shipping label with a Return Number.
Hopefully, you saved all of the original item’s box and packaging inserts. You will want to pack back up your return or exchange in the same way it came out of the original box. Once you have everything packaged correctly, tape the box on the top and bottom to assure it stays together. If Audio Advice shipped the item to you inside a second box, it's a good idea to use that same extra box to help prevent damage on its way back to us. To avoid it accidentally coming back to you, use a magic marker to cross out the old shipping label or just tear it off.
The return shipping label we send you will have our address on it, just make sure you take the box to the right shipper (UPS, FEDEX, or USPS) as per the label.
If you are close to one of our stores, please let us know if it is more convenient for you to return it to us directly. You will still need to get a return number by contacting us and shipping and/or restocking charges may apply.
When Will I See My Refund?
It usually takes around 7-14 days for the refund to show up on the payment method you used. We do inspect all returns for damage and accuracy of the item inside the box before issuing a refund. Some items may be subject to shipping and restocking fees.
Can I Exchange My Purchase For Something Different?
Sometimes those big speakers just don’t fit in the room or you might have bought a small subwoofer and later found out you’d love a bigger one. If you would like to make an exchange within 30 days of receiving your item, just give us a call at 888.899.8776 or email support@audioadvice.com and we will help work out the details. Additional shipping charges and return costs may apply.
How Do I Cancel An Order?
If the item has already shipped out or is a special order item, it is not possible to cancel the order. Please contact us at 888.899.8776 or email support@audioadvice.com to start the return process.
What If I Find Shipping Damage?
We need to know right away about any shipping damage. Please contact us at 888.899.8776 or email support@audioadvice.com within 48 hours of your delivery so we can get the ball rolling on making things right. It’s very helpful to take some pictures and email them to us if possible.
Can I Refuse A Shipment?
You can, but unless the item is damaged, shipping and restocking fees will be deducted from your refund. If your item arrives damaged and you are lucky enough to be there, snap some quick pics and refuse the order. Then contact us so we can get a replacement on the way.
What Happens If My Order Is Defective?
This is actually pretty rare, most consumer electronics work fine out of the box 99.9% of the time. We’d like for you to contact us first by calling 888.899.8776 or email support@audioadvice.com so we can help get to the bottom of things. If your item is indeed defective during the first 30 days, we can usually exchange it for a new, replacement unit.
What About Service After 30 Days?
Audio Advice has a great relationship with all of our brands and can help you with warranty service by the brand after our 30-day guarantee period. Even after the warranty expires, we can arrange for service by the brand on products purchased from Audio Advice. Just call 888.899.8776 or email support@audioadvice.com.
How Do You Determine A Restocking Fee?
You may not believe it, but sometimes we receive items back that were put in the box with zero packaging and are completely destroyed or are missing many of the pieces that came with the item. We also track serial numbers and will get back different serial numbers. We’ve even seen different items than what we shipped out be returned. However, it’s very important to package your return properly so that nothing goes missing or gets damaged in shipping, which will result in a restocking fee or even no refund at all. If a product is opened and the market value of the product is reduced, then a restocking fee may be applied to the cost of restocking and the reduced market value of the product. The bottom line is if you treat us fairly, we will do the same.
Audio Advice strives to provide industry-leading support and service while also maintaining the lowest prices available on products for our customers. We work hard with our vendors to bring our customers the best products at each price point. As a part of that process, we work with our vendors to provide the lowest pricing in our stores and on our website.
Our prices should always be the same as any other authorized dealer, including big-box retailers and major online retailers.
If you believe that you have found a lower advertised price from a legitimate authorized seller, call us and let us know so we can make sure we can correct any inadvertent error on our side. As a matter of policy, we update our prices automatically if a vendor changes its authorized pricing policies, so we generally have the best prices all the time. Increasingly, there are knock-off copies of products online, usually sold by non-authorized dealers.
Please be sure that the item meets the following conditions:
- The item is brand new, in stock, and available for purchase
- The item has the identical model number, color, etc as the item on our site.
- The seller is an authorized dealer
As always, our goal is to provide a terrific customer experience, including industry low prices. We appreciate your support.
Overview
The T1 from Pro-Ject Audio Systems is the first T-Line turntable, aiming to deliver true high-fidelity sound on a limited budget. Boasting premium materials, stylish aesthetics and a rich, lively sound, the extensive development process has ensured that there has been no compromise in the sound performance when achieving such an affordable price.
The High Notes
A Serious Table at an Amazing Price
Glass Platter
Great Tonearm
Company & Product Overview
Pro-Ject Audio is the brainchild of Heinz Lichtenegger. Heinz founded Pro-Ject in 1991 with the desire to bring high-performance audio down in price by using great manufacturing processes coupled with economies of scale. Almost all of the Pro-Ject components are designed at their engineering facility in Austria and manufactured at their plants in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. By controlling all parts of the production process and making components that have wide appeal, Pro-Ject Audio has carved out a niche of giving you both high performance and value.
The turntable revolution has certainly helped play a large role in the worldwide success of Pro-Ject Audio. Their Debut Carbon model, which has gone through a few revisions over time, is probably the world’s best selling turntable over $200. It is certainly a big hit at Audio Advice as they seem to come in and go out by the pallet load! To go along with their turntables that span from as low as around $250 to as high as $14,000, Pro-Ject also makes phono stages, DAC’s, preamps, and power amps. Their phono stages are also extremely popular as they give you a ton of bang for the buck.
Today’s review is on a brand new turntable line up from Pro-Ject Audio that comes in under their popular Debut Carbon DC series. Many years in the planning, the new Pro-Ject T1 series offers up a lot of technology you’ll see in much more expensive turntables from around the world. The initial launch consists of a T1 table that comes complete with an Ortofon phono cartridge, and the T1 Phono SB with the addition of a built-in phono stage. Later on, Pro-Ject will add a Bluetooth table to the series.
Packaging, Design & Build Quality
Like almost all great turntables where audio performance is the most important aspect, the T1 series are manual, belt-drive turntables. In the world of turntables, manual means you start the platter spinning with a button push, move the tonearm over the record, lower it using the cue mechanism, and when the record ends, you lift the tonearm up using the cue. If you think about it, this design uses the least amount of moving parts, which means there is nothing to add noise or vibrations to the signal.
Belt drive turntables are also the defacto standard for most high-performance turntables for a couple of reasons. First, with direct drive, the platter sits right on top of the motor. Any motor noise present will be transmitted up to the platter and make its way to your phono cartridge. With a belt drive design, the motor is off to the side of the platter and connected with a belt. The belt keeps any motor noise from getting to the platter. Belt drive turntables, if properly designed, also have better speed stability than most direct drive turntables. With direct drive, the motor is constantly making adjustments to keep things at a steady speed. However, our ears can detect these micro-adjustments and the sound just does not come off as exciting and involving. While direct drive tables instantly come up to speed, belt drive tables take a few seconds to get up to speed, but once they do, the weight of the platter creates a flywheel effect that keeps them spinning at a very constant speed. This constant speed makes the sound more like real life.
Of course, you can make a mess or success of either design, but as a general rule, almost all of the great turntables are manual and belt drive like the new T1 series.
When we first looked at the T1, we were super impressed with the way it is put together. The Pro-Ject Audio factories have some pretty serious equipment for turning our consistent product results. The T1 seems to be made just as well as their other tables costing 2-3 times its price.
Features & Technology
The list of features and tech found in the new T1 tables is very impressive when you consider their modest price. We will start from the bottom and work our way up.
The three feet for the T1 are vibration resistant to help isolate the T1 from picking up vibrations from nearby speakers. We still feel you want to try and isolate any turntable from large speakers capable of deep bass.
The plinth is CNC machined out of a solid, composite material. It is a combination of MDF with a foil wrap to reduce resonance. Pro-Ject chose this material to reduce any vibrations inside the plinth. There are three finishes available: high gloss black, satin white, or walnut. The motor is mounted to the plinth with isolation material in between. Pro-Ject also uses an advanced electronic control system for the motor to ensure it spins at a constant speed.
Pro-Ject designed a new sub-platter for the T1 series and mounted it to a very precision main bearing with tolerances down to .001mm. The bearing is identical to the one used in the Pro-Ject Essential III table with a hardened steel axle and brass bushing.
One big deal on the new T1 is the blasted glass main platter. This type of platter is normally seen on tables costing much more. With a heavy glass platter (3 pounds, we weighed it!), you get a great flywheel effect, improving speed stability. Offering a glass platter at this low price is clearly a jab at one of Pro-Ject’s main competitors who offer many tables with glass platters incorporating a more high tech design on most of them, but at higher price points. The whole table weighs in at about 8.3 pounds. The included felt mat tops off the glass platter.
The tonearm on the T1 is a brand new design from the Pro-Ject team. It is the same effective length (8.6”) as the one on the Debut Carbon DC but is a one-piece design to reduce resonance. The rear counterweight is decoupled from the arm. If you need to adjust the tracking force, it slides forwards and backward with a set screw to lock it down when you are done adjusting. The bearing assembly on the tonearm is pretty massive for something in this price range. Pro-Ject developed a new bearing that has very low friction. Unlike the arm on the Debut Carbon, you will not have a way to adjust the vertical tracking angle as this arm has a fixed height. However, according to Pro-Ject, the arm is specifically designed to be a perfect match to the included Ortofon elliptical OM5E cartridge (a great $70 cartridge). We like this trade-off they made. Rather than trying to make the arm compatible (more expensive) with any possible cartridge, they made it work perfectly with the cartridge 99% of the people who buy this table will wind up keeping.
Speaking of the cartridge, many other turntables in this price range that come with a cartridge will have one with a spherical stylus. For more details, check out our turntable buyers guide, but in a nutshell, an elliptical stylus has more contact with the grooves of your record, allowing it to pick up more of those subtle audio nuances. You’ll get Danish engineering on the T1 with the included OM5E. It also has a user-replaceable stylus when it's worn out and time to replace.
The Phono SB model of the T1 has a few differences besides the included phono stage. First, we talked with Pro-Ject and found the built-in phono stage is a cross between their E series and MM series moving magnet phono preamp. Due to the fact that it's connected directly to the tonearm cables internally (think super short signal path), the performance is far better than even the MM separately. Plus it is perfectly tuned to the Ortofon OM5E. If you do not have a phono stage, we recommend you just go ahead and get the T1 Phono SB. Another nice part is should you decide to upgrade the built-in phono stage, you can easily bypass it with a slide switch under the base of the turntable.
The Phono SB model also gives you the convenience of electronic switching between 33 and 45. There are two little buttons located on the top of the plinth to change speed. With the regular T1, you simply remove the main platter and move the belt on the motor pulley.
You’ll also get some pretty high-performance cables with both tables. Pro-Ject gives you their $69 Connect It cables that are a very low capacitance design. On the Phono SB version, these are removable, whereas on the regular T1 they are fixed.
With all of these cool features, we could not wait to test out the T1!
Performance
Set up is another bonus we noticed when we unpacked the T1. Everything is pre-mounted, aligned and balanced from the factory. All you have to do is make the audio connections, put the belt on, add the outer glass platter, connect the power supply and you are done.
As usual, we decided to connect it up to a system probably beyond what most people would use with it just to see how it really sounded. For this test, we used the B&W 703S2 speakers with an Arcam SA20 integrated amp. This system had a MoFi Ultradeck in it we swapped out for the T1. The T1 we tested was the version with the built-in phono stage.
Pro-Ject’s product blurb on the T1 says it has a rich, lively sound. After listening, this seems to be a pretty accurate assessment. We decided to pull out a classic album, Joan Baez, Diamonds and Rust. We had a copy of the Half-Speed Mastered Nautilus version around.
The first thing we noticed was how well this table and cartridge combo tracked. There was very little surface noise and minimal breakup when things got really complicated. On the title track, the guitars jumped out into the room just like they do on a much more expensive setup. Focus and imaging were also very good. On some of the cuts with more rhythm and pacing, we found ourselves tapping our toes to the music, a good sign.
The built-in phono stage of the T1 works really well with the Ortofon. Just for grins, we compared it to a Sutherland Insight (yes, we know, this is crazy, the Insight alone is $1400) and while the Insight was a lot better, it showed us how decent the built-in phono stage is. The comparison showed more of what was missing than anything the built-in one was doing wrong.
Our only reservation, and we have to put this in context as all turntables in this price range behave like this, the deep bass is much less defined and detailed than on a really great turntable. So, while the T1 did not surprise us with revolutionary bass for this price category, it was full and musical, just as Pro-Ject described.
Overall Recommendation
Pro-Ject has obviously reset the bar for entry-level performance turntables with the new T1 series. You will be hard-pressed to find a table in this price range with the plethora of tech found in the T1. If you are just getting into tables and do not have a phono stage, we suggest the T1 Phono SB model with the built-in phono stage. However, if your system already has a phono preamp, the T1 will be an excellent choice. There is one other consideration though. If you are a tinkerer and think you might want to play around with different phono cartridges in the future, the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon DC is probably a better choice for just a bit more. At $399 it has a fully adjustable tonearm, upgrade options for a few of its components, and comes with an even better $100 Ortofon Red cartridge. Should you consider going beyond $400 in your turntable investment, we find you hear big improvements in turntables as you move up. The improvements as you move up are pretty easy to hear each time you listen to a better one. Remember the sound begins at your table, so the better the table, the more music you’ll pull off your records. The choice really comes down to how deep you see yourself getting into the world of vinyl fun!
Details & Specs
Pushing Audiophile Design to a new Affordable Level
The stylish CNC-machined plinth, available in High Gloss Black, Satin White or Walnut finish, features no plastic parts and is carefully manufactured to ensure there are no hollow spaces inside, therefore avoiding unwanted vibrations within the chassis.
Carrying this philosophy through the design, the glass platter is also a heavy, zero-resonance design – again avoiding the flaws of plastic or lightweight steel alternatives. Finally, the purpose-chosen turntable feet also do a good job of isolating the T1 from ambient vibrations around your hi-fi system.
In the T1, the motor drives a belt-system, attached to a newly designed sub-platter, which is mounted into an ultra-precise 0.001mm main bearing with a hardened steel axle and brass bushing – just like our coveted Essential III turntables.
Alongside the chosen motor system, the T1 is, therefore, able to ensure a smooth, anti-resonant rotational platform for the tonearm and cartridge to ride across.
The T1 is then finished with super shielded, semi-symmetrical, low-capacitance phono cables, purpose-designed by Pro-Ject – not off-the-shelf RCA cables. There is also a dust cover for extra protection and a felt mat to protect your records.
The T1 is a new affordable marvel. Still made in Europe by a turntable factory with decades of experience, it is a true hi-fi turntable that looks and sounds sublime.
- Precision belt-drive with accurately regulated speed stability and electronic 33/45 RPM speed change
- Simple setup, tracking force, and anti-skate factory adjusted
- Anti-resonant sub-platter design
- Heavy 8mm, zero-resonance blasted-glass platter
- Precision CNC‘d chassis: NO hollow spaces, NO plastic
- Ortofon OM5e Moving Magnet pickup, factory aligned
- 8,6“ highly precise and light aluminum tonearm
- Low friction, vibration-free tonearm bearing
- One-piece tonearm design with integrated headshell
- Super shielded, semi-symmetrical, low-capacitance phono cables - purpose-designed by Pro-Ject
- Vibration absorbing feet
- Elegant dustcover with adjustable hinges
- Speed: 33, 45 (electronic speed change)
- Principle: Belt drive
- Speed variance: 33: 0.7% 45: 0.6%
- Wow & Flutter: 33: 0.25% 45: 0.23%
- Platter: Heavy 8mm, blasted-glass platter with felt mat
- Main bearing: Stainless steel/brass
- Signal to noise: 65dB
- Tonearm: 8.6” aluminium
- Effective arm length: 218.5 mm
- Overhang: 22.0 mm
- Effective tonearm mass: 8.0 g
- Counterweight for mass: 5 - 10g (pre-mounted)
- Tracking force range: 0 - 50mN (17.5 mN pre-adjusted)
- Included accessories: dustcover, feltmat
- Power Supply: 230V 50Hz (US: 110V 60Hz)
- Power consumption: 3 Watt max
- Dimensions: 415x100x335 mm (WxHxD)
- Weight: 3.8 kg net
