This is the Pro-Ject E1 Phono, it’s a turntable that’s made in Europe, and it’s widely considered one of the best affordable, entry-level turntables in the world – if not the best outright in that category.
The E1 has a clean, minimalist design that comes in either a Black, White, or a wood finish. Each comes with a removable transparent hinged cover, they can play either 33s or 45s, they’re fitted with an OM 5E cartridge, and it’s ready to plug into your speakers and play right out of the box.
This is Pro-Ject founder Heinz Lichtenegger. He launched the company in 1991 just as CDs were taking over, but Pro-Ject found their niche producing turntables and the company has flourished.
Pro-Ject – A History Speedrun
Pro-Ject was founded in 1991 in Europe by Heinz Lichtenegger, many thought it foolish to launch a company that made record players just as the CD player was becoming the dominant format for home stereos and other music players.
As it turned out, Lichtenegger had been correct. Vinyl records remained popular, and actually grew in popularity over time within many sectors of the music world. Records and turntables offer a truly analogue listening experience far superior to cassette tapes, and arguably better than MP3s, with a warmer tone than CDs.
Pro-Ject now makes a series of turntables, all produced in Europe, with lower-cost models ranging right through to more high end designs. Perhaps most importantly, even the least expensive turntables that Pro-Ject makes are highly-regarded, offering a level of quality not usually found in the low three figures.
The Pro-Ject E1 Phono Turntable
The Pro-Ject E1 turntable is one of the company’s best-selling units and for good reason – it ticks all the boxes for the features you need without disappearing off the deep end into hardcore-audiophile-territory and jacking the price through the roof. Truth be told, in a blind listening test, almost no one can tell the difference.
The industrial design of the Pro-Ject E1 is exemplary, with a minimalist body that can be ordered in White, Black, or a wood tone. This allows the buyer to choose the color that will best match the decor of the room in which it will be placed.
It has an 8.6” tonearm with aluminum alloy tube and purpose-designed headshell, all handmade in Europe. It’s fitted with a pre-adjusted Ortofon OM 5E cartridge with elliptical stylus profile, so it can play records right out of the box.
The Pro-Ject E1 Phono comes with a pre-fitted Ortofon OM 5E cartridge and a built-in internal phono preamplifier, so you can play records right out of the box. Once you plug it into your speakers of course.
The turntable has an 33/45 rpm electronic speed switch, an internal phono preamplifier, an ABS Polymer main platter, and a removable clear acrylic dust cover. It can also be paired with a matching-color set of Pro-Ject speakers from their model range here.
The Pro-Ject E1 Phono is being sold directly from the Pro-Ject Amazon shop here for $399 USD. When ordering be careful not to select the standard E1 (sans “Phono”) as it comes without the built-in phono preamplifier, which you will need if you don’t have an amplifier.
Images courtesy of Pro-Ject
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Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
