Pro-Ject Automat A1 Automatic Turntable

The Pro-Ject Philosophy

Pro-Ject Audio Systems has always had one purpose since its establishment in 1991: bring HiFi Stereo music enjoyment to as many people as possible. How do we do this? By focusing all our efforts and energy into making the best sounding HiFi as affordable as possible. In 1991 we have achieved this with our first turntable – the Pro-Ject 1. Why a turntable? Because, back then, the CD format was in its infancy, had its fair share of problems and CD players were too expensive.

AUTOMAT

Pro-Ject Audio Systems is now extremely proud to announce that we have finally found access to exactly the kind of technology that allows us to make automatic turntables without degrading the sound quality to below our standards.

Handmade in Germany by a traditional manufacturer with a wealth of experience in making automatic turntables, the new Pro-Ject AUTOMAT series of turntables are, what we think, the new pinnacle of automatic turntable design. This technically reliable technology is what enables us to bring the Pro-Ject sound and philosophy to an entirely new audience, and, with it, affordable and accessible high-quality HiFi to people’s homes.

Reliable – Sustainable – Affordable

The Pro-Ject 1 was a simple-looking turntable. It didn’t focus on features or fancy design – even a brand logo was missing. It had to be reliable, sustainable, and bring the best possible sound for the least amount of money. Build quality and craftsmanship had to be excellent so it could keep spinning records for the next 30 years and longer. And the manual design helped to keep costs low and price/performance unbeatably high. It was the ultimate winning combination.

The sheer joy of listening to analog records for a relatively low price, on one of our minimalistic turntables, created a huge wave of enthusiasm! The revival of the analog record started in the mid-90s and like the snowball effect it rolled on inexorably. More and more turntables and analog records even became part of a new “lifestyle”. Towards the end of the 90s, we decided to make our most popular product, the DEBUT, in many fancy colours. So people bought our products because they looked cool!

An Automatic Turnable Creating Analog For Everyone

Consequently, for the design of our products, which must always be of excellent sound quality, we were looking to make them easier to install and use. We created the A1 automatic turntable to encourage even more customers to take the deep plunge into the analog world with us, who had fears about installation and complicated usage.

AUTOMAT Technology

The Automat technology in the A1 allows us to finally bring the Pro-Ject sound and philosophy to an entirely new audience. All the pieces of the super-complex automatics are entirely built and assembled by hand in Germany by a traditional manufacturer, known for their superb reliability and outstanding sound quality. The chance to get access to this technology is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and allows us to reach new pinnacles in automatic turntable design. And It all starts with the A1.

It has a fully-automatic start-and-stop with the automatic mechanism being completely disengaged and decoupled during the entire runtime of the record. The fully mechanical automatics are engaged when you press start and the tonearm is automatically moved to the lead-in groove of the record. Once playing, the automatics are completely taken out of the equation and are not affecting the playback quality – the free movement of the tonearm and platter – at all! And because the automatics are working entirely mechanically – no additional electronics needed – they are truly not influencing or degrading sound quality during playback!

At the end of the record, the record player will automatically return the tonearm to the resting place. This is just one of the things that makes this direct-drive turntable a perfect entry-level turntable.

Ultra-Light-Mass Aluminum Tonearm

The A1 features an 8.3” ultra-light-mass aluminum tonearm. Together with the Ortofon OM10, which fits this design principle perfectly, we get extraordinary fast response and detail in terms of transients and microdynamics. A little-known fact is that the OM series of cartridges have their developmental roots and legacy in ultra-light-mass tonearm designs.

Tracking force and anti-skating are factory-pre-adjusted which makes the A1 plug & play ready within a few seconds. This makes it perfect for vinyl beginners and experienced listeners alike as the sound quality is carried by all the audiophile features the A1 has on offer.

Carbon Fiber Reinforced Anti-Magnetic Headshell

The headshell is a completely new design, especially for the A1. It is made of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer which makes it super stable and rigid, all while keeping the weight at the lowest to work perfectly with the ultra-light-mass tonearm design. The polymer/carbon composite material results in excellent internal damping of resonances on our automatic turntable.

Our automatic belt-drive stereo turntable has all the elements of our best turntables while making it one of our most approachable tables yet.

Semi-Symmetrical Phono Cable w/ Gold-Plated Connectors

The A1 comes with our Connect it E phono cable. It is a semi-balanced, low-capacitance cable, with superior shielding. Compared to other digital and analog music sources, the signal coming from a turntable cartridge is very fragile in nature and cheap RCA cables often do not provide the ideal conditions for getting a phono signal to an amplifier. The Connect It E is purpose-designed for this exact application and unique in this price class.

Thanks to the built-in phono preamp, the A1 is optimized for perfect analog playback plugged into any setup.

Damped Aluminum Platter

The aluminum platter is 100% made in Germany. In three operations it is first stamped, bent and perforated. After that, it goes directly to our next local German supplier for phosphating and de-oiling. A damping ring on the inside is added to increase weight and reduce resonances.

In an extra step, it is then turned and precision balanced to receive its fine edges and lowest wow and flutter deviations. Finally, it receives its smooth paint job, adding to the all-black stylish, and clean look of the A1.

New Feet With Silicon Damping

The new feet effectively decouple the turntable from the surface it is placed on using an internal silicon damping layer. This is an essential feature for every good turntable as it acts as yet another mechanism to ensure your vinyl playback is not influenced by outside interference and resonances.

Better Than a Manual Turntable?

If you’re new to the world of high fidelity and looking for something in an approachable price range, we’re proud to release our first automatic belt drive turntable. With an automatic mechanism built by Fehrenbacher’s precision German manufacturing team, you’ll notice the difference as soon as the stylus touches your record collection.

While there are plenty of lower-cost semi-automatic turntables out there, there are no audiophile grade automatic turntables like this. Switchable for playing 45 RPM records or standard 33 RPM LPs, it’s also outfitted with an Ortofon OM10 phono cartridge. Included are our standard dust cover to protect the platter and moving magnet cartridge.

From the second you open the box, you’ll have it up and running to your stereo speakers or plugged into a bluetooth speaker in mere minutes.

We’re pleased with how our new turntable pairs with the Ortofon diamond stylus, but don’t take our word for it. Read one of our many positive A1 Automat turntable reviews for more info.

Features

• Factory installed and aligned Ortofon OM10 cartridge
• Built in, switchable phono preamp
• 8.3” aluminum low-mass tonearm
• Precise mechanics with automated start and stop
• Aluminum platter with damping ring
• Carbon fiber reinforced non-magnetic headshell
• Resonance damped chassis
• Silicon damped isolation feet
• Electronically controlled playback speeds
• Captive semi-symmetrical Connect it E phono cable
• Gold-plated male RCA connectors (amplifier end)
• Dust cover included
• Handmade in Germany