New Pro-ject turntables

[mattatnotts]

I'm looking for a new turntable with a budget of around £250 and quite fancy a pro-ject. Whilst looking at the pro-ject range on their website (http://www.project-audio.com/) I noticed a few new turntables that I havent seen anywhere else. There is a nice looking 1Xpression III, which has a black gloss finish and an acrylic platter. Also, there is what looks like an all-black Genie (that was mentioned on the whathifi website on 15th June), although pro-ject-audio.com is calling it the RPM1.

I'm hoping the Xpression III will be a direct replacement for the Xpression II and be in the same price bracket (£250!) Any idea when these will be available in the UK?

 

[Andrew Everard]

The Genie is called the RPM 1 for the German market I gather, simply because the distributor didn't think much of the Genie name(!), but at the moment is still going to be called the Genie in the UK. The likelihood is that the finish will be black and very dark metallic blue here in the UK, as mentioned in the news piece.
I've mailed Pro-Ject's UK distributor Henley Designs and the answer is that the Xpression III and Genie will be available late August/September, but no confirmation of price of the III yet.

 

[mattatnotts]

Just seen the review of the Xpression III in the latest issue of the magazine. A little disapointed it wasn't the 5 star I was expecting, but still looks impressive. Browsing the net, I found needles-and-spins.co.uk selling the Xpression III, as well as the genie (RPM1) and also a version of the Debut Mk3 with an acrylic platter called the 'Esprit'. Will these be reviewed at What Hi-Fi any time soon?

 

[Anonymous]

I have the Xpression 1 (but with an upgraded MC cartridge) and am extremely happy with it. Simple but well built and a lovely rich but open sound. A good photo stage brings the life out of it too.

Only problem I had was that it melted its first power adapter (it's just a little plug in transformer) so I now unplug it when not in use. They may well have ironed that out by now though.

Cheers
Neil