Review: Pro-Ject XA B Balanced Turntable with Pick it PRO Balanced Cartridge

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We are taking a look at a very special turntable from Pro-Ject Audio Systems. The new Pro-Ject XA B turntable is an acrylic, balanced, belt-driven turntable.

Pro-Ject has taken their 30 plus years of experience and previous designs of acrylic turntables, and put them together to create something truly special and inspiring. Complete with a 10-inch aluminum tonearm, balanced cartridge and balanced audio outputs, and a stunning crystal-clear acrylic body, this turntable has something for every modernist vinyl enthusiast out there.

For those of you unfamiliar with Pro-Ject, let me give you a brief rundown on some things that make them special.

Design Principles

Essentially all of Pro-Ject's turntables follow a list of ten concepts, almost like the Ten Commandments of turntable design.

1. No features at the cost of performance on most of the models. You won't find any automatic systems or Bluetooth connectivity because they're looking to deliver the best performance and reliability in the long term.
2. High quality plinths made with quality materials and precise engineering for the least amount of resonance.
3. Steel spindles and metal bearings for reliable rotation and pivot of both the tonearm and the sub platter.
4. High quality platters.
5. High quality AC motors.
6. Designed and made in Europe.
7. High quality cables.
8. Serious tonearms made from carbon fiber, aluminum or sometimes both for the best sound.
9. Quality cartridges from partners like Sumiko and Ortofon.
10. A 25-year spare part guarantee. A turntable you buy today will last you for decades to come.

Acrylic Plinth

Once we remove the included dust cover, the first thing that catches the eye is that beautiful acrylic plinth. It makes it look like all the components are mounted to a sheet of ice. One cool thing you can do is attach a thin strip of RGB LED lights to the back so you can give an afterglow to the body and really make it pop.

The acrylic isn't all for looks, however, and serves an important acoustic function. It is incredibly dense and inert, which helps reduce any vibrations from external sources. Acrylic can be notoriously difficult to work with if you aren't careful, but Pro-Ject has about 15 years under their belt making turntables out of this material and can be found in higher performance models like the 6 PerspeX.

Tonearm

Pro-Ject has opted to go with a ten-inch aluminum tonearm for this model, as opposed to carbon fiber that you can find on so many of their other turntables. The length allows the stylus to track more freely farther into a record than an 8- or 9-inch tonearm, and the aluminum has a much more lively sound than carbon fiber. There is such a thing as too much isolation, and in some cases, it can lead to a dead or less dynamic sound. Pro-Ject pays close attention to this when designing new turntables.

Platter

The platter follows a familiar design to some models we've seen before. It is made of heavy, dense aluminum. And on the underside of the platter there is TPE, or a Thermo-Polymer Elastomer ring around the interior perimeter. This dampens the platter. So, when listening to music at louder volumes, you won't have any unwanted resonance.

Motor & Speed Controller

With the platter removed, we can see the sub platter and the isolated AC motor and belt drive. On many of Pro-Ject’s turntables, they isolate the motor with rubber suspensions or rubber grommets like on the XA B. Here again, this helps reduce noise and distortion, this time from any potential micro vibrations induced by the motor spinning slightly off axis.

Underneath and behind the motor, we can see the power supply and speed controller. We have two options for speed control on this unit 33 1/3 and 45 rpm toggle level with the switch.

Adjustable Damped Feet

Finally on the bottom are three adjustable damped feet. With the three feet you can perfectly balance this turntable on any surface. We really appreciate the small amount of felt on the bottom of each foot to help avoid scratches or scuffs on more delicate surfaces, but this also helps isolate the turntable even more.

Premium Pick it Pro Cartridge

Included with the XA B is a special premium cartridge. Pro-Ject has worked with a world-renowned cartridge manufacturer Ortofon to develop the first of its kind balanced moving magnet cartridge. Typically, to make use of the balanced topography, you would need to use a moving coil cartridge, and while that is still an option or as an upgrade, the included pre mounted Pick it Pro balanced cartridge is a fantastic starting point.

They revised the design of the original Pick it Pro and rerouted the grounding to send a symmetrical signal. Two big advantages come from this with up to a 6 DB gain in dynamics, and the removal of noise and interference from outside sources.

Balanced Audio Cables

The next step in the chain is balanced audio cables. In a nutshell, balanced audio cables are the best way to send sensitive audio signals from point to point.

Looking inside an XLR cable, we see three pins. One is for ground and the other two are identical conductors carrying their respective channels audio signals, except one is out of phase with the other. You can think of this like a mirror image of the audio signal or to use a term we learned from McIntosh; you have music down one side and anti-music down the other.

Every cable in existence will act like a giant antenna. When you run an electrical current through it creates interference and distortion. The core thing balanced cables do is canceling out that distortion interference by flipping the signal of the out of phase conductor or anti music side back into its correct position, thus flipping the distortion out of phase and canceling each other out. This is the same principle behind noise canceling headphones called constructive and deconstructive wave interference, like adding positive and negative numbers together to get zero.

If you have trouble following the technical explanation, don't worry. Balanced cables cancel noise picked up from the environment and are the best connections to use. If your system supports them, use them. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Along with the balanced cartridges and balanced cables, you will also need a balanced phono preamp. Luckily, Pro-Ject has you covered with several options. I recommend the Phono Box S3 B or DS 3B from Pro-Ject for the XA B. Both are the perfect additions to a system that also supports balanced amplification like certain McIntosh systems.

While all of these balanced connections, cables, and devices are a great way to get the absolute max out of the XA B, included in the box is a simple adapter cable from 5 pin Din to stereo RCA with ground. This is a great way to get your turntable hooked up to any standard phono preamp stage.

In Summary

With all of that said, we think the Pro-Ject XA B turntable would be a great addition to any modern setup. The ability to upgrade over time by going full balanced all the way from the cartridge to the connection of your stereo system is fantastic and Pro-Ject has all the key components you need to make it happen. Setting up the XA B and getting it hooked up is a breeze, and the included adapter cable works well for more simple stereo systems.

For $1499, we think the XA B punches well above its weight and gives you a solid turntable with great looks and great sound.

Shop the Pro-Ject AX B Turntable here.