New tonearms do not come along every day. But Pro-Ject has some new ones on the way in several lengths and variants. They can be used on all Pro-Ject turntables from the RPM 5 Carbon and X8, which we recently tested, and will be available in 9, 10 and 12 inch lengths.
The well-playing Pro-Ject X2 is the turntable to choose in this price range.
The arms are called EVO CC, which comes with straight arm tubes, and EVO AS if you choose s-shaped arm tubes. But there are also arms with more lavish details, called EVO Premium. Again, you can choose between straight arm tubes – EVO CA Premium – and s-shaped arm tubes – EVO AS Premium.
The arms feature a new four-point suspension, damped counterweight, tapered aluminium or carbon fibre clad aluminium arm tubes. Depending on the type of pickup you choose and how much mass you need in the arm tube. The arms have removable pickup housings with SME connectors, so there’s plenty of room for experimentation.
The main distinguishing features of the Premium versions are that the aluminium suspension has been replaced with stainless steel, the carbon fibre arm tubes have an aluminium core, the internal cabling is silver and the counterweight has better damping. The bearing is ABEC 7 and specially selected for the Premium arms.
The s-shaped arms are available with polished arm tubes, and because the polishing is done manually, they cost slightly more than the black versions.
The new Pro-Ject arms can also be used on other turntables with detachable arms, and Pro-Ject can supply arm mounts for a variety of players to fit the new EVO arms.
Prices range from $€800 to €1800 for the EVO arms and €1400 to €2400 for the EVO Premium arms.
