Signature 12

The large, beautifully finished plinth is made from MDF, packed with metal granulate to create a heavy, non-resonant base for the turntable. This plinth then sits on four powerful magnetic feet, which are lined with Sorbothane pillows, for effective decoupling from a hi-fi stand. The result is a successful combination of the 'high-mass' and 'floating turntable' design principles that were first successfully merged by Pro-Ject with the high-end Xtension turntables.

On top of the main plinth, the Signature 12 uses a mass-loaded magnetic sub-chassis, which is perfect for reducing resonance and noise transfer to the cartridge. The large, heavy main platter rides on this sub-chassis, rotating on an inverted ceramic main bearing with almost no friction at all. The main platter itself is machined from a specially selected, resonance-optimised metal alloy, which is internally lined with damping material and topped with melted vinyl records. The turntable is finished with the Signature Record Puck as part of the package.

The external drive motors are powered by a high-tolerance speed controller, built into the chassis in the form of a purpose-designed computer. The dual-motors then drive a flywheel mechanism that allows for a resonance-free drive system. The computer accomodates both 33 and 45 rpm speeds, with the ability to incrementally adjust the speed for pin-point timing.

The striking 12" Signature tonearm is a unique Pro-Ject design. Unlike anything else in the range, Pro-Ject's Signature Tonearms are made from different metal and aluminium alloys and are tooled with ultra-precise diamond cutters on CNC machinery. Inside the tonearm tube, damping material is meticulously applied to add mass and acoustic integrity, but in order to keep the iconic toe-tapping sound that Pro-Ject is associate with, the tube is mounted on a special, oil-damped Uni-Pivot bearing. To further aid exact set-up, Signature Tonearms can have the VTA, Azimuth and Overhang easily adjusted. The use of a detachable headshell allows the Signature 12 to easily accommodate a variety of high-end cartridges, whether they're for a specific use (such as Mono recordings) or to suit a certain musical style or genre.

The interconnect cable between a record player and a phono stage is prone to pick up noise on the way. That noise and interference can stem from a lot of unavoidable sources, such as household applicances, wi-fi and bluetooth devices, other power cables and audio amplifiers. Unshielded (i.e. RCA) interconnects can amplify the picked-up noise and make it audible through your speakers, interfering with the pure musical signal.

Balanced (typically XLR) cable connections double the wires carrying the musical signal – with one side inverted. In this case noise still gets picked up by both wires, but with one side reversed. When the signals are re-joined at the phono stage, the picked-up noise is cancelled out by the opposing signals. The benefit of this is a louder, cleaner musical signal that has doubled in size with almost no remaining noise.

Key Features:

• Audiophile turntable design
• Mass-loaded plinth filled with metal granulate
• High-mass main platter magnetically decoupled from sub-chassis
• Main platter made from resonance-optimised alloy with built-in TPE damping
• Inverted main bearing with ceramic ball
• Electronic speed computer built-in
• Flywheel belt-drive system eliminates all unwanted resonance
• 12” uni-pivot Signature Tonearm pre-installed
• High-gloss finish kept to a very high standard
• Diamond-cut Signature Record Puck included
• Supplied with 5P-RCA audiophile cable