Essential II

About the Essential II

The Pro-Ject Essential II is a high-quality manual belt-drive turntable aimed at vinyl beginners and audiophiles seeking excellent sound quality. It features a quiet-running synchronous motor with a silicone belt driving a low-resonance 300mm particle board platter with a felt mat. The main bearing is made of stainless steel with a bronze bushing and Teflon bottom to minimize friction. The tonearm is a straight 8.6" aluminum design made from a single piece of aluminum with sapphire bearings, providing precise tracking and low resonance. It comes pre-mounted with an Ortofon OM5e moving magnet cartridge, recommended tracking force of 17.5mN, and includes a pre-mounted gold-plated RCA interconnect cable. The chassis is constructed from lightweight but stiff particle board, and special feet effectively decouple the turntable from the surface to reduce vibrations. The Essential II supports 33 and 45 RPM speeds with manual speed change and has a speed variance of ±0.80% at 33 RPM and ±0.70% at 45 RPM. Wow and flutter are rated at 0.29% and 0.27% respectively. It consumes a maximum of 4.5 watts and measures 420 x 112 x 330 mm (WxHxD) with a net weight of 4.0 kg. A dust cover and power supply are included. This turntable is highly regarded for its class-leading sound quality and ease of use for vinyl enthusiasts.