Published On: February 25, 2021

Eye-opening Pro-Ject Turntables Celebrate Beatles, George Harrison

Published On: February 25, 2021
Last Updated on: January 31, 2022
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Eye-opening Pro-Ject Turntables Celebrate Beatles, George Harrison

Sweet players from Pro-Ject might be just the thing for your media room, writes Mark Smotroff.

Eye-opening Pro-Ject Turntables Celebrate Beatles, George Harrison

By Author: Mark Smotroff

Mark Smotroff cut his teeth doing PR for Sony and Sharp in the '80s in New York before moving to San Francisco in the '90s to drive a new wave of passion for video games with Sega, Acclaim Entertainment, 3DO, US Gold, and many others. Mark spent much of the first decade of this 21st century spreading the gospel about surround sound technologies for DTS, including the launch of DTS-HD Master Audio.
His knowledge of music and technology has also been put to good use a music reviewer and feature writer for numerous publications. In the 1990s, Mark wrote for EQ Magazine, Mix Magazine, and DISCoveries Magazine. More recently, he has contributed to AudiophileReview.com, HomeTheaterReview.com, Sound+Vision Magazine, and Big Picture Big Sound.

When I was a little kid, The Beatles were my first musical heroes, and I always dreamed of getting one of those spiffy Beatle-branded record players found in magazines. Of course by the time I was able to actually buy something like that, those players were already rare collectors items that sell at auctions for thousands of dollars in good condition.

Now the good folks at Pro-Ject have crafted the next-best thing: a series of fab turntables celebrating The Beatles. The company even has a model dedicated to George Harrison, who was born 78 years ago today. (Harrison died in 2001.) First released in 2017, this nifty turntable may be a fun way to get back into enjoying vinyl records (as many are doing these days) or simply to upgrade your current system.

If you are an established vinyl enthusiast, you may well have something equivalent to this or higher already in your system. But if you were a Beatle fan back in the day — or if you are like me, a lifelong fan — getting one of these sweet players might be just the thing for your media room.

Sweet players from Pro-Ject might be just the thing for your media room, writes Mark Smotroff. Pro-Ject a2e345da beatlepepper

The George Harrison belt-driven turntable — only 2,500 created, each handmade in Europe — features a pre-installed Ortofon OM10 moving magnet phono cartridge, acrylic platter and redesigned precision synchronous motor. The plinth is made of resonance-absorbing MDF material, and it features an aluminum tonearm. For more details on the “specs” click here.

The turntable plays 33 1/3 and 45 RPM records, so you'll be able to spin LPs as well as singles. At under $500, this is a good deal costing just a bit more than Pro-Ject’s standard models in the entry level “Essential” line. It looks quite classy and includes a dust cover.

Sweet players from Pro-Ject might be just the thing for your media room, writes Mark Smotroff. Pro-Ject 6e93d2ef beatglespepper

Most importantly, you'll be able to enjoy the fun of having — finally — a real Beatle record player!  And if you want to get some of George’s music on vinyl but are not sure where to start, please read my reviews on the HomeTheaterReview.com sister publication, Audiophile Review, including (click the titles): All Things Must Pass, Extra Texture and Thirty Three & 1/3, Brainwashed, Live In Japan and the wonderful tribute Concert For George.

You can find the George Harrison model on Amazon (with free shipping if you have Prime, click here).  If having a George player isn’t enough, you can still get Ringo’s Peace & Love model (click here). The Sgt. Pepper model is available on Amazon (click here) -- the 1964-styled model (click here) adds a nice Ortofon Red cartridge. There is also a model in Pro-Ject’s “Debut” series celebrating the Fab Four’s singles collections (click here) with an “S-shaped” tonearm. I’m fond of the novel Yellow Submarine model (click here). Someday I may get one when I have more room to set it up.

Whether you get George, Ringo or the full band, these turntables will get you up and spinning vinyl almost as fast as you can say “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!”

An Expert's Spin on Proper Vinyl Care

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