Pro-Ject X8 Evolution Balanced Turntable with Sumiko Moonstone Cartridge (Walnut)

Outstanding turntable, soundstage, clarity, instrument separation, all there, it creates a big wall of sound, ecstatic with this turntable

Very well built. Replaced the Sumiko Moonstone with a Hana SL cartridge. Added a Funk Firm Achromat which firmed up the bass considerably and a Pro-Ject Record Puck to dampen vibrations and help focus and clarity. Paired with Pro-Ject's DS3B phono stage using balanced connections this is a turntable that punches far above its purchase price. Dead silent and very musical through the entire frequency range. You could spend north of $5000 and still not equal what I'm hearing.

Upgraded from Debut evo. I obtained this from Europe because I wanted Ortofon Quintet Blue installed. Matched with Accuphase and its AD-30 preamp and I immediately found awesome improvement in dynamic range, clarity, and depth of sound. (I tried to match this with my Project S2 Tube but failed. S2 tube worked so great with MM but not very impressive at MC)It's a full manual system as usual which I like. I haven't tested many turntables but hear all genre from Jazz, classical music and classical rock. Evo did poorly (even after upgrading to acrylic platter and aluminum disk) on classical music, but X8 showed all-around performance in all music genre. Quite happy with this purchase and highly recommending. In the future I may (or may not) try its balanced DIN>XLR capability with DS3 preamp (another $1000+ budget needed).(From 2023 they somewhat changed inner foams which is much weaker than previous version. Mine arrived okay but found some small scratches on acrylic cover and carbon tone arm. They should think a lot more about packaging because it's a very heavy item)