What Hifi - Agosto 2002

Pro-Ject Perspective
Price £700

Sound
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Build
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Facilities
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Verdict
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THE PERSPECTIVE HAS a main plinth made of Perspex -hence the name and the pair of gloves provided to avoid fingermarks while handling the deck- above which floats the main bearing assembly on a trio of damped supports. The whole shebang's levelled via the three adjustable spike feet and spirit-level located on the arm mount, while the arm is the by-now familiar Pro-ject 9. The price excludes a cartridge, but once again we used the £300 MC25Fl, which seems a very good match.
However, the really clever bit about the Perspective is its turntable drive system. There's a subplatter, onto which the main platter -made of composite with a layer of vinyl bonded on, and with a large screwdown clamp a la RPM 4- is fitted.
But the drive belt goes right round the perimeter of the main platter and is powered by an exposed motor out to the rear left corner of the plinth. And rather than hooking the belt up and down on pulleys or having an electronic speed switch, the Perspective has separeted motors for the two common speeds -33.3 and 45 rpm-. Changing speed is a matter of disconnecting the drive belt and 16V AC power supply from one motor, undoing a thumbscrew under the plinth to release is, the lifting it out and bolting in the other motor.
Yes, this is a bit of palaver, but it does allow Pro-ject to optimize the motors for the respective speeds, rather than having the compromise of the belt riding higher or lower. And it pays off in the assured, taut rhythmic ability of the Perspective, which is just as good pounding out drive dance tracks as it is with big complex orchestral pieces. There's that warmth and lightness of touch that vinyl's know and loved for, and the soundstage created is entirely natural and smoothly delineated.
We could easily get really into vinyl again with a deck like this. It sounds great and looks like the kind of exotica you see from firms like Transrotor and Clearaudio -but for a fraction of the price.