It is apparent throughout contemporary culture that modern and classical designs are working, more than ever before, in harmony. Countless varying product categories, such as cars, watches and furniture, are all embracing the ever-popular retro trend.
The reasoning behind this love of ‘retro’ is it’s inherent mix of classical beauty, combined with absolute mechanical precision, high-quality components, and superior performance.
Pro-ject products gave analog a new life in the nineties; our products have successfully shown that you can listen to music in a better way than with any contemporary digital medium, and it doesn’t have to cost the earth.
However, now with the Xtension, we at Pro-Ject aim to bring back a classical analog concept from the eighties, and combine it with our advanced contemporary technologies. After eighteen years of turntable manufacturing for analog lovers on a budget, we’re delighted to announce our first deck not subscribed to budgetary limitations; and boy does it deliver.
Already, the critically acclaimed 6perspeX has proved the fantastic result of using magnets to isolate the subchassis. So consequently, for the Xtension this technology has been re-developed to utilise new magnetic feet, which almost completely decouple the main plinth. Combine this with the weighty 25 kg total mass of the turntable, and the listener benefits from minimal base resonance. This is a unique combination of ‘mass loaded’ and ‘floating turntable’ design principals.
In keeping with these principles, the platter is metal due to its higher mass than acrylic. However, the old standard adoption of pure metal has been abandoned because of its highly-resonant tendencies. Instead, we’ve found a perfect alloy which we dampened on the inner side with Sorbothane®. Taking this base, we’ve glued recycled Vinyl records to the top (which act as a perfect mat) and bake this ‘sandwich’ before precision balancing it. The final product subsequently benefits from a wonderfully resonance-free, heavy platter.
Another consideration was the amount of energy the tonearm base would have to take from arm and cartridge movement. These energies have to be controlled, as do those from the motor and the bearing (they have to be kept away from the tonearm to avoid interference). Consequently, the tonearm base on the Xtension also benefits from ‘high-mass’ technologies, and is isolated from the main board by a sheet of Sorbothane®. Importantly though, this board is still able to incorporate the adoption of different tonearms.
As we originally premised with this turntable, to be in keeping with its ‘classic’ ethos, the Xtension comes with a beautiful dustcover with adjustable hinges, as well as several finish options in a high-gloss lacquer. Ultimately, the Xtension truly delivers a timelessly classic, exclusive analogue experience.
Magnetically supported feet
With two magnets located in the feet, the turntable is practically floating. The studs in the feet are only used for keeping them centered. Due to this unique feature the turntable is perfectly decoupled from the surface it is placed on.