The Pick it PRO is a moving-magnet cartridge with an elliptical stylus, developed by Pro-Ject together with Ortofon and built in Europe. It is a 4 mV MM design that works into a 47 kOhm load and tracks at 2.0 g.
Pick it PRO: the design
Pro-Ject handed the manufacture of this cartridge to Ortofon with a clear aim: to keep value for money high without giving up European production. Voicing took a long period of research and repeated listening sessions because, in the maker's view, the character of a cartridge does not rest on any single part but on how all the elements work together. The sound it was tuned for is lively, robust and detailed, with a wide dynamic range.
The stylus is an elliptical with 8 and 18 μm radii and it tracks at between 1.8 and 2.2 g, with 2.0 g as the figure the maker suggests. Frequency response runs from 20 Hz to 20 kHz within 2 dB, channel separation is 22 dB at 1 kHz and trackability reaches 70 μm at 315 Hz. The cartridge weighs 7.2 g and measures 18 mm from the stylus tip to the mounting face, two figures that help when balancing the arm and setting its height.
On the electrical side the Pick it PRO delivers 4 mV at 1 kHz and asks the phono stage for a 47 kOhm load with 150 to 300 pF of capacitance. Internal resistance is 750 Ohm, inductance is 450 mH and the vertical tracking angle is 20°. Pro-Ject points out that a cartridge is an electromechanical transducer, the point where stylus movement becomes an electrical signal: this is where much of the colour and vitality of the music is decided.
Specifications
- Principle: moving magnet (MM)
- Output at 1 kHz: 4 mV
- Separation between channels, 1 kHz: 22 dB
- Trackability, 315 Hz: 70 μm
- Bandwidth: 20 Hz - 20 kHz, within 2 dB
- Stylus: elliptical, 8/18 μm radii
- Tracking weight: 1.8 to 2.2 g, 2.0 g suggested
- Tip to mounting face: 18 mm
- Vertical tracking angle: 20°
- DC internal resistance: 750 Ohm
- Coil inductance: 450 mH
- Suggested resistive load: 47 kOhm
- Suggested capacitive load: 150-300 pF
- Mass of the cartridge: 7.2 g
