Pro-Ject Signature 12.2

The Signature 12.2 is Pro-Ject's flagship turntable: belt drive with a flywheel, a 10.55 kg magnetically decoupled platter and a 12-inch aluminium tonearm pivoting on three points. It is supplied without a cartridge.

Signature 12.2: tonearm and drive

The most important change concerns the arm pivot, which gives up the unipivot of earlier models in favour of a system resting on three points. Accurate alignment of the three points cuts friction further and makes the arm more stable; Pro-Ject rates it above both gimbal bearings and its former unipivot. Counterweight and anti-skating have been revised as well. The S-shaped tube is aluminium, 304.8 mm long, with an effective mass of 21.7 g.

Drive passes through a flywheel: the belt does not link motor and platter directly, which keeps vibration away and makes speed steadier. The motor is fed by a precision generator that rebuilds alternating current from a DC supply; 33 and 45 rpm are selected from the control panel. Quoted speed deviation is ±0.09% at 33 rpm and ±0.08% at 45.

The aluminium platter, damped with TPE and topped by a vinyl layer, rests on an inverted bearing with a ceramic ball and plate and is relieved by a magnetic field. This is a turntable that needs a sturdy support: it weighs 37 kg and measures 580 x 220 x 480 mm.

Specifications

• Speeds: 33 and 45 rpm, switched electronically
• Drive: belt with flywheel
• Motor control: precision generator
• Speed deviation: ±0.09% at 33 rpm, ±0.08% at 45 rpm
• Wow and flutter: ±0.01% at both 33 and 45 rpm
• Signal-to-noise ratio: -75 dB
• Platter: 10.55 kg with magnetic decoupling
• Bearing: ceramic, ball and plate
• Tonearm: 12-inch aluminium, three-point pivot
• Effective length: 304.8 mm
• Arm effective mass: 21.7 g
• Overhang: 13.2 mm
• Power: 15 V DC, 1.6 A from a universal supply
• Consumption: 15 W in use, 0.5 W on standby
• Size: 580 x 220 x 480 mm, width by height by depth
• Weight: 37 kg, or 60 kg packed