Since the beginning in 1991, about 30 years ago, the Austrian manufacturer Pro-Ject is one of the leading companies on the analogue market. Its founder and CEO, Heinz Lichtenegger, accepted to answer our questions about the career of the company and its products. Huge thanks to Mr.Lichtenegger for this exclusive interview!
1. PRO-JECT IS ONE OF THE LEADING COMPANY ON THE HIGH FIDELITY AND TURNTABLES MARKET. ACCORDING TO, WHAT IS YOUR MAIN STRENGTH?
Our main strengths are a sober and modern design, a priority dedicated to the true High Fidelity at an affordable price, and the absence of gadgets or useless features.
Thanks to our wide and versatile offer, you can buy this turntable, amplifier or source you really need. You can also choose among a wide range of designs and colors to find the model that suits your aesthetic and sound desires. Indeed, we have the widest offer in turntables and electronics compared to the other Hi-Fi manufacturers across the world.
And finally, we produce all our products in Europe, allowing us to maintain the delivery times and a remarkable spare part supply. Therefore, any product manufactured in the last 29 years can be repaired if necessary!
The fact that we are still a private company allows us to follow our philosophy 100% in the long run. When you buy a Pro-Ject device, you can be sure to purchase a high-quality product at an affordable price.
2. IS THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRO-JECT IN 2019 STILL THE SAME, AS WHEN IT WAS IN 1991?
Absolutely! We have always wanted to attract as many people as possible into the hobby of stereo Hi-Fi. To do this, we have to produce devices at affordable prices but with exceptional sound so that customers fall in love with them immediately and recommend them to their friends.
That is how I launched my business in 1978 in my mother’s petrol station, offering Hi-Fi systems to my friends. Considering that all Pro-Ject users are somehow my friends because they trusted me and I want to please them by enjoying their favorite music in the best possible conditions, nothing has really changed since 1978!
It is important to insist on the fact that we only offer Hi-Fi stereo, because it is the only possibility to experience the sensation of “live” music at home. We started with turntables because we think it is THE best way to experience STEREO High Fidelity. The goal is to consciously live the music. With a turntable, it is important to take the time… This is not an ambient musical source!
And obviously, we also design digital devices such as CD players and streamers… But only in high-resolution quality and by focusing on the sound and aesthetical qualities, without frills.
3. WHAT ARE PRO-JECT’S “BEST-SELLERS”?
By chance, we have a lot of “best-sellers”!
The Debut Carbon obviously, which, with its 700.000 units sold, is one of the best-selling Hi-Fi elements of all time. Also, the Debut, especially its SB Esprit version (with the electronic speed change and the acrylic platter) is always difficult to outperform!
The phono stages are great classics, such as the Phono Box DC. This is also the case of the PreBox S2 Digital, which is a true revolution in economic DACs/Headset and have sold a lot worldwide.
It is also necessary to mention the Juke Box E, which associated to Speaker Box 5 speakers becomes the first truly active turntable system on the world market. For the price of a Bluetooth/streaming speaker (which in the end only offers mono sound), you can acquire a STEREO system with TWO speakers, a vinyl turntable and its integrated amplifier and even a Bluetooth receiver!
In the high-end range, we have so many different models of record players that are selling well that it is difficult to name one that stands out from the rest. It depends on tastes and budgets.
4. PRO-JECT OFFERS NEW PRODUCTS ON A REGULAR BASIS. COULD YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR CURRENT INNOVATIONS?
Yes. Each year, we create about ten models.
The new T1 turntable defines a new standard for entry-level turntables. We have so many cleaning machines from Far East at less than 300€. These models are better now than they were 5 years ago, but they still have some defects or features that will often be quite useless. The T1 has a fresh design, equipped only with quality components, very easy to use thanks to a new tonearm entirely preset, and offering an excellent precision level and mechanics.
We also presented the Pro-Ject X1 and X2 turntables that are the 5th generation of my first two turntables, the P1 and P2 from the 90’s. What is the best? Everything is. The basic concept is the same but each element such as the chassis, motor, motor suspension, platter, tonearm, phono cartridge, stands… All these allow to reach a level of excellence never achieved before for these price levels.
There will be others, the list is too long for this interview, but I would like to mention another one. The CD Box RS2 T, a new reference of CD player? It is! By Pro-Ject, unbelievable right?! Not so incredible because many music lovers still want to physically keep some of their high quality CDs. So they are looking for a very good CD player but with no excessive price.
In partnership with a Viennese company called Stream Unlimited, we decided to design the best CD player ever. Stream Unlimited was founded by former workers from Philips who were in charge of the famous CD M 9 Pro: the last CD player that has been a standard! Our new CD mechanism is the logical extension of this reference CD mechanism, designed without any compromise, improved thanks to state-of-the-art technologies and high-tech materials such as carbon fibre for delicate and precision parts. This is a real marvel of micromechanics.
5. COULD YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR FUTURE PROJECTS?
We have several products in project. We will continue to continuously improve our record players: as soon as an opportunity to improve the sound with new technologies and new materials arises, we grab it.
We will also focus on the streaming technology and DACs, because we think that we can design very high-end products at a much more affordable price. But we will never develop extra features or complicated applications. We want to create streamers that are easy to use, but in order not to degrade the quality due to features, we can only accept the highest resolutions and zero compression, as most current streamers do.
6. DO YOU HAVE A LAST WORD FOR OUR READERS?
Thank you very much for your attention and for giving me the chance to speak to you about my work! I wish everyone to enjoy beautiful music listening in Hi-Fi stereo!