Unlike a five-year-old TV, a record player such as this Pro-ject 2 Xperience, which we looked at last in 2005, can be considered to be maturing nicely rather than on its last legs.
Assembly of this elegant deck is mercifully straightforward – the cartridge is fitted to the tonearm, the tonearm to the baseboard.
With a heavyweight repressing of Nick Drake's Bryter Layter spinning, the 2 Xperience X-Pack describes a precise, unified soundstage with plenty of breathing space between instruments, but also manages to integrate them into a convincing whole.
Authoritative with tempos
It's scrupulous where detail is concerned, manages tempos in an authoritative manner and snaps through the jaunty stuff as happily as it ambles through down-tempo tunes.
Stereo focus is first-rate, and the Pro-ject churns through significant dynamic upheavals with something approaching disdain.
The only drawback here concerns a neurotic desire not to give offense, making listening less invigorating than it sometimes should be. But then, that might be what you want.
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