What Hi-Fi? Verdict
The 2 Xperience Classic is a fine deck and well worth a serious audition
Pros
- +
Fine build
- +
good quality arm
- +
well balanced and informative sound
Cons
- -
Could do with a little more energy and excitement
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Pro-Ject likes to cover all its bases. If the standard 2 Xperience with its clear acrylic plinth doesn't appeal, the company is more than happy to swap it out for the swish wooden affair of the Classic version here.
Our review sample looks lovely clothed in a classy mahogany veneer, but you can also get a nice olive finish and lacquered gloss black. Build quality, fit and finish are all of a high standard.
The Classic's arm is Pro-Ject's 9cc, a relatively long-running unit best known for its use of a carbon-fibre arm tube – a rare thing on a product at this price.
Damped feet for isolation
The Classic relies on three Sorbothane-damped aluminium-coned feet for isolation.
These are relatively effective, though you'll get the best performance by placing this deck well away from speakers and placed on a rigid, low-resonance support.
Set-up is relatively easy: the arm comes fitted, and only the cartridge mounting and associated tweaks need to be carried out.
Pro-Ject shares distribution with Ortofon in the UK, which is good news as there's a 25 per cent discount off the price of any Ortofon cartridge, if you buy this deck.
However, for the purposes of this review we've decided to stay with something tried and trusted and that takes the form of Goldring's excellent 2500 moving magnet, which retails for around £225.
In use the Classic is a fine performer. It's informative and fluid, sounding as at home with the ferocious Carmina Burana as it does with REM's Automatic for the People.
We'd like more energy
The deck sounds secure rhythmically and delivers an open and stable sound stage.
Ideally, we'd like just a little more energy in the performance and a touch more precision in the leading and trailing edges of notes, but overall the Classic is a likeable listen.
The 2 Xperience, then, is a fine turntable. It doesn't quite have the sonic ability to get an unqualified recommendation, but that doesn't stop it being a good buying proposition – and a must-audition product.
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