Pro-Ject Juke Box E1 turntable review: an all-in-one for vinyl fun

When you see nan audio cogwheel you request to make a decent setup for playing vinyl records, we’re typically talking astir constituent systems that dwell of a turntable, an amplifier, and a group of speakers. The fantabulous assortment of powered speakers and Bluetooth/Wi-Fi connectivity nowadays is besides giving america much options than ever to rotation records, too, but that’s a taxable for different day.

We tin (and do) talk nan minutia these hi-fi components till we’re bluish successful nan face. But if you’re conscionable getting into vinyl and are like, “Nuts to that that, conscionable springiness it to maine successful an all-in-one neat package, and make judge it doesn’t suck,” past nan brains astatine Pro-Ject Audio Systems mightiness person your number pinch its Juke Box E1 Record Player pinch Receiver.

The Austria-based institution kindly sent maine nan Juke Box E1 to trial out. The turntable is an $800 platform pinch stereo receiver and phono preamp built successful that’s fresh to beryllium connected straight to your favourite wired speakers. Or you tin opt for Pro-Ject’s bundle kit that was sent to me, which comes pinch a group of nan company’s Speaker Box 5 bookshelf speakers that tally $350 connected their own, but $1,200 arsenic portion of nan group (if you tin find it) — everything you request is included; conscionable adhd vinyl.

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Pro-Ject’s combo grounds subordinate is simply a coagulated all-rounder strategy pinch an supra mid-level turntable and feature-rich amplifier geared toward those who want component-like sound value successful a smaller package without nan hassle of sourcing and combining abstracted components. It’s besides a beautiful bully worth erstwhile you see that building that abstracted strategy would costs nan aforesaid aliases more.

I’ve spent dozens of hours playing records and streaming euphony connected nan Juke Box E1, and while it does person its plusses and minuses, present are my thoughts.

Setup

Aside from a spot of setup, nan Juke Box E1 is fresh to spell successful minutes, and I was pleased to observe that it did not, successful fact, suck. All-in-one grounds players don’t person nan top reputation. They’re usually cheap, targeting kids and entry-level users, they sometimes travel disguised arsenic a suitcase aliases old-timey radios, and usually sound for illustration basking garbage. The Juke Box E1 is not 1 of those.

Having reviewed nan Juke Box E1’s sibling, the Pro-Ject E1 turntable, I knew what to expect from nan Juke Box’s setup. It’s a manual belt-driven turntable that needs to person its loop installed connected nan platter (which is easy). Otherwise, nan cartridge is aligned and balanced astatine nan factory, truthful you shouldn’t person to do thing extracurricular of connecting it each up.

But conscionable successful case, everything you’d request to make immoderate of these adjustments is included successful nan container (I’d still urge grabbing a digital search unit gauge, though). The bundled Speaker Box 5 bookshelfs that came pinch my reappraisal portion besides came pinch their ain speaker cables pinch banana plugs preinstalled, which link easy to speaker posts astatine nan backmost of nan turntable and to nan speakers. If you hap to beryllium adding your ain group of speakers, we’ve sewage a useful tutorial connected how to instal banana plugs to earthy speaker ligament you should cheque out.

After installing nan Bluetooth antenna and plugging nan Juke Box into power, nan strategy is fresh to go.

Design and features

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The Pro-Ject Juke Box E1 is intelligibly based disconnected nan cleanable and elemental creation of nan Pro-Ject E1, pinch a fewer cardinal differences. For starters, it’s a spot thicker because it has an amplifier built successful that doles retired a respectable 50 watts per transmission into 4-ohm speakers, which is thing to sneeze astatine and will easy capable a small-to-medium sized room.

Its speaker posts connected nan backmost accommodate a azygous group of speakers, and there’s a mini multi-function integer show connected nan top-right of nan plinth that you usage to toggle betwixt nan Turntable, Line-in, and Bluetooth sources. The volume/selection knob connected nan beforehand of nan plinth is perfectly functional, and nan turntable besides comes pinch a basal distant which, erstwhile I started utilizing it, made maine wish each turntables had one. With it you tin set volume, prime sources, move on/off nan amp’s loudness fastener (more connected that later), and (excellently) tweak treble and bass from nan listening position. Lastly, underneath nan beforehand near of nan plinth are 2 discreet switches: nan 33 and 45 RPM velocity selector and nan main powerfulness switch.

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In summation to nan Juke Box E1 lodging an amplifier, it besides includes a decent built-in Pro-Ject phono preamp and phono-out RCA larboard should you for illustration to bypass its amplification and tally it done your ain outer system, for illustration a group of powered speakers. Additionally, if you person an outer phono preamp and/or integrated amplifier you for illustration to use, you tin link to it done nan deck’s line-level RCA output. Or you tin do nan nonstop other and really usage nan Juke Box arsenic an amplifier and link an outer audio root for illustration a CD subordinate aliases (gasp!) different turntable to it via its line-in port.

Or you tin moreover link a Bluetooth source, for illustration your telephone aliases computer, to nan strategy to watercourse euphony from a streaming service for illustration Spotify (sorry, nary lossless aliases hi-res codecs, unfortunately). These jack-of-all-trades characteristics make nan Juke Box E1 strategy charismatic for longevity and compatibility pinch a batch of different components you either person aliases mightiness get.

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As a turntable, nan Juke Box E1 benefits from Pro-Ject’s acquisition and pedigree arsenic a top-shelf platform maker. It features an fantabulous Ortofon OM 5E cartridge, anti-resonant ABS polymer platter (the aforesaid arsenic connected nan E1), and aluminum tonearm pinch a removable (and upgradable) headshell and cartridge.

Its sound-dampening adjustable feet thief support resonance astatine bay, and it comes pinch a particulate screen that’s a spot stiff and pushes into nan Bluetooth antenna erstwhile you unfastened it, but that’s not a large deal. The slick-looking turntable weighs conscionable complete 11 pounds and comes successful soft black, white, and reddish finishes.

If you do hap to get your hands connected nan bundle kit pinch nan bookshelf speakers, they’re not bad for their $350 value, though you tin astir apt do amended for not overmuch more, for illustration possibly a group of Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 bookshelfs for $450. Compact and lightweight, nan Speaker Box 5s tuck successful nicely connected a media portion aliases shelf, and they travel successful finishes to lucifer nan Juke Box E1 (as good arsenic successful a satin walnut). The two-way speakers characteristic a 1-inch silk-dome tweeter, a 6-inch fiberglass cone woofer, and a rear bass port.

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Sound and performance

Before I begin, I person to first disclose that my first information of testing was done utilizing nan Speaker Box 5 bookshelf speakers that travel pinch nan Juke Box E1 bundle that Pro-Ject offers. As you’ll publication from nan reappraisal below, nan Juke Box E1 (as pinch nan E1 turntable I person besides reviewed) takes a spot of coaxing to get it to sing. But aft spending a adjacent magnitude of clip unsatisfactorily tweaking pinch nan Speaker Box 5s, I recovered nan speakers lacking successful dynamics and clarity, and unforgiving erstwhile adding immoderate volume, and I cannot urge them. They sound amended pinch quieter music, specified arsenic people aliases jazz, but for thing pinch a batch of distorted guitars, things autumn isolated successful my experience. I switched to my ain brace of acquainted Wharfedale standmounts that I person utilized to trial countless turntables, and things instantly improved. The reappraisal beneath was done pinch those speakers.

My listening acquisition pinch nan Juke Box E1 was, unsurprisingly, not dissimilar to nan E1 turntable. I didn’t emotion its sound from first setup. With nan bass and treble group to level and nan Loudness fastener disengaged, nan wide sound was a spot level and underwhelming. But connected nan agleam side, nan strategy sounds well-balanced and clear, and has immoderate surprises successful store.

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With a small coaxing of nan bass and treble adjustments, and a adjacent spot disconnected comparing nan sound pinch and without nan Loudness action engaged, nan bully news is that depending connected your preferences, you tin perfectly find a saccharine spot, and I admit that you person nan action to play astir for illustration you would pinch a receiver. I for illustration a small much shimmer successful nan highs and a spot much debased end, truthful my saccharine spot ended up being a operation of Loudness turned on, which required nan bass level to beryllium turned down to conscionable 1 notch beneath half, and nan treble conscionable a spot supra half.

In this configuration, favorites specified arsenic Radiohead’s OK Computer and The Beta Band’s The Three E.P.’s sounded dynamic, spacious, and spot-on. I moreover threw connected my daughter’s transcript of Chappell Roan’s Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess and reveled successful its soaring vocal and playful popular glory.

Alternately, you tin spell without nan Loudness characteristic and boost nan bass and treble up to your liking, but conscionable retrieve that engaging nan Loudness from this point, particularly erstwhile listening to fierce guitar-driven euphony for illustration Black Sabbath and things tin get beautiful muddy, boomy, and mostly messy (the Speaker Box 5s really clipped), moreover pinch a coagulated group of speakers. Either configuration is six-of-one and a half-dozen of nan other, though, but nan bully news is that you tin take which you for illustration and fastener it in.

Derek Malcolm / Digital Trends

The Bluetooth input paired to my machine held its own, too, erstwhile listening to tracks from Spotify (not that I expected it not to). And moreover if a spot lacking successful meaning erstwhile compared to vinyl, I didn’t person to tweak nan EQ to compensate. It was besides bully to not person to move to a different strategy aliases Bluetooth speaker to watercourse euphony — having it all-in-one was so handy, but it would beryllium bully if nan Juke Box E1 supported better Bluetooth codecs for illustration aptX Adaptive aliases aptX HD.

Should you bargain it?

The benefits of an all-in-one solution for illustration nan Juke Box E1 are: for $800 you get an fantabulous receiver and turntable operation from 1 of nan champion brands successful nan business; you’d beryllium hard-pressed uncovering a abstracted receiver and turntable combo of this value for nan aforesaid value aliases less; and this setup will return up little abstraction connected your media halfway than 2 bulky units.

For my money, nan Juke Box E1 combo is champion gotten connected its own, without nan speaker bundle, because I deliberation that a overmuch better brace of speakers tin recovered if you’re consenting to walk a small other connected them, and I deliberation this strategy deserves it.

Overall, erstwhile dialed successful and pushed done a bully group of speakers, nan Juke Box E1 sounds fantastic, its replaceable/upgradeable turntable parts guarantee that it’ll turn pinch you and past for a agelong time, and pinch its Bluetooth connectivity, you’ve sewage yourself a divers system, moreover if your vinyl collecting phase runs its course.