The Pro-Ject Pergola - Questions, Answers, Advice & Chat

How do you go about oiling the bearing(s)?

I have what I think is an old Debut III (bought it new ~20 years ago, and I can find no identifying marks on it).

It has been making what I can only describe as a 'groaning' sound when I start it up for quite some time. I have changed the belt out reasonably recently, but that didn't make any difference. After playing a few records, the groan stops, so I'm not sure what's causing it.

if you don’t already have oil getting a bottle of sewing machine oil (it’s the same stuff and you get way more for the same money).

Lift the platter off, take the belt off and lift out the sub platter. Drop 6 drops of oil into the bearing housing and put a 7th on the underside of the spindle and rub it all over it with your finger. Place the sub platter back into the housing but don’t force it down, slowly rotate it until it’s sat back at its proper height. Then put the belt back on and the platter back on. Be careful not to get the oil on the belt or the outside of the sub platter where the belt sits, that could cause belt slip.

Try to remember to oil the bearing every year if you can, makes a difference.
 
if you don’t already have oil getting a bottle of sewing machine oil (it’s the same stuff and you get way more for the same money).

Lift the platter off, take the belt off and lift out the sub platter. Drop 6 drops of oil into the bearing housing and put a 7th on the underside of the spindle and rub it all over it with your finger. Place the sub platter back into the housing but don’t force it down, slowly rotate it until it’s sat back at its proper height. Then put the belt back on and the platter back on. Be careful not to get the oil on the belt or the outside of the sub platter where the belt sits, that could cause belt slip.

Try to remember to oil the bearing every year if you can, makes a difference.
Thanks Joe, will look for some sewing machine oil now :)
 
Dropped my record player in for repair on Monday.

Interesting fella running the places. Loves his gear, pity my laryngitis meant I was totally on a listening only brief! He also said he’s pro-ject’s warranty repair man for Ireland and so thought he should have the bits on site, or be able to get them quickly.

Hopefully I’ll be back up spinning asap!
 
I was itching for an upgrade for my Project DC Evo before Christmas and decided to give the Power Box S3 Phono a try. I’m a bit skeptical as to whether the platter upgrades are worth it.

The only previous updates for my Evo were a cork Matt and a Moonstone stylus. I guess the Phono Box S2 could also be considered an upgrade as it dramatically improved the sound of the Evo vs the on board Phono stage on my Yamaha as301 at the time.

I came upon the Power Box S3 when looking for power supply upgrades for the Evo. Since it worked with the TT and Pre it seemed like a cool one box solution.

I’ve been using it for a couple of months and it’s worth it. The better power to the S2 and Evo result in a quieter background and more dynamic presentation to my records.

If you haven’t done so already I recommend the power supply to your turntable and preamp.
 
I was itching for an upgrade for my Project DC Evo before Christmas and decided to give the Power Box S3 Phono a try. I’m a bit skeptical as to whether the platter upgrades are worth it.

The only previous updates for my Evo were a cork Matt and a Moonstone stylus. I guess the Phono Box S2 could also be considered an upgrade as it dramatically improved the sound of the Evo vs the on board Phono stage on my Yamaha as301 at the time.

I came upon the Power Box S3 when looking for power supply upgrades for the Evo. Since it worked with the TT and Pre it seemed like a cool one box solution.

I’ve been using it for a couple of months and it’s worth it. The better power to the S2 and Evo result in a quieter background and more dynamic presentation to my records.

If you haven’t done so already I recommend the power supply to your turntable and preamp.

Yeah a linear power supply is definitely an upgrade. I went with a fancy third party one because project didn’t make these at the time. I felt it it was the least impactful of the various upgrades that I’ve put on the table but I agree that it definitely improved the backdrop. I don’t have a project phono but the linear power supply I got for my my musical fidelity phono was probably a much bigger upgrade than the one for the table.
 
Only upgrades to my Evo are the free Olympia stylus and a washi turntable mat from Teac.
Very interested to hear your thoughts on the Moonstone. I have a year on the Olympia and was thinking of a change.
Have a slightly used Grado Black 3 and thinking about getting an 8mz for it, but just swapping a stylus is so easy.
Do you have yours back yet Joe ?
 
Only upgrades to my Evo are the free Olympia stylus and a washi turntable mat from Teac.
Very interested to hear your thoughts on the Moonstone. I have a year on the Olympia and was thinking of a change.
Have a slightly used Grado Black 3 and thinking about getting an 8mz for it, but just swapping a stylus is so easy.
Do you have yours back yet Joe ?

No, I actually haven’t heard back with the full cost yet, just paid the €50 assessment fee on Monday. Judging by how busy he sounded I’d be surprised to get that this week, more likely next week and if agree sort out the balance on pick up. Honestly kinda enjoyed digging through what remains of my cd collection the last few days!
 
Only upgrades to my Evo are the free Olympia stylus and a washi turntable mat from Teac.
Very interested to hear your thoughts on the Moonstone. I have a year on the Olympia and was thinking of a change.
Have a slightly used Grado Black 3 and thinking about getting an 8mz for it, but just swapping a stylus is so easy.
Do you have yours back yet Joe ?
I’ve been running the Moonstone for a little over a year on my Evo. My experience with carts is limited, but it is definitely a step up compared to the Rainier that came with the Evo. More detail, bass, and less noise.

I’ve thought about upgrading to a Wellfleet or Amethyst but put that on hold for now as I’ve decided to upgrade my TT. I’m awaiting delivery on a MoFi Ultradeck.

I’m going to hold onto the Evo for a while for comparison purposes, but may sell it if I decide the Ultradeck upgrade is worth the 4x price premium.
 
Good to hear Joe. I have bought a couple of cd's lately due to high vinyl prices.

Keep us posted mindhead. I second that comparison. Last year I assumed a new amp at double the price of my old one must be better.
Getting ready to sell it a couple of months ago I wanted to make sure it was working. It was and wow I preferred its sound so much better.
I would say live and learn, but I'm to old for that. Haha.
 
Got a question for Debut Carbon owners:

I've had my DC for better part of a decade now, havent had a single issue with it. I have noticed in recent spins that the platter itself has a wobble to it. I've reseated the subplatter and the platter but it didnt solve the issue. Doesn't impact playback, to my ears, essentially looks to the eye like a slightly warped record.

View attachment 191725

Anybody else ever experience a similar issue?

I am thinking the bearing may be worn out. The standard OEM bearing is a $10 part and seems easy enough to replace, but then there's the $200+ upgrade from Acoustand:

Pro-Ject / Rega Subplatter And Bearing Upgrades.

If it is indeed the bearing, is it worth it to take the plunge on the upgraded bearing or just stick to the OEM?

Update! Installed the new OEM bearing and a fresh belt, along with a fresh drop of lubricant. Didn't fix the wobble, unfortunately, so next step is to get a new spindle and see if that's the solve.

TT definitely starts up quicker and rotates noticeably smoother!
 
So here’s a good conundrum- my project with the 2mBlue fitted keeps losing tracking - whenever I close the lid as it’s knocking the twisty thing - according to the old web it’s quite common - so do I need to buy a heavier or lighter ? Lid closes it goes from 1.8 to 2.5

See below too from another poor sole

Dustcover hitting counterweight​


I have a pro-ject debut recordmaster and I swapped out the ortofon OM10 for a 2M blue. Got the 2m blue installed after some issues with seating the four pins. Aligned as best I could tell. With balancing, the counterweight was behind the small pin on the underside of the tonearm just to get it to balance, which made it much more difficult to apply the proper tracking weight. Finally got it to 1.8 grams, checked with a scale, but the counterweight is still so far back on the tonearm that when I close the dust cover with the tonearm in it's rest, it knocks thebweight forward slightly and throws the tracking weight up to 2.5 grams. Any advice here?
 
So here’s a good conundrum- my project with the 2mBlue fitted keeps losing tracking - whenever I close the lid as it’s knocking the twisty thing - according to the old web it’s quite common - so do I need to buy a heavier or lighter ? Lid closes it goes from 1.8 to 2.5

See below too from another poor sole

Dustcover hitting counterweight​


I have a pro-ject debut recordmaster and I swapped out the ortofon OM10 for a 2M blue. Got the 2m blue installed after some issues with seating the four pins. Aligned as best I could tell. With balancing, the counterweight was behind the small pin on the underside of the tonearm just to get it to balance, which made it much more difficult to apply the proper tracking weight. Finally got it to 1.8 grams, checked with a scale, but the counterweight is still so far back on the tonearm that when I close the dust cover with the tonearm in it's rest, it knocks thebweight forward slightly and throws the tracking weight up to 2.5 grams. Any advice here?
I have a couple Projects floating around. One is an older one from 2004. On that one, the right dustcover hinge is longer by design.....so the area around the tonearm sits a bit higher than the left.

I ran into the issue you have, so I shoved a small amount of plastic into the spot on the dustcover where the hinge fits into, making the right side slightly higher. The hinge part doesn't quite fit all the way into the receptacle for it, the shoved plastic stops it short. The area around the counterweight sits up enough to clear the arm/counterweight. It works, and you'd have to really look to even notice what I changed.

Good luck!
 
So here’s a good conundrum- my project with the 2mBlue fitted keeps losing tracking - whenever I close the lid as it’s knocking the twisty thing - according to the old web it’s quite common - so do I need to buy a heavier or lighter ? Lid closes it goes from 1.8 to 2.5

See below too from another poor sole

Dustcover hitting counterweight​


I have a pro-ject debut recordmaster and I swapped out the ortofon OM10 for a 2M blue. Got the 2m blue installed after some issues with seating the four pins. Aligned as best I could tell. With balancing, the counterweight was behind the small pin on the underside of the tonearm just to get it to balance, which made it much more difficult to apply the proper tracking weight. Finally got it to 1.8 grams, checked with a scale, but the counterweight is still so far back on the tonearm that when I close the dust cover with the tonearm in it's rest, it knocks thebweight forward slightly and throws the tracking weight up to 2.5 grams. Any advice here?

You’d need a heavier weight, a lighter one would sit further back. The one up that would still work with that cart is 000 for carts from 7g-10g. The ort is 7.4g.

It’s £13.50 from Henley (uk project distributor)

 
I have a couple Projects floating around. One is an older one from 2004. On that one, the right dustcover hinge is longer by design.....so the area around the tonearm sits a bit higher than the left.

I ran into the issue you have, so I shoved a small amount of plastic into the spot on the dustcover where the hinge fits into, making the right side slightly higher. The hinge part doesn't quite fit all the way into the receptacle for it, the shoved plastic stops it short. The area around the counterweight sits up enough to clear the arm/counterweight. It works, and you'd have to really look to even notice what I changed.

Good luck!
Excellent suggestion!
 
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