The Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo is something where the nature of what Pro-Ject has achieved with it makes itself clearer over time. It is a world away from the original Debut in so many areas but it keeps the ethos intact. The original was an affordable audiophile turntable. This descendant is still an affordable audiophile turntable but one that makes more sense in the market that its ancestor helped to create. All the simplicity of design and setup is still here but it’s balanced against a level of performance and adaptability that befits its role in Pro-Ject’s range as a more ‘serious’ turntable. This is the best turntable available for less than £500 I’ve yet to test and the result is that the Debut Carbon Evo has to be seen as a Best Buy.

Gorgeous, simple design. High-quality components throughout. Smart use of materials. Sounds fantastic.

If there's a design parameter more crucial than a hi-fi component's ability to hold our attention and enable us to feel things, I don't know what it is. The Pro-Ject Debut Carbon EVO does this consistently, emphatically, at an attainable price.

What this equates to is a turntable that is staggeringly competent. This is a level of performance that generally hasn’t featured as part of the (inflation-adjusted) sub-£500 price bracket before and it is a convincing demonstration to rivals that Pro-Ject is very much one of the top dogs in this area.

As we head into the chilly months, I’m looking forward to what honestly feels like a hi-fi second puberty. It’s disorienting, emotional, obsessive, and erotic, and losing my turntable virginity was more confounding, less thrilling and placed greater demand on my manual dexterity than I anticipated.

By the time I finished with this review, the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon EVO had disappeared into my system. It sounded terrific, and for a while there I was totally content with a turntable that costs a fifth of my main deck. That’s almost astonishing, but not quite, not really, since I know Pro-Ject makes great-sounding gear at reasonable prices. The EVO is no exception, and I can easily recommend it to anyone looking for an entry-level turntable that’ll perform for years to come. It’s the sort of turntable that a first-time audiophile could build a system around, and not need to upgrade for a long while. To my ears, this is the one to beat.

It is easy to see why the Debut Carbon EVO is one of the most popular turntables in this competitive price range. Its attractive chassis and wide variety of color combinations will make for a nice-looking setup, to be sure. While not as important as sound quality, considering that turntables are usually placed on the top shelf, in a readily visible spot, this could be very important to those you share your space with. The compact dimensions and lack of any extraneous buttons, switches, or arm mount housing keeps the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon EVO looking sharp.

The Pro-Ject EVO offers excellent playback, looks great and is a lot of fun to use. It's built well and the ability to adjust the feet makes leveling a painless process. The EVO may not be perfect -- the ergonomics of the tonearm take a little getting used to, for example -- but this is nonetheless a great way to get back into vinyl, or to upgrade from a starter table.

Evolution is the word for Pro-Ject and its latest Debut deck, and in 2020 the line has reached a new kind of maturity

The Pro-Ject Debut Carbon is the perfect starter turntable for audiophiles. It’s easy to setup and use, and lets you upgrade parts over time. The Carbon sounds excellent with the included 2M Red cartridge and offers stellar damping for the price. You can’t go wrong with Pro-Ject, especially at this price point.