Munich 2025

As in recent years at the High End Munich 2025 show, Austrian maker Pro-Ject showcased a wide array of their products in Halle 3 — a dizzying number of (mostly passive) displays.

As usual, Pro-Ject incorporated some creative elements, including a row of airplane seats in front of Pro-Ject’s Travel Set compact system, colored paint “spill” display graphics for newly upgraded versions of their Colorful Audio Systems, and more. Pro-Ject showed a focus on complete hi-fi sets, too, such as the Colorful Audio Systems, Stereo Set E Phono Set, and Travel Set.

On static display were three new prototype turntable models from Pro-Ject’s X Series (aka Xtension Series), from which the X8 turntable was released last year. The three prototypes shown were the X9 B, X10 B, and X12 B — each named for their tonearm’s length — are aimed at a lower price point.

The B stands for balanced, referring to the 5-pin connector incorporated beneath the platter that retains a balanced signal and makes it compatible with Pro-Ject’s phono preamp products. Shown all in black, the belt-driven designs use Delrin platters and an inverted ball bearing with ceramic ball, but do not have the magnetic suspension system found in some of Pro-ject’s higher-end models.

Still in their late-development stages, the prototypes were shown with Pro-ject’s Evo Series tonearms and MC 2 cartridges. All have height-adjustable feet but each model “up” in the line — in addition to the tonearm lengths — brings increased platter thicknesses/weights and larger plinth dimensions.

There were further lineup additions to Pro-Ject’s RPM Pro Series, their flagship group. Shown as prototypes, the RPM 1 Pro and RPM 3 Pro turntables are intended to bring the company’s top line to a wider audience by offering some new, lower-priced models. The new RPM tables’ small footprint and unorthodox shape — which includes a new, heavy steel motor base, three spiked feet, and acrylic platter — adds to their sonic and design aesthetics.

In addition to Pro-Ject’s go-to 5-pin balanced output, the RPM Pro turntables come with electronic speed control with aluminum pulley and include a 9in tonearm for the RPM 1 and a 10in arm for the RPM 3; the motor is completely decoupled. Pricing and color options are TBD.

As noted at the outset, Pro-Ject showed a focus on sets, too, such as the Stereo Set E Phono Set and Travel Set. The Pro-Ject Stereo Set E Phono Set’s E 1.2 table now comes with an aluminum platter with damping rim.

The Stereo Set E is available in three color options: black, white, or walnut finishes. The Travel Set (€699), a compact hi-fi setup complete with a small flight case, comes with a Stereo Box S3 BT Bluetooth all-in-one integrated amplifier and digital source, a pair of Speaker Box 3 E Carbon speakers, Connect It LS E Flex cabling, and Damp It isolation pods.

There were also additional, aforementioned Colorful Audio Systems (€1,999) upgrades and color options added, such as a Polar Blue finish, for a total of eight different color finishes. Pro-Ject Colorful Audio Systems include a Debut EVO 2 turntable, plus a Sumiko MM cartridge upgrade, Speaker Box 5 S2 bookshelf speakers, MaiA S3 stereo integrated amp, Connect It LS E 3m speaker cabling, and Damp It isolation pods. (While these items are also sold separately, they cost much less when “bundled” like this.)

For years, Pro-Ject has created some intriguing limited-run, special-edition turntables paying homage to musical artists and. . . a beloved cartoon character. On display here at Munich were but a few examples, including an AC/DC limited edition turntable (€1,299) with a new, lightning-bolt-shaped 8.6in acrylic tonearm with an Ortofon 2M Red cartridge, 28mm MDF plinth, 10mm red glass platter and acrylic subplatter, and LED lighting.

Meanwhile, we also got a Peanuts special limited edition turntable (€599) with built-in phono preamp and Bluetooth transmitter, plus an Ortofon-made OM 10 MM cartridge, that we did an advance report of here back on May 13, 2025 (and which you can also see a glimpse or two of in Ken Micallef’s latest Munich video here).

Then there was the Elvis limited edition turntable (€1,399) with new LED lighting effects — The King’s name is in lights! — along with a factory-preadjusted Sumiko Rainier cartridge on the 9in light aluminum tonearm, and a 10mm, 1.7kg “zero-resonance” glass platter.

Finally, I spied a Flatten It record flattener (€799) for repairing warped records of all sizes and weights. Pro-Ject claims it’s gentle and safe for vinyl. The heating plates and the main body construction is made of solid aluminum.

Part 5 of my Munich 2025 show report is coming soon!

Author bio: Julie Mullins, a lifelong music lover and record collector since age 10 who takes after her audiophile father, is also a contributing editor and reviewer on our sister site, Stereophile, for whom she also writes the monthly Re-Tales column. A former fulltime staffer at Cincinnati’s long-running alt-weekly CityBeat, she programs and hosts a weekly radio show on WAIF called On the Pulse.

For even more High End Munich 2025 coverage, go here on our sister site Stereophile.