They say the turntable is just the start of the journey, and man, were they right. I started with a Pro-Ject T1, a fantastic entry-level deck known for its sleek glass platter and plug-and-play simplicity. But as I spent more time with my system—especially listening through my incredibly revealing Genelec G1 monitors—I started wondering: How much more performance can I actually squeeze out of this thing?
The answer? A lot.
I decided to embark on a comprehensive upgrade path, tackling everything from resonance control to signal processing. Here is exactly what I did to transform my T1 from a great starter deck into a serious audiophile machine.
1. The Foundation: Stability & Silence
The Upgrade: Pro-Ject Ground It E
The T1 is a lightweight design. While it looks great, low mass makes a turntable susceptible to vibrations from footsteps or speakers. I added the Ground It E, a heavy equipment base specifically designed for lightweight turntables.
The Tech Behind It: This isn’t just a heavy board. It uses conical feet and granular damping to decouple the turntable from the furniture. By adding mass under the deck, the resonant frequency of the entire system shifts downwards. The result? The “rumble” floor dropped, the background became “blacker” (quieter), and the bass tightened up significantly because the stylus wasn’t fighting external vibrations.
2. Surface Control: Mat & Clamp
The Upgrades: Pro-Ject Leather It & Clamp It
The stock felt mat was okay, but it was a magnet for static and didn’t offer much in terms of damping the glass platter. I swapped it for the Leather It mat. Leather interacts much better with vinyl, killing static and dampening resonances without deadening the sound like heavy rubber can.
I paired this with the Clamp It. Unlike a heavy record weight (which creates drag on the T1’s bearing and motor), the Clamp It uses a mechanical collet mechanism to grip the spindle. It presses the record flat against the leather mat without adding significant mass. Warped records are now flat, and the stylus tracks much better.
3. The Source: A Serious Stylus Upgrade
The Upgrade: Ortofon Stylus 20
The T1 comes with an Ortofon OM series cartridge. The beauty of this design is that the generator body is compatible with higher-end styli. I pulled off the stock stylus (likely an OM 5E or 10) and clicked on the Stylus 20.
The Tech Behind It: This is a massive jump in engineering. The stock stylus is “bonded” (a diamond tip glued to a metal shank). The Stylus 20 is a “Nude Elliptical” diamond. Because the entire tip is a solid diamond mounted directly to the cantilever, it has significantly lower moving mass. This allows it to track high-frequency transients much faster and more accurately. The difference in detail and the reduction in Inner Groove Distortion (IGD) was night and day.
4. The Engine Room: Going Balanced
The Upgrades: iFi Audio ZEN Phono 3 & 4.4mm Balanced Cable
This was the heavy hitter. The built-in phono stage on the T1 is convenient, but it’s a bottleneck. I bypassed it and added the iFi Audio ZEN Phono 3. This is a class-leading external pre-amp with an insanely low noise floor (-151dBV).
The Tech Behind It: To take full advantage of this, I picked up an iFi 4.4mm to 4.4mm balanced cable. Unlike standard RCA cables, a balanced connection carries the signal on two conductors (hot and cold) plus a ground. Any interference picked up along the cable is cancelled out (Common Mode Rejection) when the signal reaches the next stage. This connects the phono stage to the rest of my chain using a balanced signal, virtually eliminating interference—crucial for the tiny, fragile signal coming from a turntable.
5. The Ritual: Cleanliness is Godliness
The Upgrade: Spin Clean Record Washer Mk II
You can have the best stylus in the world, but if the groove is dirty, it will sound bad. I added the Spin Clean system to my routine. It’s a wet-cleaning bath that scrubs the deep dirt out of used and new records alike using brushes and a specialized fluid that encapsulates dirt so it sinks to the bottom of the basin. The pops and clicks vanished, leaving just the music.
The Verdict
Was it worth investing this much into an entry-level turntable? Absolutely.
By upgrading the supporting cast—isolation, cleaning, phono stage, and stylus—I have removed almost every bottleneck. My Pro-Ject T1 now punches way above its weight class, feeding my Genelec G1s a signal that is clean, detailed, and deeply engaging.
It proves that you don’t always need to buy a new turntable to get “new turntable” sound. Sometimes, you just need to unlock the potential of the one you already have.