Project Automat A1.2
fully automatic turntable - white - Pro-Ject

There is a generation of record players that many vinyl fans think back to with nostalgia: the large German fully automatic record players of the 1970s and 80s. Put the record on, pull a lever - and the tonearm glides onto the groove by itself, plays the side and returns to its resting point automatically at the end. No manual lowering, no forgotten removal of the tonearm after falling asleep, no scratching over the run-out groove. The Pro-Ject Automat A1.2 brings this tradition into the present - with the Pro-Ject sound that vinyl lovers have appreciated for decades and an automatic mechanism that is built in the same Black Forest factory that once produced the legendary Dual fully automatic machines.

The A1.2 is the updated successor to the A1 - the first ever fully automatic Pro-Ject turntable. Two major improvements clearly set it apart from its predecessor: a new die-cast aluminum platter with CNC balancing and the in-house Pro-Ject Pick it MM E cartridge. Both measures are aimed at the same thing: more sonic substance with unchanged operating clarity.

The key to the Automat A1.2 is its origin. St. Georgen in the Black Forest has an unusually long tradition of precision manufacturing - the town was already one of the most important production sites for clock movements and precision mechanics in Germany in the 20th century. This tradition also gave rise to the Fehrenbacher company, which for decades built the famous Dual fully automatic record players, which in their best decades were regarded as the benchmark for mechanical precision. When production of the original Dual players came to an end at the end of the 1980s, Alfred Fehrenbacher continued to manufacture them himself.

In 2021, Pro-Ject boss Heinz Lichtenegger entered into an exclusive partnership with Fehrenbacher: since then, the Black Forest manufacturer has produced the entire Pro-Ject Automat series. The result is an unusual synthesis: Austrian hi-fi engineering meets German precision mechanics with decades of Automat experience. The automatic mechanism of the A1.2 works like clockwork - small, precise, completely mechanical, without electronics. And that is precisely the crucial point: during playback, the automatic mechanism is completely decoupled from the tonearm. It transmits no vibrations, it exerts no resistance - the tonearm glides freely over the groove as if the turntable were fully manual.

The A1 was a solid debut - its successor sharpens the sound in two specifically chosen areas. The new die-cast aluminum platter replaces the previously used pressed aluminum sheet. Die-casting allows for a significantly denser, more homogeneous material structure - and in the decisive step, each individual platter is precisely balanced using a CNC milling machine. Aluminum sheet tends to produce a slight, bell-like sound in response to vibrations; the newly cast and milled plate no longer has this inherent resonance. The result is a calmer, darker sound background on which musical details stand out more clearly.

The second innovation is the pickup: the Pro-Ject Pick it MM E replaces the Ortofon OM10. As an in-house development, it is consistently designed to meet the requirements of the ultra-light Pro-Ject tonearm - the compromise between cartridge compliance and tonearm weight has been optimally solved by design. During the development of the Automat A1.2, Pro-Ject also revised the drive system and introduced new silicone damper feet to better keep external vibrations away from the chassis.

The A1.2 is a turntable that requires no learning curve. The cartridge is fitted and set at the factory. The built-in, switchable phono preamplifier enables connection to any amplifier - even without a dedicated phono input. The supplied semi-balanced Connect it E cable with gold-plated RCA plugs is unusually good in this price range. Electronic speed switching between 33 and 45 rpm is done at the touch of a button, and the electronically controlled motor ensures stable speeds. The 8.3″ ultra-light aluminium tonearm with anti-magnetic carbon fibre headshell is optimized for high-compliance MM cartridges - a design necessity for fully automatic players, as the automatic mechanism can only work with small, precise masses.

The resonance-damped wooden housing shields the sensitive mechanism from external vibrations, and the dust cover is included in the scope of delivery. If you want to further improve your setup: The A1.2 is ideal as an introduction to the world of external phono preamps - the built-in preamp can be switched off, and a good external device noticeably raises the sound of the system to the next level.