A Popular Hi-Fi Maker’s New Affordable Turntable Makes Listening to Vinyl Easy

The revered hi-fi brand does it again with another gorgeous turntable.

Published March 27, 2025

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Admittedly, automatic turntables are polarizing.

On one hand, they make playing vinyl records super easy. You place the record, press a button, and the turntable does the rest — its tonearm automatically drops the stylus, plays the record, and then, at the end, returns to its original resting position.

On the other hand, automatic turntables take away what makes listening to vinyl so special. Since you don’t drop the needle or pick it back up when the record ends, you’re not forced to pay as much attention to the music. This is why many hi-fi purists swear by manual turntables.

But that’s why they make different flavors of ice cream, so they say, and for those that would prefer an automatic turntable, Pro-Ject just released a new one that promises to be damn nice.

Pro-Ject Automat A1.2

Fully automatic

The Pro-Ject Automat A1.2 is the newest addition to the Austrian hi-fi maker’s Automat line of automatic turntables — in fact, the new A1.2 is essentially a new-and-improved version of the brand’s A1, has been around since 2022.

As for the differences between the two, there are a few.

Pro-Ject has given the A1.2 an upgraded die-cast aluminum platter that promises to reduce resonance, along with an improved belt-drive system and Pro-Ject’s own Pick-it MM E cartridge (instead of the Ortofon OM5E featured on the A1).

Like its predecessor, the A1.2 turntable is still handmade in Germany and assembled in the Czech Republic.

Just add speakers

Other that the higher-quality components, the Automat A1.2 is just like its predecessor. It’s a fully-automatic belt-drive turntable that supports 33 and 45 RPM record — a quick button switches between speeds.

The turntable has a built-in switchable phono preamp, so you can easily connect the speaker to a powered or active speaker system. If you want to upgrade your system down the road, you can turn off the phono preamp and use an external one.

Price and availability

The Pro-Ject Automat A1.2 is available now in the UK and Europe but isn’t yet shown on the company’s US website, and exact pricing has not been revealed.

Given that the company’s A1 Automatic turntable costs $499, we expect the Automatic A1.2 to be in that same ballpark (if not a little more). We’ll update this post when pricing is confirmed.

The Pro-Ject Automat A1.2 will come in either black or white (which is new) finishes.