The easiest way to add vinyl to your system
Building on Pro-Ject’s award-winning Essential II, the Essential III Phono features a more refined bearing and an improved MDF body to give you smooth playback and a lively, balanced sound. With an understated elegance and European-built quality, the Essential III Phono is a delight you’ll treasure for years to come. The Essential III Phono comes pre-fitted with an Ortofon OM10 cartridge, which works in concert with Pro-Ject’s finely-engineered 8.6” aluminium tonearm to reveal detail in your favourite records like you’ve never heard before. And with its built-in phono stage, the Essential III Phono fits easily into most sound systems.
Simple, elegant design
Clean lines and classic geometry make the Essential III a stylish addition to any room, continuing Pro-Ject’s decades-long reputation for elegant, understated turntables.
Built-in phono stage
The sound coming from a turntable is extremely soft, so it requires a boost to get it to a listenable level. That’s the job of a phono stage, and the Essential III Phono has a phono stage built-in to make it easy to set up. Even better, the high-quality phono stage can be switched on or off as required, so the Essential III Phono can be paired with a new phono stage if you choose to upgrade in the future.
MDF construction
A major design evolution from the award-winning Essential II, the MDF used in the body and platter of the Essential III offers a more solid build, with better vibration-management for a smooth, natural tone.
Ortofon OM10 Cartridge & aluminium tonearm.
The Essential III Phono comes pre-fitted with an Ortofon OM10 cartridge. Its smooth movement allows the OM10 to extract astounding new details from your records, and bring them to life with a vivid, evocative feel. The cartridge works in concert with Pro-Ject’s finely-engineered 8.6” aluminium tonearm to reveal detail in your favourite records like you’ve never heard before.
Manual speed control
Play both 33rpm and 45rpm records with a simple adjustment of the pulley which the drive belt sits on.
Adjustable Counterweight & Anti-skating weight
Unlike the Jukebox & Primary lines, the Essential ranges features adjustable counterweights and anti-skating weights to accomodate any stylus or cartridge upgrade in the future.
Need a complete sound system?
An all-in-one, compact hi-fi system with everything you need to get started. Delighting in your vinyl collection has never been easier.
Our collection of turntable hi-fi systems are designed for the t rue vinyl aficionado. With separate components, not only do you get better sound, but you have the flexibility to upgrade elements of the system later down the track. We like to call it future-proof.
Check out the options here >>>
What's in the box?




Essential III Phono Specs
Industry Reviews

The Pro-Ject Essential III is a good looking turntable, with very good audio performance and optional upgrades that can make it even better. It’s a great choice for someone whose vinyl collection and love of analog music has outgrown entry level turntables... The premium components used for the Pro-Ject Essential III make it sound even better than you might expect
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Place a record on the platter ... and you’ll soon be treated to the trademark Pro-Ject sound. This is a good thing... Another budget Pro-Ject turntable, another five-star review – the company simply can’t shake the habit of turning out top-class turntables.
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