About the Pro-Ject Essential III
Enjoy rich vinyl sound at a great price

The pre-mounted cartridge on the Pro-Ject Essential III sounds great and makes setup easy.
Enjoy rich vinyl sound at a great price
The Pro-Ject Essential III lets you start enjoying the rich, warm sounds of vinyl at a reasonable price.
A solid MDF (medium density fiberboard) base with shock-absorbing feet keeps unwanted vibrations from causing skips. And a pre-mounted Ortofon OM10 cartridge helps you get into the groove right away. Choose from three high-gloss colors to match your decor.
Start spinning records quickly
Pro-Ject knows that turntable setup can be a challenge. The Essential III comes out of the box virtually ready to play. Its pre-matched, factory-mounted phono cartridge and tonearm take the guesswork out of installation, and give you optimized sound quality with minimal effort. A few simple steps to dial in key settings like tracking force and anti-skating are all it takes to get this 'table primed and ready to deliver spacious, detailed music.
Product highlights:
- low-resonance 12" MDF platter with felt mat to protect records from scratches
- one-piece aluminum tonearm with sapphire bearings for superior rigidity and low resonance
- includes pre-mounted Ortofon OM10 moving magnet cartridge
- solid MDF base with shock absorbing feet
- integrated motor control with DC power supply for silent operation
- fully manual operation
- 33-1/3 and 45 rpm speeds (manual speed change)
- speed variance: 0.7% (at 33-1/3 RPM), 0.6% (at 45 RPM)
- wow and flutter: 0.21%
- requires a phono preamp or phono input on receiver or preamplifier
- 16-9/16"W x 4-7/16"H (with dust cover down) x 13"D
- weight: 11.02 lbs.
- warranty: 2 years (1 year warranty for the supplied cartridge)
- Our 60-day money-back guarantee
- MFR # ES3-GB
What's in the box:
Pro-Ject Essential III owner's manual
- Turntable (tonearm and cartridge installed)
- AC power supply (w/ attached 6.5' DC cord)
- 3 AC plug adapters (US/UK/EU)
- Platter
- Belt
- Mat
- 45 RPM adapter
- Anti-skate weight
- Counter weight
- Head-shell weight
- Dust cover
- Plastic hook-tool
- Hex-key
- Instructions For Use
- Two-Point Cartridge Alignment Protractor
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More details on the Pro-Ject Essential III

Features & specs
Features | ||
---|---|---|
Operation | Manual | |
Speeds | 33-1/3, 45 | |
Drive Type | Belt | |
Pitch Control | No | |
Cartridge Type | MM | |
Phono Preamp | No | |
USB Output | No | |
45 RPM Adapter | No | |
Specs | ||
Signal to Noise Ratio | 66 | |
Wow and Flutter | 0.21 | |
Weight | 11.02 lbs. |
Product Research
Features
MDF Platter & Plinth: The Pro-Ject Essential III XE employs a low-resonance plinth & 12" platter, both constructed of MDF. Special feet effectively decouples the plinth from the surface. The platter includes a felt mat.
Belt Driven (Two-Speeds): The Pro-Ject Essential III XE turntable features a quiet-running synchronous motor with silicone belt and diamond cut aluminum drive pulley to drive the low-resonance platter. The Essential III XE turntable supports 33-1/3 and 45 rpm speeds.
8.6" Aluminum Tonearm: The Essential III XE utilizes a straight 8.6" aluminum tonearm design made from a single piece of aluminum with sapphire bearings.
Ortofon OM10 Cartridge (Pre-Mounted): The turntable is fitted with a Ortofon OM10 MM-cartridge. If your receiver does not have a suitable Phono MM input, a separate phono pre-amplifier (sold separately) is required to connect the turntable to your amplifier.
Fixed RCA Cable: The turntable features fixed 39" stereo RCA cable and ground wire. The turntable's internal wiring consists of high-grade flexible copper from the headshell right through to the fixed connection cable.
Dust Cover: The Pro-Ject Essential III XE comes supplied with a dust cover to prevent dust build-up on the turntable.
AC Power Adapter: The turntable operates off of standard household current using the supplied external AC power adapter.
- Input: 100-240V~50/60Hz, 0.35A
- Output: 15V - 0.8A (0.5A)
Colors: Available in gloss black, red, or white finish.
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