Analog Gear News

Good grief! While we’re in the deep throes of our imminent full-court High End Munich 2025 press, I couldn’t let another day go by without our acknowledging a truly special limited-edition piece of analog gear that may (or may not!) be seen at the big show — namely, Pro-Ject’s Peanuts turntable.

This ltd-ed table is intended to honor the 75th year of Peanuts, the late, great Charles M. Schulz’s worldwide-loved comic strip about “Good ol’ Charlie Brown,” Snoopy, and the entire cast of kid characters that made its daily-strip debut in print newspapers on October 2, 1950. (Footnote 1) In an official press statement, the company said, quote, “As big fans, we, at Pro-Ject Audio Systems, want to celebrate this anniversary with a very special turntable. We teamed up and designed the turntable artwork with music-related comic snippets.”

Anyone who’s ever followed Peanuts to any regular degree knows how music and stereo gear were often integrated into Schulz’s clever yet universally appealing storylines. For example, we must immediately acknowledge Good ol’ Charlie Brown himself, perhaps the vinyl-geekiest of them all (with Linus being a close second) who could be seen interacting with hi-fi gear and LPs on numerous occasions, including one classic panel showing him crouching in front of a cabinet full of vinyl — with his portable, all-in-one turntable on the floor nearby — while pulling out a record sleeve with his right hand and saying, “I’m real proud of my record collection.”

Then there’s piano savant Schroeder and his endless love of Beethoven — though he did once admit to preferring Brahms, on occasion! — and his prescient observation that “Buying records cheers me up. Whenever I feel low, I buy some new records.” The ever-wily Snoopy, an expert collector in his own canine right, frequently found a way to sleep prone on top of — and sometimes even within — music stanzas. And, of course, there are numerous classic jazz scores by pianist Vince Guaraldi created for many a Peanuts TV and movie special over the decades that have made their way onto high-grade vinyl. (Footnote 2)

But for now, let’s get back to talking about the new gear, Charlie Brown! The base of the Pro-Ject Peanuts turntable mirrors that of the company’s T1 BT table that boasts such premium materials as a built-in phono preamp and a Bluetooth (BT) transmitter for wireless music streaming.

The Peanuts table’s motor drives a belt system attached to a newly designed sub-platter, which is mounted into an ultra-precise 0.001mm main bearing with a hardened steel axle and brass bushing. The 8mm blasted-glass platter is of a heavy, zero-resonance design. Additionally, a special Charlie Brown acrylic record plate is included, which is placed on top of said glass main platter. The 8.6in aluminum tonearm is fitted with a pre-adjusted Ortofon OM 10 moving-magnet (MM) cartridge.

Other specs for the Pro-Ject Peanuts table include manual playback speeds of 33 and 45rpm, with speed variance given as 0.7% (33rpm) and 0.6% (45rpm), wow & flutter as 0.25% (33rpm) and 0.23% (45rpm), S/N ratio as 65dB, effective arm length as 218.5mm, overhang as 22.0mm, effective tonearm mass as 8.0g, counterweight for mass as 5-10g (pre-mounted), and tracking force range as 0-50mN (17.5mN, pre-adjusted).

The Peanuts table offers RCA line, RCA phono, and BT outputs (phono/line cable included). Accessories include a dustcover, felt mat, and a power supply (110-240V/50, 60Hz; 15V DC 800 mA). Power consumption is given as 3W max. The dimensions of the Pro-Ject Peanuts table are 415 x 100 x 335mm (w/h/d), and its weight is 3.8kg (net).

Finally, the SRP for the Pro-Ject Peanuts limited special edition turntable is €599 (VAT included). At the time of this posting, this model doesn’t yet appear to be available directly at authorized dealers on this side of the Pond, so if the Peanuts table speaks to you like it does to me — and not in that monotone, wah wah wah wah fashion, mind you — you’ll have to contact your local Pro-Ject distributor to help figure out how to obtain it internationally (so to speak).

For more about Pro-Ject, go here.
To find an authorized Pro-Ject dealer, go here.

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Footnote 1: October 2 also happens to be Audiophile Day, as well as being the same day The Twilight Zone debuted on CBS in 1959. Just sayin’. . .

Footnote 2: For our reviews of some recent, upgraded reissues of Vince Guaraldi Peanuts-centric Thanksgiving and Christmas LPs, go here, and scroll down accordingly.