A phenomenal new CD transport-Pro-Ject CD Box RS2 transport


I have had in-house for the last week Pro-Ject's new CD Box RS2 transport to review for the website Stereo Times. I was very curious to assess its performance because it uses the Pro 8 drive with the Blue Tiger CD-84 servo card. This drive was developed and built by StreamUnlimited a company started by the original Phillips designers that historically built the finest CD mechanisms. Only two other companies use the StreamUnlimited 8 drive and Blue Tiger CD-84 servo card, their pieces cost $16,000 and $39,000 compared to Pro-Ject's sane price of $3,000!

My reference for the last two years has been the excellent Jay's Audio MK-II transport that had out-performed much more expensive highly regarded transports in my system. Well, across every sonic parameter  (transparency/micro-details-overall dynamics/bottom-end extension/purity of tonality- a much more airy sound-stage with wonderful 3D imaging) compared to the Jay's Audio transport.

That's way I titled this thread a "phenomenal new CD transport" because while not inexpensive, it just might be a bargain based on its performance. Mind you, this superlative level of performance is based on using the switching power supply that Pro-Ject ships the transport with. I have shortly coming a custom 20 watt 3 amp linear power supply from Linear Tube Audio and Pro-Ject's own upgraded power supply to see if the RS2 transport performance will even go to a higher qualitative level of performance.

I'll be writing a full detailed review for Stereo Times in the near future. However, I wanted to share this information to GON members who still spin CDs. I have had numerous CD transports in for evaluation and this just might be the best sounding of all of them.

Teajay (Terry London)




amorstereo
So why did you Re-Brand your name??? Too many bad reviews/complaints on the net??

Nope...your Servers dont sound better than any of the above players/Dacs/Clocks. Of course you wouldnt know that cause you dont have the client base to support those brands. T+A is a Wanna-Be...Their Disc Spinners/Dacs arent up there.
Keep selling those Metal Tweeters and giving your customers Tinnitus/Ear Bleeds down the road as a Freebie.

Might want to confer with some dealers that DO Carry those brands mentioned AND also Aurender and the other TOTL Streamers. They will tell you the EXACT same thing. They prefer Non-Remastered/Compressed PHYSICAL Media played on Quality Players over their streaming gear.

Ive been working with the Music Industry for over 35 years now. None of the Labels are giving Tidal/Quoboz Unique Hi-Res master recordings of music from the 60’s to 80’s. Your getting the COMPRESSED/REMASTERED Crap that they have been churning out for 30 years. Yea you can probably get Neil Young/Tom Petty/Tull etc versions that were done RECENTLY by the likes of Steve Wilson/Kevin Gray.....BUT 99% of whats available are INFERIOR versions supplied by the labels to what they were putting out back in the early days of digital recording when they actually gave a damn and were concerned about QUALITY and getting people to fall in line with the new technology. In order to get THOSE mixes you MUST buy the old physical media....or in your case maybe get the Files from somebody who ripped THOSE versions to their server.

BTW a I-Phone/Tablet IS a computer. Again...not everybody wants to deal with that. Some people that work all day on PC’s/Tablets dont want to come home and have to do the same thing. Put in a Disc and RELAX for 45 minutes.
Thanks for the list of MID-FI gear you carry. NAIM is the only one on the list I would consider and even they have that whole Power Supply scam thing going for them which is a turnoff to many...and unique cabling.
George, yes nice link to transport use! Thanks.
It's also good for seeing what d/a chips are used 

Cheers George
True. I am keeping an eye on the transport market as I own the Cambridge CXC however may replace it with another. I am very happy with my Audio Mirror Tubadour III DAC.
@amorstereo, would you be looking at the Psaudio Perfective SACD transport (PST) anytime soon.
Based on this thread, I was close to pulling the trigger on the RS2 but my dealer swears the PST kicks ass in comparison, for a few thousand dollars more, of course :)
Riaa I don’t know Dave of Audio Intellect from a hole in the ground however reading your attack on Dave and his business is a little much , kinda nutty as a matter of fact ,.LOL