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
Thanks Terry. Regarding my question above, I assume there must be a way to program tracks? It would seem a rather glaring omission, if not.
Hey tommylion,

To be quite frank, I never program tracks, so I never thought about it! Why don’t you go to Pro-ject’s website and take a look at the owner’s manual to see how to engage this feature. If it's not in the manual send an Email to them for an answer to your question.

I emailed the Pro-ject US importer about programming tracks, and this is the reply I received:

 

Thanks for reaching out.

The RS2 T does not support track programming. It is a pure CD transport playback device.


Best regards,

Pro-Ject Customer Support Team@

Pro-Ject USA


The lack of the ability to program tracks may not matter to some, but, for me, it's likely a deal killer. I get putting sound quality over features, but I’m having a hard time understanding how implementing track programming would impact sound quality??? This is the first transport/player I’ve run across without it.

Just wanted others who may be considering the CD Box RS2 to be aware of this omission.
Here's something on a cheaper version of a Pro-Ject CD player in their line up and the reviewer just loved it. 
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0621/Pro_Ject_Audio_CD_Box_DS2_CD_Player_Review.htm
I don't know if it uses the Tiger platform that the top loader uses but it's way cheaper and really impressed the reviewer.

All the best,
Nonoise