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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
amorstereo OP
64 posts
 
Hey Charles,

I have never been a fan of P.S. Audio gear for two reasons: 1) There build quality. 2) Underwhelming performance-Both the DACs and transport.

I have talked to two individuals that I trust their "ears" and both thought the Pro-Ject transport was superior in it's performance compared to the latest version of the P.S. Audio PWT transport.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Hi Terry, 
I've used the PWT very happily the past 9 years (Haven't used their DAC) and it's been very natural sounding and musically engaging.  But that's just me and individuals will differ in their experiences and opinion,  so definitely no problem. I really appreciate your feedback comments.  The Pro-Ject CD BOX RS2 has most certainly caught my attention thanks to you initiating this thread 👍.
Charles 
musichead's avatar
musichead
94 posts
 
The Project is on my radar as well as the PS Audio transport. Some Project users have complained about having a noisy unit which concerns me. The PS Audio seems more complicated, more ways to break down? It has an innovation that removes the noise from the signal that sounds intriguing. The Jays is out there as well but I can't seem to find 100% clarity thats its significantly better than my CXC and if there is a large gap compared to the Project or PS Audio. With the $$ involved with these units I would expect them to last a long time.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
@musichead,
My first generation P.S.Audio PWT has been rock solid reliable with 9 years of heavy usage. Sonically I preferred it to an early generation Esoteric transport with VRDS I was using (Also very reliable and still working!). 

I suspect the current now called PST (Can play SACD via I2S connectivity) sounds excellent. The recent October price reduction puts in the range of the Pro-Ject RS2. The Jay's Audio MK III is less expensive than these two. I believe that any of these 3 transports is a clear step upward from the Cambridge (For a higher cost).

I have no doubt that all 3 are upper tier solutions for spinning CDs compared to lower budget alternatives.  If I replace my older PWT I suspect that any of the 3 transports would be an upgrade. By how much? That remains to be seen. My gut feeling is that the Pro-Ject is very probably the best sounding. I based this on comments and feedback from those who are familiar to some extent with all of them.

There have been enough posters on this thread who've compared the Jay's Audio and Pro-Ject and find the latter better sounding. If/when I make a move to get another CD transport it will be the Pro-Ject RS2. There have been a number of RS2 owners posting here and noise has not been raised as an issue. So perhaps an isolated problem with only a few units. 
Charles 
disc
120 posts
 
In regard to the discussion of noise issues with the Pro-Ject, my experience has been that it is dead silent.  This is both in terms of the mechanism (eg, with some other players I could hear the disc spinning if I got close to the player) and the output (with the volume up on my amp and the Pro-Ject turned on, my speakers are dead silent even when very close to them).  The latter is mostly the amp, I know.  Anyway, not really data, but an anecdotal report from a happy owner.
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