PROJECT CD Box RS2 T

The new generation of state-of-the-art CD transports.

Pro-Ject has always been making products and investments that are not particularly mainstream. While everyone was jumping on the CD bandwagon, we started with turntables! Now that the whole world is moving towards streaming, we are investing in a revolutionary new CD player.

We believe in mindful listening to music and also that there are many people who deeply share this feeling with us. Just like analog records, people want to have the physical medium at hand. And that is also true for the CD! Most of us are still going to put most of their CD's on a hard drive or store them in the basement, like they did with their analog records. But many want to keep their best CD's and for this they want to have a suitable CD player. Very good quality, but not too expensive.

Redbook CD players have become rare, high-end mechanisms don't even exist anymore. Today we know that the drive is essential for reading all 16 bits of a CD and most CD players have never seen more than 10 bits. The CD medium might have gotten an unfavorable reputation as a result, so it's time to re-create a perfect, first-class CD transport.

Only the transport matters, because many already have a very good DAC, which means we don't have to add a DAC and increase costs. So we concentrated on making the best CD transport we could.

Being based in Vienna, we are lucky that Philips had its development department here, and many CD players and mechanisms were designed here. The gentlemen who were part of this vintage invention are still out there, trained at a company called StreamUnlimited. We are proud to say that the Pope of today's CD player, Mr. Michael Jirousek, was helping to create this ultimate CD player.

The CD Box RS2 T is the latest development in our top-loading CD transport line, built around the StreamUnlimited CD-Pro 8 mechanism and CD-84 servo system. The RS2 T CD Case brings standard Red Book audio CD playback to perfection.

The CD Pro-8 has the servo system built right into its aluminum body. The entire body is suspended in a patented anti-vibration system, which allows us to control the level of external vibrations that reach the interior of the device. The DC mechanism is stabilized and secured, not affected by external influences.

The vibration dampers are mounted on a very rigid carbon fiber chassis, further helping to isolate the CD changer from the outside. In addition, the entire chassis is firmly connected to the body of the CD Box RS2 T itself. This construction provides excellent rigidity to the entire system and, at the same time, splendid isolation against the entire vibration spectrum. The CD mechanism has an improved clamp made of a new aluminum alloy. It is perfectly balanced and ensures perfect contact between the disc and the drive, achieving smooth rotation and perfect reading of the disc.

As a transport-only device, the optical and coaxial S/PDIF outputs allow you to connect your favorite high-end DAC. AES/EBU digital output via XLR goes one step beyond the quality of optical or coaxial signals and on top of that, the CD Box RS2 T offers an I²S + Masterclock output via HDMI. This standard offers the perfect digital interconnect and is the ideal solution to overcome the limitations inherent in other forms of digital audio connections. This makes it the perfect partner for our RS2 Pre Box, taking full advantage of this digital transfer standard. The output options ensure that all the care and attention that has gone into the design of the CD drive is not wasted.

By dispensing with on-board electronic converters and preamps, you ensure that those parts don't interfere with perfect CD-reading capabilities and allow the use of high-end DACs.

Pro-Ject are the first to use the new high-tech CD-Pro 8 drive with the Blue Tiger CD-84 servo plate. The drive, chassis, suspension, and servo plate are all new designs and offer unprecedented CD performance at this price.

The massive chassis will never misalign or warp under high temperatures. The sprocket wheels run on precision steel shafts. The chassis is milled with the utmost precision from a solid aluminum block and each turntable is turned from steel and chrome plated. This is critical for transportation and ensures it will last a lifetime.

The suspension system consists of a rigid carbon fiber plate, carbon fiber tubes, springs, silicone dampers and screws. The suspension, cap and turntable platter are made of 100% real carbon fiber.

The RS2 T CD Case offers sophisticated, super-precise, new levels of mechanical qualities to read a perfect data stream.

The robust chassis and electronics around this unit deliver the perfect jitter-free signal to its wide variety of outputs. We can proudly say that it is the best CD transport ever and the perfect partner for so many high quality DACs out there today.

The CD Box RS2 T is available in a beautiful and elegant precision-machined aluminum case in silver or black. A new remote control in a new all-aluminum chassis is also included in the package.

Technical characteristics:

Top loading CD drive.

Magnetic clamp.

Plays CD Audio, CD-R, CD-RW, Hybrid SACD.

Blue Tiger CD-Pro 8 top loading module with suspension system and CD-84 servo plate.

I²S + Masterclock via HDMI connector.

The LCD screen shows the time, tracks and text (if available).

Gravity design with center point of mass.

Aluminum IR remote control included.

Available in high quality silver or black aluminum chassis.

Technical specifications.

Supports CD, CD-R, CD-RW (finalized), and Hybrid-SACD.

digital outputs.

AES3 x balanced (AES/EBU) on XLR connector.

S/PDIF 1 x optical (TOSlink®) 1 x coaxial (RCA connector).

I2S + Master Clock 1 x HDMI connector.

External power supply 20V/3000mA DC; 100 - 240V, 50/60Hz.

Power consumption 600mA DC, < 0.5W in standby.

Remote control with spare battery 1 x CR2032 / 3V or 1 x CR2025 / 3V.

Dimensions Width x Height x Depth (D with plugs) 206 x 78 x 200 (210)mm.

Weight 3,000g without power supply.