CD / SACD players and transports — Pro-Ject CD Box DS2 T

The CD Box DS2 T from the Vienna company Pro-Ject Audio Systems is a disc transport in the company's DS Line of Box Design components. Having no converter stage of its own, it is designed only to read Red Book CD-DA discs and pass the data to an external DAC or AV processor. Discs go into a slot at the front rather than into a tray. The UK retail price was GBP 559, and it has since been discontinued there. Black and silver finishes were offered, with a 3 mm aluminium faceplate.

Key specs that matter

Three digital outputs are fitted - one optical Toslink S/PDIF, one coaxial S/PDIF and one balanced AES/EBU on XLR. Besides pressed CDs, it plays CD-R, CD-RW and the CD layer of hybrid SACD discs. Power comes from an outboard 9 V supply rated at 2000 mA, the unit draws between 300 and 1500 mA in use and less than 1 W on standby. The aluminium version measures 206 x 71 x 199 mm and weighs 1620 g, while the version with wooden side panels is 240 x 72 x 199 mm and 2070 g, both without the power supply. Side panels were offered in eucalyptus, rosenut and walnut.

Engineering and use context

The drive sits on a four-layer suspension inside a torsion-resistant cabinet, and a Blue Tiger servo board from StreamUnlimited controls it with the aim of real-time reading and low jitter. Keeping the converter out of the box means the owner chooses the DAC and can change it later without replacing the disc drive. A high-contrast dot-matrix display shows track count and total time on loading and can be dimmed while playback is stopped. Two 12 V trigger sockets on 2.5 mm jacks let another Box Design component switch the transport on and off, and the trigger output relays that signal to further units. While a trigger voltage is present the front button cannot put the unit into standby. The supplied remote runs on a CR2032 or CR2025 cell, handles play, stop, track selection, repeat and random play, and also adjusts volume on many Pro-Ject amplifiers. The optional Control-it DS/RS universal remote covers this and other Box Design models.

Pairing

Any DAC or receiver with a coaxial, optical or AES/EBU input will accept the signal, and the matching width suits a stack with Pro-Ject Box Design DACs and preamplifiers.

Alternatives

The Pro-Ject CD Box RS2 T is a top-loading transport built around the CD-Pro 8 drive with an extra I2S output on HDMI.