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

Sorry for reviving this (a bit) older thread, but I too will soon be a convert going back to CD-playback, and time around with the thread-relevant Pro-Ject Audio Systems CD Box RS2 T + Pro-Ject Audio Systems Power Box RS Uni 4-way Linear power supply.

Initially I was on the verge of going more all-in with a dedicated streamer to replace my DIY music/media server, however circumstances challenged that decision; over time listening extensively to two different setups at friends of mine (both of whom use outboard active setups with high eff. main speakers + subs and similar main speaker amps and digital crossovers to mine) - one with a Grimm Audio MU1 streamer + Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC and the other with named Pro-ject CD transport + LPSU + Weiss DAC-1 - I quickly started realizing the sheer quality of the latter, CD playback-based source with its fleshed out/uninhibited, analogue, transparent and live-sounding imprinting. Not in any way to diminish the qualities of the MU1 streamer, which is a fantastic streamer. Still, knowing both setups very well and having heard different sources in their chains I've come to the conclusion that the Pro-Ject CD transport + LPSU is my preferred sonic "meal" and is simply too good to pass. 

The takeaway for me in addition is the price difference between the different source options mentioned. The MU1 is more of a "Swiss knife" with a preamp section and most any musical repertoire at the tip of your finger, but at roughly 4 times the price and still being the slightly inferior performer to me, I'd say the Pro-Ject combo is a downright bargain.  

@acresverde wrote:

This transport is still being sold? I thought Project pulled it a couple of years ago. I know it wasn’t available in the states the last I heard.

It’s still sold here in Denmark, but they may be emptying the stock that’s left. I imagine not many of them are sold in light of the momentum of high-end streaming that has caught on for some years now.

Myself I have for years regarded CD-playback from dedicated transports a nostalgic remnant of the past with a stubborn love for physical media, and something I couldn’t see myself going back to - ignorantly, I might add; having listened to the Pro-Ject transport + LPSU quite a few times now I simply cannot ignore the sonic prowess of this duo, physical CD’s and their space requirement be damned. From what I’m able to assess the sound quality level here easily challenges very expensive streamers, and so for me the source approach will now be twofold: a less than all-out but still very capable streamer (like the NuPrime Evolution Stream, Lumin U2 or thereabouts) to have that vast musical repertoire at the tip of my fingers, and then - with purchases inspired by the music from streaming - the Pro-Ject + LPSU for physical media playback in the best/better quality. We’ll see how it goes down the road. Maybe streaming will catch up at lower prices eventually, but for now the best investment appears to what I just outlined above. 

It’s a shame if Pro-Ject has discontinued this CD-transport. It’s truly something of a sonic marvel, I find, but popularity for digital physical media may be dwindling, sadly. 

For those who report technical issues with the Pro-Ject CD-transport I can certainly understand the frustration, but I dare say it also fits the narrative of a streaming competition that would rather see digital physical media die - the consumers being willing disciples for the manufacturers in spreading word on mishaps that are likely a minority problem in the bigger scheme of things.

As it is it’s rather amazing seeing the sonic potential that a CD holds, and how many audiophiles have really been able to discern that potential with a great CD-transport - I mean if they even wanted to? Hell, I’m guilty as charged, but at least I’ve now reacted based on listening impressions for an acquisition real soon. 

@jetter wrote:

I would never have thought that someone would make up bad things about any CD transport because there is a competition between CDs and streaming?

I’m not implying they make it up, but rather that the technical issues reported by a few are easily blown out of proportion and this way, implicitly, can act as an argument against CD playback more generally. Competition may be too strong a word, but certainly the taking of sides as it pertains to consumers comes in revolving around the old and newer/not based on a spinning CD way of transferring digital data to the D/A-converter:

There’s momentum and inertia to streaming as a natural evolution in digital playback, while conversely there’s the sense that CD-transports as a digital source in our present day hifi-milieu are a regression; physical CD’s take up space, they are susceptible to scratches, lasers wear out as do the associated drive mechanisms, they’re not "high-res," they’re bothersome, etc. Streaming on the other hand is devoid of mentioned mechanical hassles, offers an easier, more intuitive user platform, a near limitless musical repertoire at your fingertips, high-res files (for whatever it’s worth), a great way to explore new music, etc. On the face of it streaming has everything in its advantage. 

However what streaming qua streaming offers in convenience, ease-of-use and vast musical repertoire is partially offset by the dependency on the streaming chain prior to the streamer itself and the demands placed here to harness its fuller potential, not to mention that streamers easily wind up as rather expensive affairs. By comparison a CD-transport is a more locally restricted and mechanically based source, and if the Pro-Ject transport is anything to go by - which it most definitely is as a singular item anyway - then excellent sound quality from a physical CD can be had somewhat cheaper than a streaming scenario with a similar file type. 

And this perhaps is the crux of the matter: the difference in price (for similar performance). Among some there’s the insistence that different platforms that perform similarly-ish are also (or rather must be) more or less similarly priced. For some reason it rubs them the wrong way when the price here is not the same, not least if the platform they’ve chosen is the more expensive one. Even if one were to tell them they are effectively paying extra dough for convenience and ease-of-use (or maybe because of that) then those extra dollars invested - from their chair, willfully - still have to do with something additionally gained in sound quality. Which is to say: to them it’s not as much that price matters than that it HAS to matter.