PRO-JECT PRE BOX S2 DIGITAL
The Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital DAC and headphone amplifier overkills in the right way, without the usual monetary penalty
When it comes to hi-fi equipment, I don’t really have a problem with ‘overkill’. If level ‘x’ of performance in audio gear exceeds the ability of human perception to distinguish any inadequacies, then why not level 2x? There’s nothing wrong with a bit of a margin for error… unless that is, that the ‘overkill’ ends up costing a lot of money.
Which brings me to the Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital DAC and headphone amplifier. It overkills in the right way, and does it without the usual monetary penalty.
THE EQUIPMENT
Before getting to that overkill, let’s look at the design. Pro-Ject is best known for its turntables, and primarily for the high quality of those turntables and their value-for-money, irrespective of their selling price. So a DAC is somewhat of a departure. Did it take on a team of digital engineers to move in this direction? In fact, the Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 was designed by John Westlake, former designer of products for Cambridge Audio, Peachtree and Audiolab. It seems that the Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 was largely a labour of love for him, with Pro-Ject taking this device the rest of the way to industrial production.
The result is a very small device. It measures just 103mm wide, 37mm tall and 122mm deep… and that includes the volume/control knob on the front. It weighs just 366 grams. There is no power supply built in—although a great deal of attention has been paid internally to cleaning up the power that is delivered to it
