Pro-Ject Stream Box RS Network player

A few of the most notable new arrivals have already been the RS series. These main members of the 'Box' variety of electronic equipment have not proved unimpressive with some innovative attributes.

The newest offering in the RS variety pitches into a region that is rather less of a Pro-Ject comfort zone. To date so normal, but then the Pro-Ject begins to deviate from the standard somewhat.

The fitting of a set of digital input signals is to be expected on streamers, but discovering an analogue input is more uncommon - only Naim and Musical Fidelity have now been ploughing this kind of furrow as well as then, the Pro Ject has notions of its own.

The inputs can be collated and output signal at line level and you might have the welcome choice between RCA and XLR connections, but the Stream Box can be converted into a preamp in the press of a button on the rear panel. The Project idiosyncrasy does not end there...

Nestled in the Stream Box RS's back is a pair of 6922 valves that are ordered to give a double mono valve output to the Project. Valve outputs in CD players are nothing new - they've been with us for over 20 years, but fitting them is highly unexpected. When you join the preamp into the mixture, you offering something different to the remaining streaming pack and have a product which is efficiently exceptional. Additionally, this is particularly relevant given the RS range has a power amp present and willing to go, as well as the resulting mixture is a highly dense and possibly fascinating coming together - particularly as the power amp is fitted with an additional pair of little valves in the signal path, which will be likely to have a further impact on the overall sound.

Around the front, a sizable colour screen that is flowing products developed with fellow Austrian business Stream Unlimited's trademark dominates the Pro Ject. The remote is effective enough, but it's not large and somewhat lightweight. It works well. The program is free to download, is powerful and well created, but at the instant it is only sized for the iPhone instead of the iPad that is more capable. The good news is the fact that Pro-Ject has developed an Android variation for those that have iDevice-phobia.

Build quality standards and the rest of the RS range meet along with the Stream Carton feels both solid and substantial. The thick front plate and damped casework with strong connections are in keeping with what you might expect at the price.

Setup proves simple enough, but the method of inputting network passwords by scrolling up and down a very long listing of characters is a bit of an ordeal and also the speed it leaves information in the essential NAS drive isn't as fast as the Naim ND5XS and Cambridge Audio Stream Magic 6, which are permanent residents and get the identical drive over the exact same network. Obtaining different tracks is secure and quick after the library continues to be rendered.

Sound quality

The very first and truly overriding belief is the Project has a demo that's very different to many products that are competing and not always in a bad way.

Provide the Pro-Ject something well recorded, but fundamentally mellow like Ali Farke Toure and Ry Cooder's Talking Timbuktu as well as the Pro Ject is unforced, smooth and relaxing as a cold pint of Guinness. Many pieces of contemporary digital manage to sound free of sterility and the little sharpness that may make digital seeming slightly fatiguing in certain cases.

The Pro-Ject takes this idea and runs with it. The demonstration is absolutely free of any kind of aggression or harshness and there is certainly a feeling of warmth to the way it makes music that's not common, but not entirely unwanted. Toure's guitar's plucked strings have an astonishingly weighty and full bodied tone that lends a fullness that is quite beguiling is listened by each.

This relaxing manner of going about could be somewhat deceptive. This info is never forced by the general presentation to the fore, although the Pro-Ject can typically extract a surprising amount of detail from music. The Project tends then let quite a bit of the information happen and to shove it that can be found towards the middle of the soundstage. This may mean that renditions that are very large can sound somewhat constrained - although not unduly so - but smaller bits have a feeling of effortlessness that's hard not to enjoy and also a very pleasing closeness.

Switch to something more competitive along with this smoothness that is unflappable is maintained by the Stream Box. This really does mean that the sheer bite and assault of the high res FLAC of Scrape Enormous's live Communion is lost, but equally the Project maintains a level of civility this performance that is really raw will often gain from. Tempo and the timing of the Stream Carton is never as nail more upfront rival machines can manage, but it can not be described as wayward.

This heat does not appear to be something that might be placed entirely at the door of the valves. Lots of CD players with valve output signals are completely more capable of more aggression compared to the Pro-Ject and forward and it appears that the entire setup accounts for the way it sounds. The flipside of this setup that is quite forgiving is the fact that although the Project is really capable of high-res playback, the overriding presentation never actually transforms.

By the same token, the presentation with internet radio is consistently nice along with the Stream Box RS is very forgiving of low bit rate stations.

Switching the RS to the preamp function - into the Cambridge Audio 851A's given input signal - doesn't have a critical impact on the overall performance. The volume control is fairly linear (although the adjustment is decidedly lethargic) and there is little awareness of attenuation at low degrees, which can be always useful.

The analogue input reveals an entire output signal that's generally clear (again suggesting the valves are not the primary reason for the performance of the RS), but the digital input signals are slightly clearer and more forward compared to the UPnP section of the RS, and points to a few of its character originating from there.

Conclusion

The Stream Box RS is something that performs in a way that is enough different from the competition to be an apparatus that has to be looked at before purchase. The smooth, managed and relaxed manner it brings civility to even the most wayward touches (and by extension, have a calming influence on systems that are glowing) is often a pleasing and very welcome thing.

The preamp functionality can be exceptionally useful and nicely implemented. If you are searching for a thorough and much more forthright digital source - and you're hoping to really see the advantage of high resolution files - the Project is marginally less convincing.

In the right system though, this built and nicely thought out small box has plenty to commend it.