Pro-Ject Tube Box S2 Black - Phono Tube Preamp for MM and MC Cells | Dual Mono Preamplifier, Interchangeable ECC83 Tubes, Aluminium Chassis and Gold RCA Outputs

This little phono preamp from Pro-Ject sounds good! I had been using an Art DJ Pre II phono preamp, which is IMO a great deal and practically a steal for how cheap it sells. But I had Amazon gift certificates burning a whole in my pocket. I read a lot before buying the Tube Box S2, as I was not really dissatisfied with the Art DJ Pre II. My biggest concerns around purchasing the Tube Box S2 was that it supposedly isn’t an “all-tube” phono preamp and the cost, which is high but not that high for “quality” audio gear. What eventually sold me on the Tube Box S2 was even if it isn’t all tubes producing the gain and RIAA equalization, it is supposedly using high-quality capacitors and FETs (transistors) in place of less expensive op amps or chips. As a consumer of audio appliances, I don’t really have anything against solid-state electronics, so I appreciate that Pro-Ject designed and built the Tube Box S2 with quality in mind. Even if it’s not all tubes, it’s built with circuits and parts that are as high of a quality as you can get at this price point, and yes, the tubes certainly are being used in the output and supposedly in some of the gain. The build quality, the fit and finish, on the exterior of this little box is top notch, too. It’s a nice, solid-feeling piece of metal, presumably aluminum, and the silver version is a nice, silky, matte finish. Usually a phono preamp is at best a box you can place unobtrusively, but the Tube Box S2 actually looks kind of nice, too. The most important thing though is the sound — WOW! It puts my Art DJ Pre II to shame. The gain, which is adjustable, is amazing and it’s across the whole of my audible spectrum. The bass, midrange and treble are all well present and accounted for with the pleasant RIAA roll-off beloved by us vinyl enthusiasts. The sound is quite clear. The Tube Box S2 also has 2 features I’ve yet to use, which are also very good at this price point. 1.) It has phono cartridge-loading flexibility, so you can use MM or MC cartridges across a wide variety of impedance and capacitance settings. This phono preamp gives you the ability to try a whole lot of cartridges if you feel so inclined. 2.) Last, and I’m sure I’ll be trying this someday, you can roll tubes! You can use the 12ax7-compatible tubes of your choice with this little box. To sum up, yes, it seems a bit expensive for a phono preamp, but compared to other “boutique audio” products: it’s relatively cheap; it seems thoughtfully designed and built well; it has a really good set of features; and it sounds great!

Im picky about my home audio setup and didn't have any intentions to upgrade until I realized my old phono preamp did not survive our recent move. This led me to decide on an upgrade and find something new. Coming from mostly solid state in the past I decided I wanted to give tubes a try but also did not want to break the bank. Boy was I impressed. This Tube Box S2 was a huge upgrade to my system. My vinyl's felt warmer, and I was picking up details in the music I hadn't before. Setup is simple if you follow the provided instructions. It looks modest and isnt a big obnoxious bright amp by any means which I like as my entertainment center is already crowded with other audio and gaming equipment. Everything pro-ject builds that I have used has had great quality and I fully expect this to last me a long long time.

A month in, and I'm sure this is my preamp forever.Give it time, I distinctly noticed an improvement after 30-40 hours of playing. Either a break-in of the tubes, or an adjustment of my ears...I think it's both. Incidentally, the stock tubes in mine are JJ branded (Slovakia), which is probably what the Pro-Ject branded stock tubes are.The separation and clarity here is exceptional, each tube serves its own channel, left and right. Despite some of the chatter, there are no chips connected to the tubes.The gain settings are extremely useful, 43db or 50db is my sweet spot depending on what I'm listening to.I needed a good preamp more than I knew. Spend on your preamp like you spent on your turntable and stylus.I'm running a Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Esprit SB with a Marantz 1060 to some Mitsubishi DS-40 speakers (late 70s "Diatone Series"), with a Sumiko Moonstone.

I upgraded turntables recently and knew it was time to ditch the old solid-state Cambridge that performed admirably but was a bit clinical and limited. Good for the price, but not rich. The Pro-Ject Box S2 is dynamite. Rich sound out of the box, with a set of matched Genalex a creamy butter bath of sonic goodness. Zionks! For the price it's tip-top. So very happy. Maybe the only complaint is the silly wall-wart power cord that comes with it, but I'd rather a slight skimp there and the unit to be top-notch. It is. La voila!

I bought the Pro-Ject EVO2 and needed an amp for it. I initially picked the Schiitt but determined they're a company that doesn't want my business. They charge shipping and would be difficult to deal with if returning was needed (shipping and restocking fees), they're not Prime friendly. This was $50 more but I caught it on sale for the same $50. Maybe it was a targeted sale because it was sitting in my cart for a few days.It only gets 4 Stars because the amp has no volume control. When I'm running it through my EQ the volume doesn't match what's coming out of my Mac. So if I'm playing record while also on social media the Mac is way too quiet or the records are way too loud. Not a huge deal, I just have to reach over and adjust as needed. It would be nice to have them level though. The EQ controls both the Mac's music volume and the turntables volume. The 2 are not of equal levels and it's frustrating.The quality is fabulous, crystal clear sound coming out of my KRKs. Setting it up didn't go as expected, but a quick call to Pro-Jects help line got them to dial in the amp in minutes. There are switches beneath the amp that dials it in to the exact stylus on the turntable to create the perfect match. I used AI Grok to suggest what setting to use, WRONG! But a quick call to Pro-Ject and they picked up, got me over to Tech Support and I was supplied the numbers. This was another reason for the 4 stars as it's not plug and play.Overall it's off highest quality and visually cool. It just might take an extra step to fully get the perfection out of it. The value is also worth it.

I have to start with...I'm certainly no audiophile. This is my very first turntable since I was a kid (U-Turn Orbit Plus) - and definitely my first tube preamp. I'm running U-Turn Orbit Plus ->Pro-Ject Tube Box S2 -> AudioEngine A5+ speakers.Now, I was/am very happy with the built-in Pluto preamp. The system sounded great to begin with. But I just had to try a tube preamp. (I'm a guitar player...I like tubes...sue me). I only compared the Pluto to the Pro-Ject once - very early on. And frankly, it didn't sound much, if any, better than the Pluto to me. For that very reason...it's simply not worth $400 to me. However, all that being said, the Pro-Ject, now, sounds just fantastic to me. Perhaps it was tube burn-in. Perhaps it's all psychological. But it sounds great!I did change the tubes to new production Mullards immediately. Didn't even try it with the supplied tubes.Regarding sound: You'll see this in many reviews - the bass is fantastic. Deep, rich, room-filling. But not overdone. I can't say, "I'm hearing things I never heard before!" That's not the case at all. But it just sounds good.I'm running it at 40db (was originally at 43db, but backed it down). Also have the Subsonic filter on. With my Ortofon OM20 stylus, I've got it at 220 pf and that seems to sound best to my ears. (You'll have to read up on the pF settings based on your particular set-up/slylus, etc. Very cool that you can customize to your preferences). I have very short cable runs. (Mogami cables - one 2549 and one 2534 - I think).Bottom line, I really don't know that it's worth $400 to me. But I have to give it a great review. The system sounds great! If you've got an extra $400 burning a hole in your pocket - and you're not 100% sold on your current preamp - I'd say go for it.

Very gladly suprised.This was a step up from the phono amp included in my integrated amplifier, a Rotel 1592MKII which already sounded pretty good. I was ready for let down, as in "there is no difference here". WRONG. There is a very clear difference.Everything sounds better: bass, mids, treble. Low noise floor. Good clean gain.No strange noises, they all dissapeared!Very easy setup.Looks: well built, feels solid, definitely not a "looker". A black box with 2 tubes. WYSIWYG. Can't be comared to a 1,000 dollars and up preamp. Not fair.Sounds good with the stock tubes, but: just an idea, throw away the OK but walmartish stock tubes. No need to spend big bucks. A good pair of current production 12ax7 will do great in this preamp (I am running a pair of Electro-Harmonix 7025 and also tried a pair of Tung-Sol 12ax7): the tone improved again significantly, let's say 20% better tone than the stock tubes, better "body" to the stringed instruments, and way more clarity in the upper registers.A good buy!!!

Worked fine when received, after 20-30 hours of use started loosing sound in one speaker. Switched tubes, no help. Replaced tubes, no help. Requested help from 3rd party seller, told me to contact Amazon because it was under warranty. Good luck contacting Amazon with warranty issue, just an endless loop of help questions. Now I'm sitting on a $500 piece of equipment I can't use and just get the runaround. This is the only place I could find to air my grievance. Hopefully I get a response.

Nella sua fascia di prezzo è un riferimento.Il pre è a stato solido, jfet selezionati. Il buffer di uscita è con valvole Electro-Harmonix rimarchiate Project.Il pre è silenzioso ma sensibile ai rumori indotti: metterlo sotto l'ampli valvolare era stata una idea malsana, spostarlo sul fianco lo ha zittito. Cambiato cavo, messo da 50cm di buona qualità e l'analisi fatta a 50db di gain (ascolto con una AT120e) con la scheda audio porta il rumore a -82db. Metto in conto che non sia una rilevazione precisa, un po abbondante direi, ma rispecchia i dati di targa.Nel mio impianto con Audio-Technica AT120e, Yaqin mc-13s con Indiana Line Tesi 661, il nano della Project rende l'ascolto del vinile davvero pimpante e con un ottima scena sonora.Rispetto ai pre che ho ( un t-phonum mk2, un Ifi Zen Phono e un Rega phono mm) è quello che preferisco sotto ogni punto di vista.Più che cambiare le valvole consiglio upgrade dell'alimentatore esterno: migliorano tutti i parametri di dinamica, dettaglio e rumore sensibilmente.Lo consiglio se avete in mente un budget del genere per il pre phono del vostro impianto.

Dit is toch echt onwaarschijnlijk goed voor het geld.Enorm vol en zuiver geluid, muzikaal en vol emotie.Ca 15 uur er op zitten bij deze review.Dit is alles wat ik er van hoopte dat het zou doen.

Great warm sound!This phono amplifier improves the sound greatly, in addition to producing a warmer, more ”natural” sound it also improves detail and soundstage. Recommended!

Acheté en promo très bonne affaire. Ses différents réglages le rendent compatible avec la plus part des cellules du marché. Comparé a un préampli Rega fono mm mk3 le changement est radical. Le côté chaud des vinyles est mis en avant, testé avec cellules Ortofon blue et black sur bras SME 3009 c'est parfait, espace sonore, stéréo, clarté dynamique, détails, basses, chaleur écoute pas stressante pour les oreilles...Les tubes d'origine sont des JJ 12AX7 ECC83s rebadgées pro ject sont déjà très bien, ils n'ont pas la dureté des tubes chinois.Cependant, les JJ d'origine sont bien mais on peut mieux faire, c'est assez gras dans le bas medium mais niveau clarté, définition, ouverture stéréo etc on peut améliorer ça facilement, même si la première écoute est déjà géniale. J'ai la chance d'avoir pas mal de tubes NOS ou modernes appairés en stock, j'ai testé dans l'ordre, les JJ, sovtek 12ax7lps, tung sol ecc83, philips JAN nos 5751, RCA black plates 1958, RCA gray plates 1962, tung Sol ECC803S Gold pins, toutes sonnaient un peu différemment, les NOS RCA superbes, mais les plus simples à se procurer et les gagnantes sur les tubes modernes sont les Tung Sol Gold pins ECC803S, superbes en touts points, gain élevé, basses profondes équilibre et dynamique, détails clarté chaleur, aigus présents mais pas agressifs etc, je ne recommande pas les tun Sol ecc83s qui sont un poil plus nettes que les JJ, mais au final assez plates, et elles n'arrivent pas à la cheville des ECC803S Gold pins, attention ce sont deux tubes différents, choisissez les broches or. Pour aller plus loin j'ai remplacé l'alimentation d'origine bien médiocre par une alimentation lineaire chinoise de bonne qualité à 110euros (sur une plate-forme chinoise) et un bon cable secteur audioquest NRG-Z3, le Real Cable Kapton est moins cher et donne aussi un très bon résultat mais un peu moins chaleureux. Gain en spacialisation, profondeur, basses details douceur etc, ça dégraisse le son dans le bas médium qui devient plus net. OK, ça double le prix du tube S2, mais le résultat est là, même si a la base c'est tout a fait correct. Au prix du tube S2 on ne peut pas avoir des tubes plus chers et une super alim, même si c'est bien dommage pour l'alimentation, la seule option selon pro-ject d'améliorer l'écoute est d'acheter en option son alimentation sur batterie qui coûte aussi assez chère. Ajoutez à tout ça au moins 20 ou 30 heures de rodage et le régal sera tout proche ! Bonne écoute 😉

Arrived in a timely manner and in excellent condition. Faultless product and great value