Pro-Ject Stream Box RS: Go Your Own Way (Part 2)

Given that the internals of the Stream Box RS are somewhat different to what you might expect to find in a network streamer, I expect the performance to be subtly different, but the way that the RS goes about making music is in many ways as unique as the specification. The first and indeed overriding impression is that the Pro-Ject has a presentation that is very different to many competing products and not necessarily in a bad way, either.

Give the Pro-Ject something well recorded, but fundamentally mellow like Ali Farke Toure and Ry Cooder’s Talking Timbuktuand the Pro-Ject is as smooth, unforced and relaxing as a cold pint of Guinness. Many pieces of modern digital manage to sound free of the slight sharpness and sterility that can leave digital sounding slightly fatiguing in some instances. The Pro-Ject takes this idea and runs with it. The presentation is absolutely free of any form of aggression or harshness and there is a sense of warmth to the way that it makes music that is unusual, but not entirely unwelcome. The plucked strings of Toure’s guitar have a full-bodied and surprisingly weighty tone to them that lends each listen a richness that is rather beguiling.

Pro-Ject Stream Box RS

This relaxing way of going about making music can be slightly deceptive. The Pro-Ject can generally extract a surprising amount of detail from music, but the overall presentation never forces this information to the fore. The Pro-Ject tends to push quite a bit of the information available towards the center of the soundstage and then let it happen. This can mean that very large renditions can sound slightly constrained – although not unduly so – but smaller pieces have a very pleasing intimacy and a sense of effortlessness that is hard not to like.

Switch to something more aggressive and the Stream Box maintains this unflappable smoothness. This does mean that the sheer bite and attack of the high-res FLAC of Scratch Massive’s live Communion is lost, but equally the Pro-Ject maintains a degree of civility that this very raw performance can sometimes benefit from. The timing and pace of the Stream Box is never as pinpoint as more upfront rival machines can manage, but equally it can’t be described as wayward.

This warmth doesn’t seem to be something that can be laid solely at the door of the valves in the circuit. Plenty of CD players with valve outputs are altogether more forward and capable of more aggression than the Pro-Ject and it seems that the entire setup of the Stream Box RS is responsible for the way it sounds. The flipside of this very forgiving setup is that although the Pro-Ject is capable of high-res playback, the overriding presentation never really changes.

The Pro-Ject can generally extract a surprising amount of detail from music

The excellent 24/88.2 kHz recording of Elliot Sharpe and Terraplane’s Sky Road Songs doesn’t have the same space and exceptional dynamics that the Naim can bring to the party. By the same token, the presentation with internet radio is consistently good and the Stream Box RS is very forgiving of low bit-rate stations.

Switching the RS to the preamp function – into the fixed input of the Cambridge Audio 851A – doesn’t have a significant effect on the overall performance. The volume control is reasonably linear (although the adjustment via remote is decidedly sluggish) and there is little sense of attenuation at low levels, which is always useful.

The analogue input reveals an overall output that is broadly transparent (again suggesting that the valves are not the main cause of the execution of the RS), but the digital inputs are a little bit clearer and more forward than the UPnP section of the RS, and points to some of its character originating from there.

The Pro-Ject is dominated by a large color display that is the trademark of streaming products developed in cooperation with fellow Austrian company Stream Unlimited

How it compares

The Pro-Ject shares some components with the Musical Fidelity CLiC and is also an analogue preamp, but the two boxes are very different in presentation terms. The Musical Fidelity has a clean and open presentation that can be slightly unforgiving with poor material, but sublime with high res. The warmer and softer Pro-Ject is much more forgiving and the physical volume control is nicer to use. The Musical Fidelity hits back with a nicer app and greater choice of inputs. Both are compact, well-built and easy to use and thanks to their chalk and cheese performance, if you don’t like one you’re probably going to like the other.

Conclusion

The Stream Box RS is a product that performs in a way that is sufficiently different from any of the competition to be a device that needs to be considered carefully before purchase. The smooth, relaxed and controlled way that it brings civility to even the most wayward bits of music (and by extension, have a calming influence on bright systems) is frequently a very welcome and pleasing thing.

The preamp functionality is also well implemented and extremely useful. If you are looking for a more forthright and detailed digital source – and you are hoping to really see the benefit of high-resolution files – the Pro-Ject is slightly less convincing. In the right system though, this supremely built and nicely thought out little box of tricks has plenty to commend it.

Our verdict

·         Sound quality: 4/5

·         Value for money: 4/5

·         Build quality: 4.5/5

·         Features: 4.5/5

·         Like: Relaxed and unforced presentation, excellent build and useful feature set

·         Dislike: Can sound a little too relaxed; not as good with high res

·         We say: A distinctive, but likeable performer that will bring civility to many systems

·         Overall: 4/5