PRO-JECT just announced (1 Feb '21) 3 new phono stages (+ 2 'record brooms').

PHONO BOX ULTRA 500 (US$399)
A limited edition (500 pcs), chrome plated copper bodied, S2 series phono stage to celebrate the 500,000th Phono Box shipped by Pro-Ject in 2018.












PHONO BOX S2 ULTRA (US$349)
An 'audiophile performance' MM/MC phono stage with fully discrete (opamp-less) design, switchable Subsonic filter, switchable input impedance/capacitance, 4 adjustable gain levels.








PHONO BOX RS2 (US$1999)
Pro-Ject's best phono stage - a 'reference class' MM/MC phono preamp.
Fully balanced, true dual mono, fully discrete (opamp-less) design, with RIAA & DECCA equalisation, balanced XLR & RCA In & Outputs, unique continuously variable input impedance loading & channel balance control to match every cartridge, low noise, low distortion.





SWEEP IT E (US$99)
'Easy and effective cleaning arm', 226mm long with heavy weight base.

SWEEP IT S2 (US$129)
Magnetically stabilised record broom - 'constructed in collaboration with Klaus Mick and his patented technology', height-adjustable & designed to avoid 'skating' movement & to apply a 6g tracking force.

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

You will recall that cooksferry was impressed enough to purchase a PRO-JECT Phono Box RS in 2017

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

The Phono Box RS is still there Owen. At the price I paid there wasn't anything around that could match it's dual inputs and ease of adjustment for multiple cartridges.
The version 2 looks to have a nicer layout on the front and the channel balance feature could be handy. Still no stereo/mono switch though and it looks like a wall wart power supply, a pet dislike.
My RS version seemed to disappear from local suppliers fairly quickly. I did read somewhere that there may have been problems sourcing Aus suitable power supplies due to an unusual layout.
I went with an aftermarket LPS which was has worked well.
Very impressive the number of phono stages Project has sold over the years.

The RS2 is $2699 here.

I like that they've moved all the functions to the front panel and away from those fiddly little dip switches.


Looks like Project will also offer their own LPS before too long.

Price is getting towards big boy territory and a very competitive market. Be interesting to see the reviews. Fremer was fairly positive about the earlier version.