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SKU: PRTBDS3B-SIL
WARNING: for more information go to http://www.P65Warnings.ca.gov

Pro-Ject Tube Box DS3 B True Balanced Phono Preamplifier - Silver

Pro-Jects new Tube Box DS3 B phono preamp adds balanced inputs and outputs to the beloved tube amplification. This precision component benefits from outstanding circuit technology and uses 'ultimate' premium components.

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    $899.37 - $1,099.00
    $1,099.00

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    SKU: PRTBDS3B-SIL
    WARNING: for more information go to http://www.P65Warnings.ca.gov
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    Gruvy Award Winner 2024 – Analog Planet


    Applause Award 2024 – stereonet.com


    Vacuum Tubes and Balanced Outputs Guarantee Breathtaking Sound

    The Tube Box phono preamps have been an integral part of Pro-Ject's product portfolio for many years. Practice makes even more perfection, and the new Tube Box DS3 B adds balanced inputs and outputs to Tube Box's beloved tube amplification.

    This precision tube phono preamplifier benefits from outstanding circuit technology from Dr. Sykora and uses 'ultimate' premium components.

    "It Simply Knocked Me Over"

    The Tube Box DS3 B won a Gruvy Award for 2024 from Analog Planet. According to the review, "The Tube Box DS3 B tube phono preamp is yet another high-value, smartly priced product from the brain of Pro-Ject founder Heinz Lichtenegger, and it is, of course, made in Europe."

    "'Not to say it wasn’t refined, gentle, or atmospheric when called for — but the DS3 B’s overall footprint, while somewhat light compared to my reference phono preamps, simply knocked me over with its sense of exhilaration, layering, pristine but sun-flecked treble, transparent mids, and generally tight if not entirely weighty bass,'" observes reviewer Ken Micallef.

    "Brings out the Best in Your Record Collection"

    The Tube Box DS3 B also won an Applause Award 2024 from stereonet.com. "Pro-Ject's Tube Box DS3 B is a fabulous phono amplifier that delivers hear-through clarity, a defining characteristic of an accomplished tube design. Its inherently musical nature brings out the best in your record collection, smoothing out the spikiness from poor recordings without introducing intrusive colour to great ones," notes reviewer John Pickford.

    "Well-built and competitively priced, it easily holds its own in a system built around far more expensive components. Sonically, it performs at a level that precious few of its competitors can rival. Partner it with a neutral and transparent amplifier for a wonderful analogue audio experience."

    A Breathtaking Audio Experience

    All components including tube output and polypropylene capacitors are audiophile grade and guarantee a breathtaking audio experience.

    Connect your turntable either with the 5-pin mini XLR cable or standard XLR cables and profit from the balanced signal transmission. Symmetrical, also called balanced, transmissions, consist of a hot and a cold (also called + and -) signal. Both signal chains effectively carry the same musical information. The Tube Box DS3 B can extract the final musical information out of the +/- signals and remove all noise that was potentially added along the transmission.

    "Infectiously Attractive"

    "The Pro-Ject Tube Box DS3 B is not only a flexible and user-friendly phono stage. The amplifier opens up the sound of vinyl records in exemplary fashion, sounding resolved, detailed, silky smooth and ear-friendly," notes Lasse Svendsen, lbtechreiews.com, December 19, 2023.

    "Tube Box is a great value for money, especially for those who can benefit from the balanced signal routing from input to output. Noise is minimised and the fine sound is infectiously attractive, no matter what kind of music is coming out of the grooves."

    "Silky Smooth and Ear-Friendly"

    "The Pro-Ject Tube Box DS3 B is not only a flexible and user-friendly phono stage. The amplifier opens up the sound of vinyl records in exemplary fashion, sounding resolved, detailed, silky smooth and ear-friendly," reports hifidaydreaming.com, July 10, 2024.

    "Tube Box is a great value for money, especially for those who can benefit from the balanced signal routing from input to output. Noise is minimised and the fine sound is infectiously attractive, no matter what kind of music is coming out of the grooves."

    Extreme Cartridge Loading Options

    You can connect two turntables to the Tube Box DS3 B at the same time easily adjust all settings from the front panel. Each input settings are stored in the memory. Large adjustment ranges from 40dB up to 65dB are possible. This allows you to perfectly match the Tube Box with a wide variety of cartridges and integrate it into the rest of your hi-fi system, matching the volume levels accurately to other sources like CD players or streaming devices.

    Load impedance can be set continuously via potentiometer, a system invented by Pro-Ject Audio Systems. It allows you to seamlessly adjust the impedance during playback and immediately assess the impact of different loading options. This is necessary to find just the right load impedance for your cartridge. No other manufacturers implement this feature in this extreme way!

    External Power Supply

    The Tube Box DS3 B is powered by an external adapter. It is important to keep all the parts which can radiate electromagnetic fields out of the amplifier range. This is the reason for the outboard power supply. Due to legal requirements, this power supply must be a switch mode type with guaranteed stand-by mode power consumption of 0.1W.

    "You Can Use It with Two Turntables"

    "Go with the DS3 B, the whole line is designed around being fully balanced from the bottom up. That's its strength," observes reviewer ChefBrunch at forums.stevehoffman.tv, March 2024. "What makes it also great is you can use it with two turntables. Just a push of the button and you're good to go… Also, the DS3B sends dual signals all the time, gives you a lot of flexibility. dual amps, one direct to a headphone setup. All kinds of possibilities."

    Product Features

    • NEW balanced XLR inputs and outputs
    • NEW more precise cartridge loading options
    • Precise RIAA equalization
    • Ultra low noise circuitry
    • MM & MC capable
    • Balanced & single ended inputs and outputs
    • Dual mono design
    • Continuously variable input impedance loading
    • Superior low noise / low distortion
    • Subsonic filter
    • Aluminum casing protects against interference
    • Tube complement: 2x E88CC / 6922
    • Available in silver or black
    • Magnetic wooden side panels available separately
    • Made in Europe

    Product Specs

    • Output voltage typically: 500 mV/1kHz at 5mV/1kHz (at 40dB)
    • Power consumption: max 750mA DC / < 0.5 watt standby
    • Input impedance: stepless 10-1000 Ohms, fix 47 k Ohms
    • Capacitance: 50 / 150 / 300 / 400 pF
    • Gain (+6dB using XLR Out): 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 dB
    • Signal-to-noise ratio: >87dBV – 'A' weighted
    • THD: < 0.03%
    • RIAA curve accuracy: +/- 0.5dB / 20Hz - 20kHz
    • Subsonic filter: at 20Hz with 18dB/octave
    • Input: 1x 5-pin mini XLR / 1x pair XLR / 1x pair RCA phono
    • Output: 1x pair RCA, 1x pair XLR
    • Power supply: 18V/1000mA DC
    • Dimensions W x H x D: 8.1" x 2.75" x 7.6"
    • Weight: 3.4 lb. (without power supply)

    Gruvy Award Winner 2024 – Analog Planet

    "The Tube Box DS3 B tube phono preamp is yet another high-value, smartly priced product from the brain of Pro-Ject founder Heinz Lichtenegger, and it is, of course, made in Europe. 'Like a thunderbolt out of a clear blue sky — or a bracing punch from a best friend, and/or perhaps akin to some brainwave-altering medicinal activity — the Pro-Ject Tube Box DS3 B phono preamp charged out of the gate like a bull headed straight for my ears,' [reviewer] Micallef said."

    "'Not to say it wasn’t refined, gentle, or atmospheric when called for — but the DS3 B’s overall footprint, while somewhat light compared to my reference phono preamps, simply knocked me over with its sense of exhilaration, layering, pristine but sun-flecked treble, transparent mids, and generally tight if not entirely weighty bass.'"

    - Mike Mettler, analogplanet.com, December 23, 2024


    Applause Award 2024 – stereonet.com

    "Pro-Ject's Tube Box DS3 B is a fabulous phono amplifier that delivers hear-through clarity, a defining characteristic of an accomplished tube design. Its inherently musical nature brings out the best in your record collection, smoothing out the spikiness from poor recordings without introducing intrusive colour to great ones."

    "Well-built and competitively priced, it easily holds its own in a system built around far more expensive components. Sonically, it performs at a level that precious few of its competitors can rival. Partner it with a neutral and transparent amplifier for a wonderful analogue audio experience."

    - John Pickford, stereonet.com, December 19, 2024


    "The Pro-Ject Tube Box DS3 B is not only a flexible and user-friendly phono stage. The amplifier opens up the sound of vinyl records in exemplary fashion, sounding resolved, detailed, silky smooth and ear-friendly. Tube Box is a great value for money, especially for those who can benefit from the balanced signal routing from input to output. Noise is minimised and the fine sound is infectiously attractive, no matter what kind of music is coming out of the grooves."

    - ducurduz, hifidaydreaming.com, July 10, 2024


    "The Pro-Ject Tube Box DS3 B is not only a flexible and user-friendly phono stage. The amplifier opens up the sound of vinyl records in exemplary fashion, sounding resolved, detailed, silky smooth and ear-friendly. Tube Box is a great value for money, especially for those who can benefit from the balanced signal routing from input to output. Noise is minimised and the fine sound is infectiously attractive, no matter what kind of music is coming out of the grooves."

    - Lasse Svendsen, lbtechreiews.com, December 19, 2023


    "Go with the DS3 B, the whole line is designed around being fully balanced from the bottom up. That's its strength… What makes it also great is you can use it with two turntables. Just a push of the button and you're good to go… Also, the DS3B sends dual signals all the time, gives you a lot of flexibility. dual amps, one direct to a headphone setup. All kinds of possibilities."

    - ChefBrunch, forums.stevehoffman.tv, March 11, 2024

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    Pro-Ject Tube Box DS3 B True Balanced Phono Preamplifier - Silver

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