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Fully balanced headphone amps to get the best from your audio
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(Image credit: Pro-Ject)
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- Two models: 820mW and 1.5mW into 30 ohms
- Head Box DS3 B is made for more demanding headphones
- £329 (about $442 / AU$660) / or £629 (about $845 / AU$1,265)
Pro-Ject has introduced two new headphone amps, the Head Box DS3 B and the Head Box S3 B. These are the first models in a new generation of amps, and they are fully balanced.
By fully balanced, Pro-Ject means that you don't just get balanced connectors for your headphones. The entire audio journey is balanced, and that should reduce noise and improve the stereo separation between the left and right channels. The result, Pro-Ject says, is cleaner, more detailed and more spacious audio.
The amps work with unbalanced headphones too, of course, and there are line-level inputs with RCA and XLR for easy connection to other devices.
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Pro-Ject Head Box DS3 B and Head Box S3 B: key features and prices
These are both powerful amplifiers, although Pro-Ject says they're more interested in real-world performance than big numbers on a spec sheet. Nevertheless the Head Box S3 B delivers up to 820mW into 30 ohms, while the Head Box DS3 B is even more powerful with 1.5mW into 30 ohms, more than enough for even very demanding headphones.
The key difference between the two amplifiers is that the Head Box S3 B has an integrated amplifier while the Head Box DS3 B has a fully discrete amplifier design promising extra warmth and more power. Both are made in all-metal enclosures and come in a choice of black or silver.
The RRP of the Head Box S3 B is £329 / €399 (about $442 / AU$660) and the DS3 B is £629 / €699 (about $845 / AU$1,265). Both models will be available this month, January 2026.
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Carrie MarshallSocial Links NavigationContributor
Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than twenty books. Her latest, a love letter to music titled Small Town Joy, is on sale now. She is the singer in spectacularly obscure Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind.
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