Pro-Ject’s New €119 Headphone Amp Promises Audiophile Performance in a Tiny Metal Box

With fully discrete circuitry and dual headphone outputs, the Head Box E is a budget-friendly upgrade for your desktop or hi-fi system.

A Minimalist Solution to a Common Audio Problem

If your laptop’s headphone jack leaves your music sounding thin or your integrated amp can’t properly drive your headphones, Pro-Ject may have just launched your next essential upgrade. The Austrian hi-fi brand, known for its vinyl-centric gear and compact desktop electronics, has unveiled the Head Box E — a compact yet surprisingly capable headphone amplifier priced at just €119 / £89.

Don’t let the price fool you. While many headphone amps in this range rely on integrated chips, the Head Box E features a fully discrete output stage, housed in a sleek solid metal chassis no larger than a stack of coasters.

Tiny Footprint, Big Ambitions

Measuring only 103 x 37 x 120 mm and weighing just 390g, the Head Box E is designed to slot seamlessly into any desktop or hi-fi setup. On the back, you’ll find two sets of RCA jacks — input and output (bypass) — which allow the unit to sit between a DAC or phono stage and your integrated amplifier. This makes it easy to route audio for both headphone and loudspeaker listening, without ever having to unplug anything.

Want to run it independently? You can simply ignore the bypass and use it as a standalone headphone amp.

Dual Headphone Outputs, Discrete Circuitry

Up front, the Head Box E offers both 6.3mm (¼") and 3.5mm headphone jacks — and impressively, both can be used at the same time, according to Pro-Ject. That’s a handy feature for casual A/B testing or sharing playback.

The amplifier boasts an output impedance of less than 1 Ohm, making it suitable for sensitive IEMs, while also capable of driving full-size headphones with 665mW of output into 32 Ohms. It may not be a powerhouse, but for most headphones — especially in the budget to midrange category — it’ll deliver more than enough punch and clarity.

Why Discrete Matters

Instead of the more common op-amp based design seen at this price point, Pro-Ject has opted for fully discrete electronics, laid out on a carefully engineered PCB. According to the company, this gives its designers greater control over the signal path, enabling cleaner power delivery, lower distortion, and easier serviceability in the long term.

The tradeoff? A modest power output and a dependency on USB power (5V). But in return, users get a well-constructed analog signal path with audiophile sensibilities at an extremely accessible price.

Price & Availability

The Pro-Ject Head Box E is available in either black or silver, with a solid metal enclosure and minimalist aesthetic that matches the rest of the Pro-Ject Box Design lineup. Shipping begins this month, with pricing set at €119 in Europe and £89 in the UK.

Final Word

In a market saturated with op-amp dongles and chip-based amps, the Head Box E stands out — not with flashy specs, but with simple analog purity, dual headphone outputs, and a discrete design philosophy borrowed from gear many times the price. It’s not going to drive a planar flagship, but for casual or serious headphone listeners who want real hi-fi in a compact, affordable package, it’s hard to argue with what Pro-Ject is offering here.