- Pro-Ject announces two wireless upgrades for classic hi-fi equipment based on WiiM OS
- The Stream Box E upgrades your amplifier with streaming capabilities
- Wireless Box E makes all passive speakers wireless by connecting to the binding posts
Beloved hi-fi brand Pro-Ject hasn’t slowed down at all in 2026. After announcing a top-of-the-range turntable in January and record cleaners last month, it has two more pieces of gear on the way soon.
The brand has announced the Stream Box E and Wireless Box E, as part of its growing hi-fi ecosystem. They cost £159 (about $200, AU$300) and £199 (about $270, AU$400) respectively.
Stream Box E is a wireless network streamer and digital preamplifier that can upgrade your wired audio system to allow Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect and Qobuz. It can be connected to an amplifier or directly to active speakers.
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Then there is the Wireless Box E, which also provides a nice technical upgrade to existing gear. This time it upgrades your passive speakers, acting as a wireless receiver for them, meaning you can place them anywhere without having to worry about running cables to them, giving you more flexibility in terms of where you place them, or perhaps where you place the rest of your hi-fi setup.
You must of course have one per speaker, and each one must be connected to a power outlet.
A WiiMsical choice
Perhaps the most exciting part of the news is that the Stream Box E and Wireless Box E both run on WiiM OS. This is a platform primarily designed for the brand’s own technology, such as WiiM Sound, but is also available to other brands, bringing their technology into the burgeoning WiiM ecosystem.
We’ve previously compared Sonos vs WiiM to help you understand the differences, but the gesture is clear: this is part of a growing alternative to Sonos, and it’s clearly one that wants to be as flexible as possible based on these launches.
There’s a big catch here for Apple users, though, which isn’t exactly a small part of the world. The WiiM has some kind of ongoing issue with Apple that means many of its products don’t include Apple AirPlay 2 as an easy streaming option, and it’s the same with these.
Although support for e.g. Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect might mean you’re actually fine with this, it also means these boxes are basically no good if you’re an Apple Music user or if you want to be able to use AirPlay’s platform-neutral multi-room skills.
In this case, Sonos definitely still has the edge—not only does it fully support AirPlay, it’s the only brand with a streaming amp that has Apple Music support built into its app for lossless listening.
The rapid pace at which Pro-Ject is releasing gear shows that it’s only going to get bigger and bigger in the home hi-fi game, especially with affordable options like these. Perhaps it has found an ideal partner in the equally ambitious WiiM — we can’t wait to see how well these work in practice.
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