Roksan amps, old and new

[nopiano]

Interesting to see the latest Caspian 4G pre and power amp just launched. I saw a brief video from the company and they seemed to be saying we had room to design it properly. Unfortunately the integrated Attessa model - which is often about one third off its original price - was a bit marginal for heat and noise. Almost like the chassis wasn’t spacious enough. That sounds compromised to me. 😕

Roksan Caspian 4G adds two powerhouse hi-fi products that promise "breathtaking musicality"

The duo consists of a streaming preamplifier and matching power amplifier

www.whathifi.com

Meanwhile, because I needed a proper Tape Monitor circuit, which is surprisingly hard to find nowadays, I’ve just bought a used Roksan Caspian M2. That’s the 85wpc integrated amp, that was discontinued last year, and sold off for around a grand. I’ve always liked the slightly funky styling and it’ll interesting to see how it performs. (The handbook mentions a fan, so maybe that is a bit tight for space too?) I had previously used the matching CD player at the dealer where I bought my ATCs in 2017. But he used an ATC amp, so I’ve probably only ever heard the amp at shows. Here’s hoping…!

 

[RoA]

I am kind of amazed they are still trading.

 

[Al ears]

I am kind of amazed they are still trading.

Why?

 

[landco]

Roksan is an audiophile brand, poor value for money. In addition, there is no DSP processor, which means you lose the ability to adjust the speakers to your room. As you know, your room is 80% of the sound.

If I were you, I would buy the Onkyo RZ30 - this is a modern combine that has everything, including Dirac room correction

 

[davidf]

Roksan is an audiophile brand, poor value for money. In addition, there is no DSP processor, which means you lose the ability to adjust the speakers to your room. As you know, your room is 80% of the sound.

If I were you, I would buy the Onkyo RZ30 - this is a modern combine that has everything, including Dirac room correction

A product not having digital room correction doesn't make a product poor value.

 

[Al ears]

Roksan is an audiophile brand, poor value for money. In addition, there is no DSP processor, which means you lose the ability to adjust the speakers to your room. As you know, your room is 80% of the sound.

If I were you, I would buy the Onkyo RZ30 - this is a modern combine that has everything, including Dirac room correction

As far as I am concerned if you need Dirac you have the wrong speakers in the first place.

 

[The_Lecht_Rocks]

£6500 for the combination….
The integrated streaming 4g model was on 7oaks reduced from £4000 to £2000 last week….

 

[RoA]

Why?

Lack of innovation (except the tonearm of their Attessa TT which is uebercool), Poor interfaces, some poor QC.

 

[Jasonovich]

It's kind of funky

I don't know why it reminded me of the Atoll 80 Signature CD player? Must be the third coffee this morning!

Don't forget to update your signature 🙂

 

[landco]

As far as I am concerned if you need Dirac you have the wrong speakers in the first place.

For you, speakers exist separately from the room, they hang out somewhere in space, in Earth orbit, maybe? 😹

 

[landco]

A product not having digital room correction doesn't make a product poor value.

On the contrary. Digital correction is almost the only functionality for stereo listening, for which it is worth overpaying

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

For you, speakers exist separately from the room, they hang out somewhere in space, in Earth orbit, maybe? 😹

Please don't get personal.

 

[abacus]

As far as I am concerned if you need Dirac you have the wrong speakers in the first place.

Dirac is used for room correction, not speaker correction (Although it can help with this in some circumstances), and as the room is the biggest elephant then priority should always be there first, not speakers, however as most users cannot have a dedicated treated room, then Dirac (And other room correction software) can help a lot.

Bill

 

[Al ears]

Dirac is used for room correction, not speaker correction (Although it can help with this in some circumstances), and as the room is the biggest elephant then priority should always be there first, not speakers, however as most users cannot have a dedicated treated room, then Dirac (And other room correction software) can help a lot.

Bill

I am well aware of what it's for but it must ultimately alter the output of the amplifier / speakers as it cannot possibly alter the shape of a room and it's contents.
You cannot make a silk purse out of a sows ear as the saying goes, therefore having a speaker better suited to the room in the first place will reduce the amount of adjustment that Dirac has to make.
Presumably Dirac only acts upon your main speakers as it certainly doesn't need to make adjustments to headphone output

 

[nopiano]

It's kind of funky
View attachment 10875
I don't know why it reminded me of the Atoll 80 Signature CD player? Must be the third coffee this morning!

Don't forget to update your signature 🙂
View attachment 10876

It’s better than that, mine is the M2, which is the ‘mark 2’ in old money. Rather swisher, to my eyes, especially in black.

The sellers pics are too large to upload, but mine is black with chrome knobs, like in the RS advert.

https://www.richersounds.com/roksan-caspian-m2-amp-black/#tab-specifications

 

[davidf]

On the contrary. Digital correction is almost the only functionality for stereo listening, for which it is worth overpaying

Just think of all those people who just couldn't enjoy their music during virtually the whole of the 20th century, without digital room correction. How thankful can we be that all we need to do nowadays is buy one budget product with this correction and not have to worry ever again about sound quality and upgrading...

 

[Jasonovich]

It’s better than that, mine is the M2, which is the ‘mark 2’ in old money. Rather swisher, to my eyes, especially in black.

The sellers pics are too large to upload, but mine is black with chrome knobs, like in the RS advert.

https://www.richersounds.com/roksan-caspian-m2-amp-black/#tab-specifications

Very nice!

 

[Al ears]

Just think of all those people who just couldn't enjoy their music during virtually the whole of the 20th century, without digital room correction. How thankful can we be that all we need to do nowadays is buy one budget product with this correction and not have to worry ever again about sound quality and upgrading...

🙂