Roksan Oxygene

12oner

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Evening all,

Just a quick question, has anyone owned/spent any time with the Roksan Oxygene? If so, could I get your thoughts on it's performance and how it matches up to the Roksan K3? I believe class D tends to boost the treble and bass regions.

The Oxygene isn't in production anymore so no chance of hearing it anywhere.

Thanks!
 
I’m not sure what happened with that range. It was launched at an optimistic price, and looked futuristic. I think ergonomics weren’t ideal.

After a year or so they appeared at Richer Sounds at about 25% off, and steadily dropped to about 75% off.

I wonder if there was some production problem or reliability issue, so unless some happy users can contradict these points, I’d be giving them a wide berth. Roksan make several excellent alternative products, as do countless other manufacturers.

Class D doesn’t do what you describe. Badly designed amps of any Class can.
 
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12oner

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I’m not sure what happened with that range. It was launched at an optimistic price, and looked futuristic. I think ergonomics weren’t ideal.

After a year or so they appeared at Richer Sounds at about 25% off, and steadily dropped to about 75% off.

I wonder if there was some production problem or reliability issue, so unless some happy users can contradict these points, I’d be giving them a wide berth. Roksan make several excellent alternative products, as do countless other manufacturers.

Class D doesn’t do what you describe. Badly designed amps of any Class can.
Hey, thanks for your reply.

Yeah it looks bloody beautiful i think, actually has a nice remote as well, was hoping the performance matched the looks.

Thought I'd read all the main reviews on the Oxygene on Google and just realised the 6moons article has multiple pages, haha. Didn't scream amazing that review but was up against a expensive rival, which since the Oxygene's price drop (i've seen one for £800) means it's probably punching about it's weight. It is quite old now though.

Interesting that the Roksan rep spoke about the future of the range focusing on digital/streaming, which is getting bigger and bigger now and they don't offer hardly anything in that area.

Maybe I'll pass on it. Feel like more people might have considered it if was an integrated.
 
Hey, thanks for your reply.

Yeah it looks bloody beautiful i think, actually has a nice remote as well, was hoping the performance matched the looks.

Thought I'd read all the main reviews on the Oxygene on Google and just realised the 6moons article has multiple pages, haha. Didn't scream amazing that review but was up against a expensive rival, which since the Oxygene's price drop (i've seen one for £800) means it's probably punching about it's weight. It is quite old now though.

Interesting that the Roksan rep spoke about the future of the range focusing on digital/streaming, which is getting bigger and bigger now and they don't offer hardly anything in that area.

Maybe I'll pass on it. Feel like more people might have considered it if was an integrated.
It is an integrated isn't it?
I believe people did not consider it because of it's price at launch and might have been to 'modern' for many.
 

knaithrover

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I had the amp CD combo which I bought heavily discounted when Richer Sounds were selling them off a few years back. Both went back under warranty as the amp buzzed when switched on and the cdp rejected discs as a matter of course. The remote was a total waste of time as you had to be right on top of the system for it to work and I had it set up in a large room. Sound wise the amp was quite flat sounding nothing special however the cdp was very very good. Looked gorgeous and definitely had Wife approval but in the end I moved it on. Thankfully I bought at 2k instead of rrp 7k
 

12oner

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I had the amp CD combo which I bought heavily discounted when Richer Sounds were selling them off a few years back. Both went back under warranty as the amp buzzed when switched on and the cdp rejected discs as a matter of course. The remote was a total waste of time as you had to be right on top of the system for it to work and I had it set up in a large room. Sound wise the amp was quite flat sounding nothing special however the cdp was very very good. Looked gorgeous and definitely had Wife approval but in the end I moved it on. Thankfully I bought at 2k instead of rrp 7k
Wow extremely useful and informative, thanks so much. So nopiano's concerns were right. Such a shame I feel, seems Roksan were really going for something a bit different here but I guess with all the mentioned shortcomings, if it doesn't perform well, it doesn't perform well.

Wouldn't mind seeing something like this from them in the future, with a few tweaks, and maybe some streaming products.

Cheers!
 

knaithrover

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Wow extremely useful and informative, thanks so much. So nopiano's concerns were right. Such a shame I feel, seems Roksan were really going for something a bit different here but I guess with all the mentioned shortcomings, if it doesn't perform well, it doesn't perform well.

Wouldn't mind seeing something like this from them in the future, with a few tweaks, and maybe some streaming products.

Cheers!

My pleasure and there's nothing like getting a view from someone who's actually lived with the product. I really lusted after the Oxygene kit and even at full price I was tempted. At 2k for the pair it seemed like a real chance to own some actual hifi exotica and I took a punt. Pity the reality didn't match my expectations.... It's the only HiFi purchase I've ever lost real money on when re selling.
 
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Hawkwind16

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I have the Oxygene amp and really like it. The sound is warm and it really flows, with fantastic imaging - vocals can just rise out of the mix. Great to listen to. It's a little rolled off at the extremes, and hasn't quite got the punch and detail of a Roksan Caspian M2 but it's a close call.
It's a sexy looking bit of kit and the bluetooth streaming ability is fantastic, almost as good as cable. No DAC in though.

I recently got the matching CD transport which is good, and I use with a Chord 2Qute DAC.

Not had any reliability problems, I guess it's pot luck.
 
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12oner

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I have the Oxygene amp and really like it. The sound is warm and it really flows, with fantastic imaging - vocals can just rise out of the mix. Great to listen to. It's a little rolled off at the extremes, and hasn't quite got the punch and detail of a Roksan Caspian M2 but it's a close call.
It's a sexy looking bit of kit and the bluetooth streaming ability is fantastic, almost as good as cable. No DAC in though.

I recently got the matching CD transport which is good, and I use with a Chord 2Qute DAC.

Not had any reliability problems, I guess it's pot luck.
Ah blimey, mixed reviews, ha. Aesthetically it's a beast, love, love love it. Well, nice to know someone's having a good time with it. So if it's close to the Caspian M2 for you, i guess you'd rate it above the K3?

Just checked out that DAC, tasty bit of kit that.

Well many thanks for the info.
 

12oner

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My pleasure and there's nothing like getting a view from someone who's actually lived with the product. I really lusted after the Oxygene kit and even at full price I was tempted. At 2k for the pair it seemed like a real chance to own some actual hifi exotica and I took a punt. Pity the reality didn't match my expectations.... It's the only HiFi purchase I've ever lost real money on when re selling.
No one wants to lose money on something that pretty. Cheers
 

Pete Shields

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I bought mine at a similar time to knaithrover. £800 for the amp and £700 for the CDP. Both in Aluminium which looks great and which was an extra cost when released. So I got a real bargain and a big step up from my Audiolab power amp system. It sounds great. Amp only has 3 inputs plus Bluetooth (which I've only ever used once!) so some I think see that as limiting. It's ok for me as I run my streamers through an M-Dac.
Sound is great and it has wife approval.
Downsides, the remote (i have 2 and the coverage for both is poor. looks nice bur poor to handle and not enough buttons. Gapless CD's seem to have a slight pause between tracks which is irritating. I use the amp to power a pair of PMC 24's which are massive and I need to be at 60 plus percent power on the amp to get any serious power out - I think that's just a problem with the combo and the speakers being too big. At high volumes they soar
I think they didn't take off as they did not fit in with the black box with lots of inputs/buttons brigade and the B&O brigade had never heard of Roksan.
I love my system although the remote and touch sensitive controls are finicky........I suppose they could be replaced with a cheap programmable remote if that became an issue......
 

Hawkwind16

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May 22, 2016
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I bought mine at a similar time to knaithrover. £800 for the amp and £700 for the CDP. Both in Aluminium which looks great and which was an extra cost when released. So I got a real bargain and a big step up from my Audiolab power amp system. It sounds great. Amp only has 3 inputs plus Bluetooth (which I've only ever used once!) so some I think see that as limiting. It's ok for me as I run my streamers through an M-Dac.
Sound is great and it has wife approval.
Downsides, the remote (i have 2 and the coverage for both is poor. looks nice bur poor to handle and not enough buttons. Gapless CD's seem to have a slight pause between tracks which is irritating. I use the amp to power a pair of PMC 24's which are massive and I need to be at 60 plus percent power on the amp to get any serious power out - I think that's just a problem with the combo and the speakers being too big. At high volumes they soar
I think they didn't take off as they did not fit in with the black box with lots of inputs/buttons brigade and the B&O brigade had never heard of Roksan.
I love my system although the remote and touch sensitive controls are finicky........I suppose they could be replaced with a cheap programmable remote if that became an issue......

Great to see a fellow believer out there. I recommend trying the bluetooth a bit more.
 

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