Roksan Caspian Amplifiers

Roksan Caspian Amplifiers 

DESCRIPTION

  • Line Inputs 5 plus Tape
  • Input Impedance 47 kO
  • Input Sensitivity (70W) Line 240mV
  • Line Outputs Tape, Preamplifier (x2)
  • Output Voltage 240mV (Tape Out) 700mV (Pre Out)
  • Power Outputs Loudspeaker, L & R
  • Output Power >85 Watts, into 8O both channels driven>120 Watts, into 4O both channels driven
  • Power Supply 350VA Ultra Low Noise Toroidal Transformer 4 Regulated Supply Rails
  • Current Output 50 Amps Peak to Peak
  • Damping Factor >140 (8O)
  • Frequency Response -3dB, <1Hz – 90kHz
  • Gain 40dB Overall (Pre & Power)
  • 9.3dB Preamplifier
  • 30.7dB Power Amplifier
  • Harmonic Distortion 0.002% 1kHz, 0.015% 20kHz 10W - 8O 0.0025% 1kHz, 0.03% 20kHz 50W - 8O
  • Signal to Noise Ratio Line 108dBa (ref. 500mV) 85dBa (ref. 1W, 8O)
  • Power Source 100V – 120V 50Hz / 60Hz 220V – 240V 50Hz / 60Hz (via Mains inlet filter)
  • Power Consumption < 230 W
  • Dimension 432 x 330 x 70 (W x D x H) mm 432 x 330 x 80 (including feet)
  • Weight 12 Kg

USER REVIEWS

Showing 11-20 of 30  
[Oct 02, 2003]
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Bass, treble and highs, with dignity and authority

Weakness:

It shuts down when I get crazy

Jeepers creepers, I was the winner on this amp on e-bay for 400. It just seemed good for me at the time. I feel sorry for the guy that sold it to me for that price. I feel that it is the finest thing that I own. This amp brought me into truely HI-FI. I base all my preamps and speakers around this amp. With proper preamp this is as fine of quality and sonic discourse that can be had. I have a new Rotel preamp coming for my two channel syst. this weekand we will see.(literally) My favorite amp.

Similar Products Used:

NEC Adcom Carver NAD BGW Dynaco Audiosource Soundcraftsmen Crown

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Apr 03, 2002]
serg
AudioPhile

Strength:

un Brit-fi sound

Weakness:

none

Hit the ground running, sensationally natural and musical, hummable and tuneful without any damping dawn of the frequency extremes. Very believable performance, sound tactile, focused and sharpy etched. Separation, detail, cruising ability all took a notch up. Wormed up about 1 month everyday listeninig. Try it. Very audible not for ordinary music AVR fans. All the best!

Similar Products Used:

just about a week to write

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 16, 2002]
ritual
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Everything

Weakness:

None

The best budget allrounder out there. excellent sweetness and an overall very good sound. it doesnt have any weeknesses. you can find amps that sound better in any way. but at this price, nothing beats it!

Similar Products Used:

none =)

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Oct 07, 2000]
Menachem Toren
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

very well built excellent sound
sweet and clear

Weakness:

none (for me)

I USE THIS AMP WITH THE ROKSAN CD AND THEY ARE WONDERFUL
TOGETHER
I GET A LOT OF PLEASURE LISTENING TO MY CD COLLECTION
SINCE THIS UPGRADE
USED WITH THE VANDERSTEEN 2C SIGNATURE
EXCELLENT COMBINATION

Similar Products Used:

onix, ion obelisk 2

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Aug 29, 2000]
TMS
Audiophile

Strength:

Well-built, Smooth, Tonally-Balanced

Weakness:

Details, Clarity, Dynamics, Cheap Remote

I had this integrated amp over the weekend recently and
I really don't understand all the positive reviews I've read here and in the review mags.

It doesn't do anything bad, everything is there: base, mid and treble, all in perfect balance, but at the end of the day it puts me to sleep. It totally lacks dynamics, detail, energy, crispiness and "spark" I've heard from other intergrates like the lowly Cyrus2, or worse, the HK. It may sound smooth to some but it sounds tonally bland, cloudy and veild to me, that's boring. Even the much cheaper Audio Refienment Complete has the crispy detail and micro-dynamics that the Caspian lacks.

I've heard this Caspian parnered with rather expensive source and loudspeaker combos since my experience with it and it still sounds the same, it's not just my system or room. The remote is extremely cheap ( plasitc ) and ugly.

I really wanted to like this integrated after all the great reviews I've read but was ultimately very dissapointed with it's lack of excitement and detail.

Similar Products Used:

HK 20mkII, Cyrus 2, Audio Refinement Complete, etc...

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
2
[Aug 27, 2000]
Richard van Laar
Audiophile

Strength:

The completeness of the total performance. Rare in this price-range.

Weakness:

Caspian CD a little harsh sometimes, Caspian Amp a little veiled sometimes. Cheapish and flimsy CD drawer mechanism, blurred and vague CD display. Superb build quality otherwise.

I'm using the Caspian Amp & CD combo as a temporary setup to drive my Sonus Faber Electa speakers while I am looking for a new setup in a much higher price-range (Naim, Proceed, Audio Note). The one thing that keeps drawing my attention is the overall balanced quality of the Caspians. It's very easy to find products that offer more detail, better imaging, more air, more power etc. BUT, and this is a big BUT, it's hard to find products that perform equally well in every aspect without clear high- lows (which start to annoy after a while). Put into numbers they score an even row of sevens. Like I said, rarely found in this price-range.

Associated equipment:
- Sonus Faber Electa speakers
- Harmonic Technology Pro9 speakercable
(nearly as expensive as the complete Amp)
- Harmonic Technology Pro-Silway II interconnect &
- Siltech FTM4si interconnect
- Siltech powerrail & powercords

Similar Products Used:

None in this price-range. A lot more expensive usually. This is why I find the Caspians excellent performers.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Mar 28, 2000]
Shirish
Audio Enthusiast

Used in conjunction with the Caspian Integrated CD, the sound of this combo surpasses anything else I've auditioned. Good, well controlled bass extension, with well defined mid/upper ranges. Works equally well with dance and guitar based music, which is what I mainly listen to. No trace of harshness as reported in reviews below - however not as detailed as some may like, but extremely listenable all the same.

Built like a tank and looks superb. Quality controls, inputs and transport. LED perspex can be blurred (Roksan UK sent me a new one)

Contrary to what it says in most reviews, can be used with banana plugs - you just poke out the caps covering the speaker inputs

Both amp and CD bid for @ firedup.com at (Amp-400GBP, CD-450GBP - both remained at opening bids, with no reserve price, delivered free in UK within 3 days. Approx 50% discount in price !!!)

Next in line is the Caspian Power - -only 300 GBP at above site !!

SYSTEM:
Amp - Caspian Integ
CD - Caspian Integ
Speakers - B&W 602 s2
Speaker Cable - CableTalk 3.1 (soon to be upgraded)
Interconnect - Roksan High Def Analogue (provides good balance to system as a whole, which you'd expect)

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Dec 02, 2000]
Ivan
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Smooth & sweet vocals, spacious & laid-back soundstage, clean, controlled & refine performance

Weakness:

Sounds too relax for heavy rock, mid-bass punch is noticeably weaker than some competitions in the same range

Do not buy this amp if u like heavy metal, rocks & technos.

However, if u mainly listen to Jazz, vocals & accoustic musics like me, then the Roksan's approach should serve u well.

I'll recommend partnering it with slightly bright (doesn't mean harsh) sounding source and smooth sounding speaker, I get better results from such combination.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Dec 18, 1999]
Veda
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Neutral and open sound. Nice rendering of female vocals.

Weakness:

Rolled off treble.

One of the most balanced integrated amp I've ever listened to. It has a tendency to do soft or vocal musics better than rock. All I can say is that it is very balanced. Perhaps not accurate but musical without any major flaws. The rolled off treble could be because of the Acustik-Lab speakers. It practically killed the Primare A30.1 + CD combo when played with the matching Caspian CD player. I recommend this integrated heartily.

Similar Products Used:

Sim Audio Celeste I-5080, Primare A30.1, Bryston B-60, Krell KAV-300i

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
3
[Dec 06, 2001]
Bob W
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

build! Short protected. Star Trek phaser-like remote. Stand by & mute modes. Tons of input jacks! Cool look, volume indicator led, a truly useful feature.

Weakness:

inconvenient rear main power cutoff switch

No expert here. I still use my plain old & fine Marantz CD63 as the CD source. Only recently upgraded from the NAD.

I tried both the X-A2 ($600 demo) & the Roksan Caspian integrated. I liked the X-A2. Great detail & amazing power. Hard to reject it after playing a Cake CD. Still, it didn't do other artists & genre's as well in my system. It was like a much better version of the NAD.

The Roksan has some nice gadgety features, extremely solid build, never bright, detailed and provides a nice soundstage and great bass in my system. True, especially when matched with my Spendor S1's it doesn't make you say holly s---! when you listen to all rock peices (Cake for example). The combo is on the smooth side. As such, it really shines with 'jazzier' music. Lyle Lovett & Joe Jackson for example sound amazing. Never overly bright, even with the CD63.

Not a technical review, hopefully it communicates useful information. After I get my DIY CAT5 cables in I might have wished I'd rated the Roksan a 5 (I hope).

Similar Products Used:

NAD 7100 receiver, Musical Fidelity X-A2 integrated

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
Showing 11-20 of 30  

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