If there was any doubt at all, the complete overhaul of its traditional Caspian amplifier definitively puts Roksan on the road to success.
Roksan? Isn’t that the analogue niche player that revolutionised the market with innovative turntables and formidable phono stages, especially in the 1990s and early 2000s? From this introduction, the interested reader may glean that the traditional British brand currently leaves a few question marks and appears to be somewhat sidelined in the public perception on the German market. Let’s remember: Roksan made a splash with its very first product, the Xerxes turntable, which would be followed up by more record players, culminating in the heavyweight TMS3. 1986 saw the release of the Darius loudspeaker, followed by the Artemiz tonearm and the Shiraz cartridge in 1987.
However, this analogue success led to Roksan ending up pigeonholed as an exclusively analogue specialist, even though it covered the entire range of devices. The market can be unfair sometimes. Roksan underwent a major change in 2016 when the company was taken over by Monitor Audio. Integration into the existing corporate structures enabled an expansion of development resources, which led to the analog division being abandoned, while the existing amplifier lines were completely redesigned and relaunched. This piqued the author’s curiosity, who fondly remembers the Caspian DX2 phono stage and, after the announcement of the review sample, had hoped to rediscover the brand for himself.
Euphoria
Although the Caspian amplifier series can now look back on more than 20 years of product development, the new model with the succinct name suffix “4G” has nothing in common with its predecessors except for a few reminiscences of the enclosure; technically, it’s an all-new design. The current model primarily takes into account the demands of the digital and streaming sector, which is why the integrated amplifier is available in an “integrated” and a “streaming” version. Although the Caspian Integrated also has a DAC on board, only the “streaming” version offers access to the relevant streaming services plus an additional HDMI connection. It was the latter that moved in with me for three weeks and – I’ll spill this much already – provided me with a musically exceptionally blissful time.
The product department’s goal was to achieve the lowest possible distortion and a clean signal flow through a newly developed Class AB amplifier architecture called “Euphoria.” At the heart of the design are two separate power supplies that operate independently of each other. According to Roksan, this ensures that one section raises the voltage to the required level, while the second is responsible for delivering stable current to provide the speakers with sufficient power. Another key element is the optimized soft clipping behavior. The aim here is for the amplifier architecture to exploit all of the speaker’s SPL capabilities before audible distortion occurs, thereby providing more usable power, which should enable a powerful and dynamic presentation with consistently precise reproduction, even at high listening levels. Well, we don’t need to be told twice, so let’s go full throttle right out of the gate: so many announcements of in-house innovations need to be put to the test.
I waste no time to pop a few CDs from Bernard Foccroulle’s complete recording of Bach’s organ works into my Naim CD 5, and powerful toccatas and fugues flood my listening room, transforming it into a mighty church nave. Yes, this is truly unlimited power, coupled with a powerful, dry bass and a rich timbre, but at all times so neutral that the signatures of the different organs in the recordings remain recognizable. Wow, that’s quite an achievement on the amplifier side of the playback chain. Clearly, someone has been studying the design brief for an optimal amplifier very carefully indeed! If you want to add some fine-tuning to the sound, you can use the MaestroUnite app, which allows you to conveniently control various sonic nuances and a few minor details in terms of ease of use from your tablet. This works in both the Integrated and Streaming Caspian, although the latter requires a second app for streaming mode in order to organize playback with BluOS.
Rapture
The digital side relies on Roksan’s proprietary Rapture DAC technology. According to Roksan, this approach offers significant advantages over conventional digital-to-analog conversion methods using operational amplifier ICs, as it has improved bandwidth characteristics – a crucial factor for high-resolution and authentic sound reproduction. As Jens Ragenow from the German distributor explained to me in detail, this technology was also developed entirely in-house. A precisely tuned network structure of transmission lines also aims to ensure that digital signals are transported without any noise interference. This is intended not only to enable accurate stereo imaging, but also to ensure precise detail resolution and absolute silence between musical passages.
And yes, even in the quietest passages of the final adagio of Gustav Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, not even the slightest digital artifact marred the death-seeking intensity of the musical experience offered by the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra under Herbert Blomstedt in this criminally underappreciated Accentus recording. An almost ghostly calm lies over the dying final bars of the symphony goose bumps are all but guaranteed. Incidentally, the formidable sonic reproduction applies not only to streaming, which is a breeze with the BluOS app, but also to digital playback from older CD players. So if your aging device can still read the spinning silver discs without error, but the built-in converter brings with it the slightly dusty sound of bygone times, then – provided you have a digital output – you can enjoy the slag-free sound of Rapture DAC technology and discover new sound aspects in one or two of your treasured CDs.
Welcome to the vinyl club
Roksan wouldn’t be Roksan if it didn’t also cater to the friends of black gold and draw on the tradition of the legendary Caspian DX2 phono stage. And indeed, the onboard solution for MM systems cannot deny its genetic relationship with the legendary preamplifier from the early 2000s. Strictly arranged around the speakers, but with a tangible live feel, the four musicians of the Berlin Saxophone Quartet are standing in the room and let the counterpoints from Bach’s Art of Fugue circle around each other with soul. The immense thrust in the bass range even makes the baritone instrument sound a little like a deep organ register. On this jpc in-house production, it almost seems as if Bach actually composed his legendary last work for this rare and exotic ensemble formation. Sure, there are phono stages that manage to dab an even finer sound field into the room with an MC, but they may then have to put up with being accused of being killjoys.
With the Caspian’s internal phono stage, on the other hand, there’s not a dry eye in the house. Sonny Rollins and his bandmates whirl across the stage of the Village Vanguard with gusto and vigor, and it would never occur to you that this recording is more than 65 years old. Jazz recordings from the 60s and 70s in particular benefit from the directness with which the amplifier does its job here. The recording quality quickly becomes secondary because the musicality of the pieces is conveyed so directly. Paired with an Ortofon 2M Black or the high-output version of the Dynavector 20X2, a physical power develops that shows that the development engineers clearly had the stable, gripping specifics of the legendary Shiraz cartridge in mind. Tracey Thorn’s sonorous alto on Everything But The Girl’s latest album, accompanied by puffing electro basses that spread out wonderfully in space, comes across to the listener as if the grand lady of club pop were seeking direct conversation with her fans. Anyone looking for precisely these types of analog playback can confidently save themselves the additional cost of an external phono stage.
No-frills, All-Purpose Weapon
The Caspian 4G is one of the few amplifiers that, after just a short listening session, makes you ask yourself, “What more could I possibly want?” It delivers a rich sound that is largely neutral and free of coloration, but is anything but anemic or joyless. The classic AB principle has enough reserves to easily drive over 90 percent of the speakers on the market. And all this comes packaged in a strikingly designed, extremely well-made housing that also impresses with its well-thought-out connectivity.
In addition, there is an MM branch for livelike analog sound and an integrated digital section that congenially converts the ones and zeros fed into it into a convincing, immersive sound. Yes, I know that there are nerds out there who need even more options and tools, both for the analog and digital versions; but at the price of a Caspian 4G, there is still room for maneuver to fulfill your special wishes. And in the streaming version, the already well-thought-out concept is crowned by an intelligent app and easy access to a wide variety of streaming services. An elegant and high-quality remote control ensures sensitive volume control, regardless of the source. Or to put it more prosaically: with the new Caspian, Roksan has succeeded in creating a no-nonsense device that demonstrates common sense in terms of technology, sound, and pricing, something I find myself increasingly missing in the audiophile scene. Well done, folks!
Accompanying Equipment
Turntables: Thorens TD 126 MK III, Technics SL-1210 MK2 | Tonearm: Koshin GST 801 | Cartridges: Sumiko Blackbird, Ortofon Concord Century and 2M Black, Dynavector 20X2 | Phono preamplifiers: Innovative Audio Ultimate 2b, Thel Phono M | CD player: Naim CD5i | Streamer: Naim CD5XS | Integrated amplifier: Naim SuperNait | Loudspeakers: Gamut Phi 7, Lyngdorf Cue-100 | Headphones: Beyerdynamic DT 1770 Pro | Accessories: Wireworld, Sommer, Creaktiv
Streaming integrated amplifier Roksan Caspian 4G
Concept: Integrated amplifier with streamer, DAC, and MM phono amplifier | Analog inputs: 1 x XLR, 2 x RCA, 1 x phono MM (gain 47/53/59 dB) | Digital inputs: 2 x coaxial (up to 24-bit/192 kHz), 2 x optical (up to 24-bit/96 kHz), Bluetooth aptX, LAN | Analog outputs: 1 XLR, 2 x RCA (settings: fixed, variable, low-pass subwoofer) | Speaker connections: Single-wire | D/A converter: In-house Rapture DAC with dual mono design up to 24-bit/192 kHz | Power (8/4 Ω): 2 x 105 W/2 x 200 W | Operating mode: Euphonia Class AB power amplifier with dual mono design | Accessories: Remote control | Finish: Silver or black | Dimensions (W/H/D): 43/9/37 cm | Weight: 15 kg | Warranty period: 5 years | Price: around €4500 (integrated amplifier around €3500)
Pannes Vertrieb
Berliner Straße 3
23795 Bad Segeberg
Phone +49 4551 8955394
info@pannes-vertrieb.de