Roksan Caspian M2 Amplifier

Styled, Roksan products never seem to appear hip, which gives a certain timelessness to them that lots of will value. In a beauty contest, the Caspian M2 incorporated would surely win no prizes to my eyes, but it is usually very well built because of its cost.

Its stainless steel casework is liked by me, but would not say the same about the lettering which is somewhat reminiscent of the stickers on a boy racer's first automobile!

Still, the amp is normally pleasant and legitimate to make use of, with two big fascia knobs supplying volume control and input selection, and also a Mode button (to choose it out of standby) and - very these days - a tape monitor button. The power switch is on the bottom of the case. There are five pairs of RCA phono inputs, among which is switchable to balanced XLR functioning - an useful attribute. There is also a cassette in two preamp outputs /out loop and one preamp input signal, along with a subwoofer out. One single set of loudspeaker binding posts is supplied. The total function remote control, complete with LC screen of Roksan, is a step up in the remainder here.

Sound quality

We found this amplifier to be "highly communicative and musically intelligible"; the Buddy Rich track suddenly had a great sense of purpose. I certainly found it smooth, although I believed the high treble was a bit more recessed compared to the Creek, by way of example. The sound was, I noted, "less glossy, but far more full bodied, with a wonderful tonal palette to the cellos on the Mission Impossible theme".

In terms of soundstaging, I believed it "narrower spatially" on the Mozart track as opposed to Creek Destiny 2.

Similarly, there was detail that is clear in relation to the Creek in a hifi awareness; the former sprayed on it in the listener, whereas the Roksan was not a little more forwards, but much more natural and organic sounding.

It was exceptionally expressive, being the greatest at carrying those small inflections which make music so real in the group. This, combined with the beats that were superb, made everything look groovier. Really, the sole drawback proved to be a slight dearth of atmosphere and space to the event, having less sparkle on piano harmonics, for example...

Overall however, the M2 incorporated makes music in a effervescent and extremely fantastic manner, that we agreed was wonderful to behold.