Roksan Caspian 4G Review

Price

The Caspian 4G is available in the UK for £4,000. In the US it costs $5,000; the relatively similar price being explained by it being sold via a direct sales model that bypasses dealers. In Australia, it is yours for $5,999 AUD.

In all three markets, if you read this review and decide that the amplifier bit sounds excellent but you already have a streamer, the non-streaming Caspian is available for £1,000 less.

As I’ll cover in the review, it’s not identical to the amp you see here in another key area but it could well be the device that a few people reading this need and could well be worth auditioning.

Design

• Classic Roksan styling cues…
• … with some modern new twists as well
• Seriously solid construction

Take the Roksan out of the box and your first impression will be one of a solid and extremely modern amplifier.

Unlike many products doing the rounds at the moment, there is nothing overtly retro about the Caspian but, if you are familiar with Roksan products of old, there are elements of the design like the cut in lower edges on the front panel which do hark back to the beginning and gives it a house identity.

Something I think is rather clever is that the end result manages to have a level of similarity to the Attessa amp which was released a few years ago and is more affordable but still look like a rather more serious and expensive bit of kit.

This is then complemented by details that are well implemented enough to not have me run a mile when I see them. The combined volume control and input selector; which works by being a volume when you turn it normally but an input selector when you push and twist, could have been horribly unintuitive.

In reality it works really well and all of the controls on the Caspian are entirely logical to use and live with. About the only thing that flummoxed me we was that I mistook the CD icon for the phono stage but that’s easily learned.  

It’s also seriously well bolted together. The metalwork feels exquisite and extremely substantial; there is nothing else I’ve tested at this sort of price point that feels more solid than the Roksan does.

However much it might be able to function as an all-in-one system, it certainly feels like a premium amplifier. Black and silver finishes are available for both versions and both finishes are well complemented by the orange display.

You also get a small but bespoke remote handset that can handle most day-to-day functions without recourse to anything else. It has a habit of sliding between sofa cushions but it’s otherwise very nice to use.

Specification

• Bespoke amplification…
• …and decoding, with a familiar streaming twist
• Decent connectivity
• Room tuning as well

Both models of Caspian use the same amplification. This is a class AB device that uses the company’s Euphoria amplifier technology and that delivers 105 watts into 8 ohms, almost but not quite doubling to 200 watts into 4.

The Euphoria bit refers to a proprietary arrangement that uses individual power supplies for the current and voltage amps intended to target intermodal distortion. Internal pics of the Roksan suggest that this is not a box of air with a weight in the bottom but is instead chock full of amplifier. It makes use of a fully balanced analogue preamp that uses a rotary encoder type control.

The internal DAC is also unique to the Caspian. Roksan calls it Rapture DAC technology which uses differential current-conveyor topology rather than op amp ICs with Roksan arguing that the system allows for greater detail retrieval.

In a world where almost everything else I test uses DACs from one company; it does make the Caspian look like some significant care and investment has gone into it.

In the Streaming Amp, this decoding is connected to a built in BluOS streaming module. This is licensed from Lenbrook group who operate NAD and Bluesound and the Roksan will work happily as part of a wider family of BluOS devices.

BluOS combines effortless access of a local library with peerless streaming service support (everything except Apple Music basically) and effortless scalability to the sort of multiroom system that should handle any house it encounters unless your surname is Bezos. More than technical capability – of which it very capable indeed – it’s just a very pleasant and cohesive system to use.

BluOS handles sample rates to 24-bit/192kHz and this is matched by the digital inputs that will handle the usual selection of possible candidates you could connect to them.

One last feature is also rather interesting. Glance at the front panel and you’d assume there is no form of tone control but that’s not the case. The Roksan makes use of an app called MaestroUnite.

This works independently of the BluOS section to allow you to set up and configure the Caspian; with standby settings, internal tone controls and bass management all being accessible. It’s a clever arrangement and it works well in practise.

Connectivity

• HDMI eARC
• Analogue and digital inputs

Connectivity is usefully comprehensive. You get a single XLR input and a pair of RCA inputs supported by a moving magnet phono stage. This a slightly fewer analogue inputs than some rivals but is offset by the addition of the digital inputs; something that no two channel Caspian product has had up until this point. The board comprises of two optical and two coaxial inputs, supported by aptX capable Bluetooth. 

The other connection the streaming Caspian gains over the non-streaming version is an HDMI eARC connection, making connection to a TV rather simpler than is the case over optical.

In use, I’ve found this has a few quirks. Unlike a Cambridge Audio EXA100 for example, the Roksan won’t turn on automatically when you switch the attached TV on. Roksan says this is because BluOS won’t do this either as the developers feel it can result in unwanted responses depending on how units are being connected and used.

Now, this is true as far as it goes and most BluOS devices respond the same… but they have the option in their menus to start automatically which the Roksan lacks and is a minor annoyance.

Performance

• A brilliant BluOS performance
• No less capable over line and digital inputs too
• Phono stage is a star
• Some rivals have a little more welly though

For all the talk of it being a streaming amplifier, run BluOS through its (utterly painless) setup procedure and the Caspian can be controlled entirely from the app in a way that makes it feel every bit as cohesive as something actually described as an all in one.

No less importantly, the performance also feels very cohesive. There is little point trying to work out where the decoding of the Caspian ends and the amplification begins because it is clear that a huge amount of effort has gone into making them behave in a way that compliments each other.

This means if you give the Caspian the huge and brooding Nox Anima by Scratch Massive, it balances the fury of the album with an ability to find sweetness in the vocal performances that brings the album away from being plain and simple dance music and into something more nuanced.

There’s no overemphasis on any part of the frequency response but it doesn’t prevent the midrange and upper registers of the Roksan being something that holds your attention and makes a few rivals feel a little hard edged by comparison.

Even used with the resident Focal Kanta No1; a speaker that can be unforgiving in the wrong partnership, keeps a fluidity and naturalness that is hard not to like.

In the time it’s been here, the Caspian has done a fine job of balancing real world activities like using Spotify because it’s convenient or relying on it to provide the soundtrack to Gladiators via eARC with being a piece of genuine hi-fi when you want it to be.

The performance of the Caspian with the Paul Frith re-arrangement of Auld Wives by Bear’s Den is a proper ‘hairs on the back of the neck’ stuff. The Roksan combines the ability to convince the rational side of your mind with the ability to excite the primeval bit at the same time.

The digital board holds up well with other devices too. I connect a Fell CD player to the Roksan via coaxial and was able to enjoy a performance that moved on from the internal decoding of the Fell and that sounded bigger, fuller and sweeter as a result.

I can’t get quite so enthused about the Bluetooth and I’d describe that as good rather than great but it’s a useful extra to have nonetheless.

The phono stage is far more than a convenience feature though. The Roksan has been used with a selection of turntables while it has been here and not let the side down once. The basic character of the amp is maintained and balanced with low levels of noise and useful levels of gain.

The result is transparent enough to pass on the character of your turntable to the Roksan but to also allow the Roksan to balance it with its own. If you own some of the very high quality moving magnet cartridges hitting the market at the moment, the Caspian is good enough to show what they can do.

Perhaps the only note of caution I’d sound comes down to the out and out levels of power available. 105 watts is plenty enough for most domestic applications but, compared to rival amps from Rega and Naim, the Roksan doesn’t feel as effortlessly powerful.

Some of this is down to the more linear volume control that doesn’t ‘front load’ the volume in the same way but I have found myself pushing the Caspian harder than some other amps. In this sensibly sized room, it’s not as important but, if you’ve got a large listening space and tricky to drive speakers, it’s possible that you might find yourself reaching the limits of what the Roksan can do.

Should you buy it?