Styling,Build,Performance

Maybe a fraction too bright at times

I am lucky enough to own a Roksan Caspian CD player. After having an old Marantz CD63 for the past four years I felt it was time to upgrade my source component. The result was the Caspian. Having auditioned many players in the £400-£500 (British) pound range including the excellent Rotel RCD-971 I had the chance to get the Caspian for only £450 from an auction site (normally retails at £895). (NOTE: This was NOT second hand but brand new straight from the manufacturer!). I was able to audition a player at a local dealership and the sound quality was superb. The detail it grasped from each CD was impressive. The Caspian gave music a 'live' quality so often missing on CD's. It has a sound not unlike the Naim players but it is less 'in your face' and as such should appeal to a wider audience. The only critisism so far is that, on occasion if partnered with bright speakers and amps, it can sound a little too bright.

However, it was the Caspians ability to play every type of music to such a high level that earns it its five star rating here. Despite its fairly high price tag I would recomend the player at full price but only give it four stars for value but, at the price I paid I feel like I've won the lottery!

Just to rub it in I also got a Caspian amplifier at half price to replace my old Rotel pre/power but thats another story..suffice to say I've not stopped smiling.

Similar Products Used:

Naim CD3 Marantz CD17

Good bass and excellent intrument sound reproduction.

Very long to scan disk and a frying noise always present

This is a demo model that the audio shop has lend me. I was expecting a lot more from this CD player. I have found that the frying noise when silence in the music was very annoying. I have a Rotel line conditionner therefore with or without it did not change anything. I suspect a poor power supply or poor noise filtering. One time out of two I had to re-open the door because the disk would not start, it would spin forever.

This player has very good bass and produces a very tight bass/mid and very pleasing to the ear. The highs are excellent...the best yet comparing to the Rotel 971 I tried.
My next player to try will be the Myryad and possibly the Meridian. If the Rotel 991 had been available, I would have prefered it.

My old CD is a Pioneer PD-7100 dated 1986 and I was really expecting a BIG difference with the Rocksan.

My system:
Passion Amp 30 WPC - tubes
Reference 3A speakers
Rotel RLC-900 Line Conditionner
Pioneer PD-7100 CD player
Kimber Cable 4TC

Comments welcome on suggestion on other possibilities.

Thanks

Similar Products Used:

Rotel 991, Meridian, Myryad, Arcam