Roksan Attessa Streaming Amplifier Review

[lc6]

I warm up amplifiers at 5 watts for a few minutes. I was shocked that while producing this level of modest power, the right side of the amplifier was almost too hot to touch! Underneath those vents is a compact heatsink. If the case is so hot, I can just imagine how hot the heatsink had gotten and with it, the junction temperature of the output stage.

Four EPCOS 6800 µF / 50V electrolytic caps, next to a small heat sink in an enclosure with insufficient ventilation.

Lifetime @ Temp.

2000 Hrs @ 105°C

With a high ripple current, this does not bode well for durability of this amp.

 

[Toni Mas]

Four EPCOS 6800 µF / 50V electrolytic caps, next to a small heat sink in an enclosure with insufficient ventilation.

View attachment 297268

Lifetime @ Temp.

2000 Hrs @ 105°C

With a high ripple current, this does not bode well for durability of this amp.

View attachment 297269

Roksan have always loved It hot...

As hot as the psu of their Xerxes turntable that only survived because It is so bad and kinky that i have hardly used It a few hours during the last 30 years or so...

In those days customers were not allowed to return stuff, and i still have this awfull piece of junk somewhere in my basement...

 

[ocinn]

No:

Yes, it does.

The non-streaming one does not have the logo, nor does it have an ethernet port.

 

[voodooless]

Yes, it does.

View attachment 297280

The non-streaming one does not have the logo, nor does it have an ethernet port.

Ah, it seems there are two version of the damn thing Thanks for clearing that up!

 

[JayGilb]

I'm pretty sure we are seeing a GND topology error on that amplifier PCB. The field emitted from the AC feeds won't be the main culprit. While not twisted, the wires are still close enough to each other to produce only little magnetic field. Same goes for the field from the tranny itself (toroids can have issues with beams in certain directions).

IMHO even within the given constraints, a simple redesign of the amp+supply PCB layout could yield 20dB better results.

I agree and also think that as a temporary measure, loosening and slightly rotating the toroidal might might yield some improvement.

 

[Andreas007]

I had a Roksan Kandy integrated amp briefly, years ago. It was raved about by the likes of What Hifi. But it felt like you could fry an egg on the case - so hot it was alarming - and I didn't (subjectively) like the sound. So back it went.

While a hot case is not desired a well constructed amp shouldn't care about it.
I once had a Bryston B60 amplifier which got insanely hot (up to 75 °C) when pushing my 2 Ohm speakers (clearly some sort of abuse).
Nevertheless, it is still running flawlessly after 25 years (currently, a friend of mine is very happy with it).

 

[Marc v E]

We're gonna need another panther.

Something that is broken, but not just a pile of steaming ceramic pieces.

Caganer Pink Panther

Caganer tribute to the Pink Panther, endearing character born of the eponymous film. Made by hand with ceramics. Shipping all over the world.

caganer.com

 

[Doodski]

While a hot case is not desired a well constructed amp shouldn't care about it.
I once had a Bryston B60 amplifier which got insanely hot (up to 75 °C) when pushing my 2 Ohm speakers (clearly some sort of abuse).
Nevertheless, it is still running flawlessly after 25 years (currently, a friend of mine is very happy with it).

Bryston is known to be long lived. It's the way they are built and the components used. This Roksan is mid-fi gear in a upper-fi aura.

 

[amirm]

I once had a Bryston B60 amplifier which got insanely hot (up to 75 °C) when pushing my 2 Ohm speakers (clearly some sort of abuse).

This one runs hot just sitting there. I didn't measure it but I had to say ouch when my arm touched the top of the case as I tried to swap cables in the middle of the review.

 

[Toni Mas]

Bryston is known to be long lived. It's the way they are built and the components used. This Roksan is mid-fi gear in a upper-fi aura.

For me, as so many other similar european audiophile brands born in the 70-80's and boosted by specialized magazines like Whathifi, Hifinews, La Nouvelle Revue du Son, etc... amateur designed garage made stuff with overated performance ...

Though, to be fair, in those days the performance of the mass market stuff offered by the big american and japanese names leaders of the industry was so crappy that they left the doors wide open to small adventurous players welcomed by the Happy few audiophiles dreaming of something different and as freaky as me...

 

[pablolie]

I don't disagree necessarily, but it's based on the ranking and vote questions;

This falls in the fair or not terrible category.


JSmith

On a price-performance ratio it seems to be rather terrible.

I recall being initially intrigued by the feature set. But the bunched up connectivity and the lack of specs turned me off. And why does every amp need phono input... and why would you implement it right there is closest proximity with... oh well, I am not an audio equipment designer.... in any case, it is a reason why I never ever buy anything WhatHifi pitches (if the vendor seems remotely Britannia based they'll pimp it right away as among best in class).

 

[ta240]

What would the benefit be of running that much power through the transistors all the time? Is it class A at idle/low levels?
I just finished two different Rod Elliott designed amps and on the first one I had to triple check the bias setting because it could play at what I consider a reasonable level all day and the heatsinks still felt cold.

 

[dougi]

That's couple of old ones,"atessa" can be the older version who became "attesa" for simplicity as a gazillion others.
View attachment 297194

Probably nothing to do with the naming of the amp,rare words,ancient names,etc is kind of tradition in audio.

Citizen watches have a range called Attesa, have for 35 years. They say it is the Italian word for expectation, so I imagine that fits here too.

 

[ta240]

....

On a price-performance it seems to be rather terrible.
....

But on Price-(exclusivity+what the dealer told me about how great it sounds) it is quite good

 

[pattox]

Used google and found a glowing review of this device on The Absolute Sound!

 

[Toni Mas]

What would the benefit be of running that much power through the transistors all the time? Is it class A at idle/low levels?
I just finished two different Rod Elliott designed amps and on the first one I had to triple check the bias setting because it could play at what I consider a reasonable level all day and the heatsinks still felt cold.

I guess that in those days Class A was so praised by purists (or puritans...) that running hot became a must for audiophile gear, even if biased as the rest of the A/B crowd...

 

[CtheArgie]

@amirm , this is fascinating and terrific! What will your poo-poors at audiogon will say to this? You’ve shown admirable patience dealing with them on the post “who buys based on Amirm?”. But I wonder why you keep at it. Their retorts are absolutely meaningless. What a crazy world!

 

[sarumbear]

For me, as so many other similar european audiophile brands born in the 70-80's and boosted by specialized magazines like Whathifi, Hifinews, La Nouvelle Revue du Son, etc... amateur designed garage made stuff with overated performance ...

Though, to be fair, in those days the performance of the mass market stuff offered by the big american and japanese names leaders of the industry was so crappy that they left the doors wide open to small adventurous players welcomed by the Happy few audiophiles dreaming of something different and as freaky as me...

Do you think that US made amplifiers and receiver from the likes of American McIntosh, Marantz, and Sherwood or Japanese Pioneer, Technics, Kenwood, Sansui, and Sony were crappy during the 70s?

 

[ta240]

Used google and found a glowing review of this device on The Absolute Sound!

As someone that still likes tube amps I can forgive and likely even enjoy the 2nd harmonics that are shown but what I don't understand is how it could sound good with that much overall background noise, especially for people that claim they can hear the difference in interconnects.

 

[Doodski]

What would the benefit be of running that much power through the transistors all the time? Is it class A at idle/low levels?
I just finished two different Rod Elliott designed amps and on the first one I had to triple check the bias setting because it could play at what I consider a reasonable level all day and the heatsinks still felt cold.

It will be class A @ low levels and they are running it really hot for that heatsink and maybe even for a bigger heatsink. There are what appears to be 4 output transistors per channel which is average for this power output class. I scanned the images and did not find a PCB mounted potentiometer for bias or offset calibration. It's miffing in that the PCBs are a hybrid SMD and thru-hole design and they have such possibilities available for the layout of the PCB.