The Article

ATTESSA STREAMING AMPLIFIER FROM ROKSAN

13th January 2025

Using BluOS as the basis for its streaming core, the Streaming Amplifier is a slim-line, full-width integrated amplifier with features a-plenty. Paul Rigby grabs a big bag to put them all in

So what do you get for the asking price of £1,600 (€2,000/$2,400)?

Apart from the steel case and anodised front panel, you get quite a lot of watts. Eighty all told. That’s 80W into 8 Ohms, incidentally and those 80W are held in place by a chassis spanning 190 x 600 x 565mm. So while this box is a full width unit, it’s fairly low slung so should fit into most shelving units. The weight? Is weighty. You’re looking at a hefty 10.48kg. And that is mainly down to the large toroidal power supply and plenty of internal heatsinks. I expect to hear a decent bass response but we’ll see.

While we’re talking about the insides, you’ll also note the Texas Instruments/Burr-Brown PCM5242 DAC chip that can push out 32bit/384kHz PCM.

This is a Class AB design that looks…fine. Aesthetically? It’s fine. Which is something I never said about older products in the Roksan line. Roksan always, to my eyes, had a unique sense of style. The Kandy looked like it belonged on a moonbase in a 50s retro comic, the Caspians looked almost Scandinavian in their stark, minimalist simplicity while the Oxygenes looked like an art installation. This Attessa though? It’s…fine. It tries to be a Caspian but falls short in a slightly half-hearted manner. That sense of looking back to the Caspian was an issue.

I would have preferred that Roksan looked forward instead.

Nowadays, if output windows are going to be featured at all, they are all about offering the user lots of information on large, bright, easy to read, screens. This chassis-spanning strip looks old fashioned by comparison. Too much of the thin output strip, to the right, is devoted to the volume ladder output with only a tiny space, on the left, allocated to everything else. And even then you have to physically move towards the amplifier to better see what options you’ve selected.

I do like the orange light output though. Makes a change from being blinded by bright white beam lights I find on some HiFi components.

ON TOUR

So let’s have a quick tour. On the front left is your power button, then transport buttons the small display showing your source. To the right of that is a large rotary volume knob that, if you push and twist it, seconds as a source selector. This selector has a haptic feedback so you will feel a certainly amount of vibration in use. Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should. I consider that feature a pointless gimmick and a waste of money. This is not a PlayStation. To the right of that and spanning about 47 feet, is that volume ladder.

At the far right is a 3.5mm headphone port. The size was, according to the company, decided upon because of the slim design of the central output section. I would have preferred a 6.35mm socket because there are more audiophile designs available with that default form of termination. According to Roksan, the 3.5mm port “…was checked for performance and made no difference, adaptors are readily available.”

You might agree with Roksan and if you do agree, then you’re sorted and can move on. I do not agree, however. Adding a convertor adds yet another fence for the sound signal to jump. I can hear a lowering in sound quality with a convertor. I prefer my connections pure, direct and literally, to the point. For me, it’s another reason to dislike the aesthetics.

The rear shows all of the speaker terminals pushed to the far left which was done, again according to the company, to minimise internal cable lengths. Looking inside, that doesn’t appear to be the case. I can see miles of cable in there. For users though, if you look straight ahead at the front of the Roksan chassis, it may also cause installation issues if you’re using a short left-channel cable and it has to stretch way over to the right.

Speaker captions (rear view) grouped into the corner

Next are three single-ended inputs including a moving magnet phono amplifier and ground screw. After the pre amp outputs is a group of coax and optical inputs then an Ethernet port, which I used during the review and a pair of USB ports.

You can see the long speaker cable run, passing down the cooling fin structure, it continues to the end, bends around the fins and carries on up the other side

One of those USB ports is used to house the Wi-Fi dongle for use with BluOS. This dongle was small and compact (and you can still see it within Roksan’s own installation help videos) but that has now been changed to a larger model because the smaller unit is no longer being produced. Reportedly, Roksan did search for a smaller unit but failed to find one they were happy with so this larger unit is the default dongle from now on. Because this is a larger unit, make sure you have clearance at the rear of the unit to fit the thing in the first place. It does stick out quite a way.

Headphone socket

Apart from a Service port and triggers, the far right shows a standard IEC socket.

So how does this lot sound?

SOUND QUALITY

To begin, I plugged in my CD transport, the Audiolab 6000CDT plus Benchmark DAC into an input on the back of the Roksan and I played Lush’s album, Spooky and the song Stray.

This song only lasts a couple of minutes but it offers a lot for a test track, delicately formed harmonies where each voice should be recognised, a nicely separated bass, rhythm guitar and fragile cymbal taps. Then, from 1:22, crashing rock acting as an extended outro, in which you hope you can still fathom detail without it being swamped by noise. A short, challenging piece, therefore.

Soundwise, then? I was impressed by the large and powerful presentation from the Roksan which, at all times, sounded like it meant serious business. And let me emphasise that power. For the price and specs? It’s a wall.

The new WiFi dongle. As you can see, it does protrude quite a way into the rear area.

The sense of bass drive was paramount here and it fed into every area of the sound envelope. That meant that guitar strums had a sense of delicacy and detail but also weight from the lower end. Vocals could be both fragile and nuanced but the lower end added a certain gravitas to that delivery.

Instrumental separation was excellent. That is, each instrument and voice was nicely spaced apart. There was no blurring of information here, no bass bloom or fuzzy upper mids.

TRANSPORT ONLY

I then removed my external Benchmark DAC and plugged my transport into the Roksan’s internal DAC via the coax socket.

The limited Bluetooth options from the official spec list

The performance from the internal DAC was good. Not as good as the external model, sure. The external DAC offered a richer performance, more detail with superior imagery but the internal model will be sufficient for many users out there as it provides a well-rounded output. Even for those looking to upgrade to an external DAC in the future, the internal mode will serve as a usable option while funds are being saved.

Part of the expansive volume ladder

One point I must add. If you are listening to CD or vinyl, I would advise removing the Wi-Fi dongle because that does add some high-frequency noise to the output, giving the sound an edge to the upper mids at high volumes.

INTERNAL PHONO AMPLIFIER

I then plugged in my Rega RP3 and tried the internal phono amplifier while playing ELO’s classic rendition of Roll Over Beethoven. Performance wasn’t as good as a comparable external model with the internal model lacking midrange insight and bass character.

Even so, for an internal phono amp, that rich personality from both the midrange and bass was present and correct while there was enough here to satisfy those who only want to play vinyl occasionally. It will also satisfy vinyl fans while they are looking for an external upgrade.

HEADPHONES

It was good to hear that the headphones followed the general personality of the main amplifier – that doesn’t always happen with amplifier designs – with that strong bass output although the mids were a little rather rolled off via my Meze 99 headphones. Even so, as a rock source, the headphone amplifier provided a strong and meaty performance.

BLUETOOTH

I then installed and ran an app called MaestroUnite which basically upgraded my streaming firmware but did allow several tweaks such as headphone sensitivity but I left everything in default mode. I then played Marvin Gaye’s Mercy Mercy Me via my iPhone and via Bluetooth.

This product is described as a streaming amplifier. By its very name, Roksan is certainly pushing the streaming aspect of the unit above all else, so it’s important that this part of the performance is good. And yes, Bluetooth performance was good via my phone. Now my test track here was a lossy AAC file and so did not provide the best source but, for a lossy file sent over Bluetooth to an iPhone I thought the Attessa did very well indeed.

If pushed to high volumes then sure, the edgy midrange and tizzy treble revealed themselves which was to be expected for the file in use here but at acceptable volumes the response was excellent. Balanced in presentation, plenty of detail for a file of this type. The soundstage was broad, vocals were packed with emotion, percussion was understated, piano normally hid at the rear of the mix but the Attessa highlighted it here was was surprising.

I then pushed out both Nick Drake and The Doves via my Astel&Kern Kann Alpha at 24bit/96kHz and again, thought the balance was better realised via the digital section. The issue I had was that Bluetooth only supported aptX and so the mids and treble, at high volumes, sounded thin and weedy. Not even aptX HD was supported here and certainly not a higher-end codec like LDAC. For the price of this amp, I want LDAC. That would make Bluetooth really sing. As it is, Bluetooth is good but only goes so far. For a Streaming Amplifier at this price? I certainly wanted more.

BLUOS

Connecting to the Attessa via a downloaded app, the BluOS app itself took a long time to even notice the Attessa but that may be down to my network. A couple of hours of plugging away, in fact. So if your unit doesn’t connect first time, keep at it. Once done, the BluOS app performed another upgrade. The Player itself on this occasion. This took a few minutes. The install section being particularly slow.

What I wanted to do here was access the less than perfect, lower bitrate sources to see how the streaming output coped. If the sound was great here, then top of the line sources would fly.

I ended up playing Dire Straits’ Sultans of Swing, via Amazon. The Attessa actually sounded more balanced and neutral via streaming than it did via standard sources, backed by a broad soundstage with plenty of sonic highlights. The lead guitar was pleasingly complex, cymbals were delicate while there was a slightly cuddly, warming presentation that was very comforting.

Then I flicked to Calm Radio – which was a new one on me – although it’s been around for over a decade, so I hear. Restricted to around 320kbs, the output was, nevertheless, surprisingly focused while it tripped through No Woman No Cry from, of all people, Boney M. Full of air and space around the mids, I was again surprised at the quality of the sound from this less than perfect source.

Streaming Qobuz and a selection of tracks from The Cure, though, I was happy to again hear a relatively balanced and informative playback with a wide soundstage, substantial bass response with a pleasingly detailed performance from lead guitar and vocals. Sure, Internet services are not perfect and I could nit pick but, for what it is, the Attessa did a great job.

CONCLUSION

This product is described as a Streaming Amplifier. Almost as if that’s the priority. That’s the word order, that’s the focus. That’s how Roksan wants you to view this box. And I can see that. As a straight amplifier, one with the usual physical sources, the Attessa offers a pleasing delivery with a good foundational bass that supports all frequencies.

As a streaming device, the Attessa was arguably more successful. I think the digital section of this design is better balanced, in sonic terms, possibly better realised. Whether you’re talking BluOS or Bluetooth, I was pleasantly surprised at the Attessa’s sonic performance. Although I do feel short changed with the Bluetooth performance because of that codec issue.

Despite my nit picks, this box is a real hub for your all-round HiFi entertainment. I had fun listening to the Attessa. It’s pleasing to the ear. Warming to the heart, you might say, and certainly packed with features.

ROKSAN ATTESSA STREAMING AMPLIFIER

Price: £1,600

Website: www.roksan.com

GOOD: feature packed, streaming output, solid bass, external dongle

BAD: Bluetooth codec selection, aesthetics, headphone port