Roksan Blak CD Player & Attessa Amplifier
Monitor Audio 50 Silver Loudspeakers

£4,747 (system price)

Here's a nice little system that partners Roksan's latest electronics with a pair of small Monitor Audio loudspeakers. At its heart is Roksan's Attessa Integrated amplifier. Available in two versions, ours is the more basic one with built-in DAC and aptX Bluetooth connectivity, retailing at £1,099. For an additional £500, you can get the Attessa Streaming amp which operates using the BluOS app. You can stream music from your phone using Bluetooth with the cheaper Attessa Integrated. However, the sound quality won't be quite as good, and the resolution is limited to 16-bit/48kHz.

Roksan's Attessa Integrated is compact and sleek-looking. Measuring 432x76x346mm [WxHxD], it delivers a claimed 80W RMS per channel into 8 ohms or 130W into 4. Supplied in a choice of matt black or silver finishes, outwardly, this amp has a very simple look, with just a volume control knob (doubling as an input selector) and a power on/off switch. Its DAC is capable of 24-bit resolution to 192kHz, and there's a built-in MM phono stage. Remote control (volume, input select, mute) is possible. During use at normal volume levels, the unit gets mildly warm.

Roksan also offers the Attessa CD transport for around £550. This matches the amplifiers in terms of size and shape, and, being a transport, it uses the amp's built-in DAC. However, we've chosen Roksan's Blak CD player for this system, retailing at £2,949. This is a full-size design available in black or anthracite finishes – the latter being a brushed dark-silver colour. At 440x140x309mm, this is quite a bit taller than the Attessa – but the two go well together in terms of looks.

The Blak features a low-jitter clock with a quoted figure of around 135ps, which is good. In addition to standard 2.2V unbalanced analogue outputs using RCA phono plugs, there's also a set of balanced XLR outputs delivering 4.4V. To use these, you'll need an amplifier with balanced XLR ins, such as Roksan's Blak integrated. Unfortunately, the Attessa is not so equipped and misses out on the Blak CD player's balanced outputs in this test.

The Blak operates very smoothly and crisply. It's especially fast in terms of disc handling. Mainly having used SACD players these past few years – which tend to be slower and more deliberate – it's nice to return to an old-school CD spinner that's speedy and responsive. However, it does seem a bit more sensitive to disc faults than some other CD players; it jumped and repeated on a disc with a surface abrasion. The same disc played okay on a Marantz 30n. On a corroded disc I keep for test purposes, the Blak exhibited noise by track 3 (about 5 minutes from the start), and became very noticeable by track 5; the Marantz went to track 6 before noise could be heard.

Monitor Audio introduced its Silver Series loudspeaker range as far back as 1999. Now in its seventh generation, the series is aimed at two-channel hi-fi enthusiasts, as well as those interested in multi-channel home cinema and surround sound. Retailing at £699, the MA Silver 50 7G is a compact 2-way bass reflex speaker intended for stand or shelf mounting. It features a 134mm mid/bass driver, and a 25mm dome tweeter, using a third-order crossover at 2.6kHz.

The cabinet is internally braced with a choice of four finishes featuring real wood veneers. This 50 7G is the smallest of Monitor Audio's Silver Series range. Above it is the compact 100 7G model, then some floorstanders, plus speakers for surround and Dolby Atmos applications. Bass response is good relative to its size and claimed to rival that of floorstanding designs, but still, an optional subwoofer is offered. The manufacturer quotes a frequency response down to 47Hz (-6dB), which is good for such a compact enclosure. At 86dB/1W, sensitivity is middling, about average for a speaker of this size. Weight is 5.6kg, and size 282x165x272mm.

Recommended amplifier power is 40W to 100W, with a claimed 104dB maximum sound pressure level, which is quite loud. More importantly, the sound retains plenty of clarity and separation when driven hard and does not become muddy, congested, or coarse. This is due to the innovative design/construction of the drive units; the bass/mid driver makes use of Monitor Audio's rigid surface technology – RST II – which consists of a ceramic-coated aluminium cone with a dimple pattern for increased rigidity and reduced surface breakup. The result is a thin, light cone that's very stiff and can handle high volume levels and high frequencies without breakup.

The tweeter features a ceramic-coated aluminium gold dome. Monitor Audio says this acts as a rigid piston throughout the entire audio bandwidth, pushing any breakup modes beyond the limits of audibility. A vented surround reduces the build-up of energy, which might result in stress. The company's Uniform Dispersion (UD) Waveguard ensures a smooth, even dispersion at all frequencies, as well as improving time alignment for a more linear phase response. Monitor Audio says this helps ensure all frequencies reach the ear simultaneously, improving phase coherence.

To improve the response above 10kHz, a compression ring above the surround and dome has been added. This ensures a flatter high-frequency response and lower distortion. In addition, a new Ring Magnet structure allows increased linear excursion. The tweeter's high-frequency limit is listed as 35kHz, so bats will appreciate it! This speaker is a reflex design with a rear-mounted HiVe II port tuned to 58Hz, which helps create a fuller bass response. However, should you find the bass too heavy for your room, foam 'plugs' are provided to block the ports, which should deliver a tighter bass.

The speakers are beautifully finished and nicely styled. Our satin white review pair looked very classy. The cabinets feel solid and appear to be well-braced internally. So there's relatively little unwanted resonance or vibration if you play the music loudly. Four gold-plated binding posts let you bi-wire (or bi-amp) as you wish. The speaker grilles are cunningly held in place via invisible magnets. That said, many users will likely dispense with the grilles and just use the speakers as they are.

THE LISTENING

Before listening to the system as a whole, I auditioned the CD player and amp separately – to get an idea of how they performed. I began by listening to the Roksan Blak CD player, which replaced my reference Marantz 30n SACD player. Although the latter is about £800 cheaper than the Roksan, it offers extra features, including native hi-res SACD playback and a built-in network streamer. The Blak, by contrast, is unashamedly an old-school silver disc spinner – albeit a very good one…

Using the standard unbalanced analogue outputs, I felt the Roksan Blak sounded slightly better than the Marantz – it seemed tonally richer and fuller. To be fair, the differences weren't huge, but I felt the Roksan was slightly better. Via the Blak's balanced analogue outputs, the sound improved considerably in terms of scale and dynamics. There was enhanced richness and depth, and bass seemed deeper and more full-bodied. The Marantz does not offer balanced outputs, so the Roksan has the advantage here.

Next, I tried the Attessa amplifier. This replaced an Auris Allegro integrated tube amp in my system. The Attessa didn't offer quite the same degree of clarity and separation as my Auris, and nor should it, being about one-fifth of the price! Nevertheless, I rather liked what I heard. The Attessa delivered a very cohesive sound that immediately drew me into the music. It doesn't impress with flashy thunderous dynamics or exceptional separation, but after a few hours of listening, I felt thoroughly at home with its musical presentation.

There was something very natural and unobtrusive about the Attessa's portrayal. It has a nice sense of relaxed warmth and richness. Just a few days earlier, I'd been listening to Lavardin's ISx Reference - which offered amazing detail and microdynamics. The Attessa wasn't as capable as the Lavardin in that respect, but once you acclimatise, the sound becomes surprisingly enjoyable and informative. The Attessa never drew attention to itself; it simply reproduced the music in a way that was very enjoyable to listen to.

When you evaluate a new component, there's always that initial 'first reaction' where you're critically aware of how it compares to what you've just been listening to. But later, as you listen longer and spend more time with the item, another picture emerges. The more I used the Attessa, the more I liked it – a very good sign…

Once we got properly acquainted, I found the amplifier highly pleasurable to listen to – and very easy to live with. It's like meeting someone and making a judgment based on a quick 'first impression'. However, it's only after spending more time with them that you discover whether or not you enjoy their company on a long-term basis. Maybe the Attessa doesn't make an immediate knockout first impression, but I definitely warmed to it over time.

Having already reviewed the slightly larger Monitor Audio Silver 100 7G bookshelf speaker about eighteen months ago, I had a good idea of what to expect from the more compact Silver 50 7G. I liked the Silver 100 very much and felt it was a very well-sorted product. The drive units are closely matched acoustically in terms of phase response and linearity. Third-order 18dB/octave crossovers ensure the individual drive units don't overlap too much at the crossover point to improve clarity and fine detail.

Bass depth was perfectly respectable given the small size of the cabinet, but going on memory, I think the slightly larger 100 model sounded fuller. Being a reflex ported design, the 50's bass is freer and warmer than a typical sealed-enclosure design. In my room, the bottom end was well-controlled. You definitely get a fuller bass without the foam plugs, but possibly at the expense of firmness and control in certain rooms. Another way of reducing bass output is to move the enclosures out from the walls and corners. Adding a subwoofer would extend the low frequencies down a full octave or more. The Silver 50 7G offers very decent bass for its size but inevitably flatters to deceive…

Playing an old Decca Phase Four CD The Four Faces of Jazz with Bernard Herrmann, I was taken by the brilliance and clarity of the Silver 50 7G's upper frequencies. The crisp, precise stereo imagery was also very impressive. So was its tonal balance, which was generally light and forward. Percussion instruments had a delicacy that was tactile and exciting. You really sensed the crack of hard wooden sticks on skin or the metallic shimmer of cymbals.

Playing via Bluetooth, the sound was very acceptable in isolation, albeit a bit lacking in focus and clarity. It was perfectly listenable, but you'll get crisper detail and better dynamics from CDs, or the full streaming version of the Attessa. That said, it was nice to have this feature. I played an impromptu recording I'd just made of a jazz trio (piano, bass, and drums) playing in a restaurant. Usually, I'd just listen on my phone, being too lazy to faff about with cables/adaptors to run it through my hi-fi.

Playback was gapless when streaming music from Spotify, Qobuz, and TIDAL via Bluetooth. So, on continuous pieces of music divided into tracks, the sound did not cut out for a brief fraction of a second when one track ended and went on to the next. Being picky, there was a slight lift to the bass with Bluetooth. A proper streamer will deliver a more natural, better-focused, and more sharply defined sound, yet this proved perfectly decent and very acceptable for casual listening. The Attessa's built-in DAC sounds good, but the volume level on the digital inputs is quieter than analogue sources – whether CD or LP. With some amps it's possible to adjust the sensitivity of different inputs, but not here.

The Attessa's built-in MM phono stage proved excellent. It has a clean, detailed presentation with good clarity and separation and low hiss levels. As my regular cartridge is a moving coil type, I used a Billington step-up transformer. Playing the famous Ella and Louis LP on Verve, with Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, the sound was rich and velvety, with a remarkably holographic quality that was quite amazing for mono. There was a nice sweetness with Ella's vocals, and lots of husky growling from Louis, just as it should be.

THE VERDICT

Overall then, this proved a great system with a sound that punches way above its price point. It's a little quirky, but highly capable. Inveterate tweakers could, of course, make a few changes here and there. For example, if CD playback is not so important but streaming is, you could maybe go for the cheaper Attessa CD transport instead of the Blak. The money saved could be put towards an Attessa Streaming amplifier, and you get the MA Silver 100 7G speakers, rather than the 50s, then add a subwoofer. But that's the fun of separates – you can juggle the components to suit your taste and priorities. The top takeaway from assembling this particular system is that it's a seriously capable music maker – and you can't say fairer than that.

Visit Roksan and Monitor Audio for more details