Roksan Caspian 4G Streaming Preamplifier, the brain of the system

I want to provide direct data so that everything written below makes more sense to all of you. The lifeblood of capitalism is money. If there is no money, companies die. If there is no money, there is no investment. Without investment there are no real new products, only modifications of what already exists.

Roksan was absorbed by Monitor Audio Group Limited in 2016. But Monitor Audio is not an equity fund, it is not a vulture fund. No. It is a consolidated company that has improved its financial management these last years, going from a financial loss in 2023 and a turnover of just over £7 million to enter into profit the following year and multiply by almost 3 the group's turnover. To conclude this brief financial review of the company, it is controlled with an iron fist by Andrew Flatt, CEO and owner of 75% of the company. And why do I tell you all this? No money, no new products.

Roksan Caspian 4G

From the name you might think of 4G telephony, but in this case it is due to being the 4 Generation of the Caspian series. If we look at some pictures of other series and older Roksan models we could say that some of them have a very bold and extreme aesthetics at best. Almost flamboyant in some others. Caspian has always been more classic and in line with the market, while still having its own personality. And on this occasion he has continued with this rule.

The new series consists of four elements:

All four models share the same outer casing, so that they can be integrated into a music system with a classic, lifelong image. The main features and the ones that mark the character of the product are its front and top cover made of extruded and machined aluminum with heat sinks, also made of extruded aluminum, to achieve an excellent level of dissipation. By sharing the same enclosure, it is the case that in the pre-amp model with streaming, this level of dissipation may be (is) unnecessary, but maintains the visual coherence of the system. In addition, it has a front OLED display that serves to show the status of the component at all times. From Stand-by to the power level that is working at that moment. It also serves to show the audio line that is active. Something necessary, since it has so many that help is vital.

Roksan Caspian 4 G Streaming Pre-Amplifier

We focus on this device because of its enormous versatility. And I will do it from the first steps to its current performance and performance obtained.

And let's go by parts, which it has quite a few. First of all, it is not what we could call a plug-and-play component. Not at all. Classic line preamps were a lot of wires connected at the back input, two wires to go to the power amplifiers and that's it. Simple. But this is the 21st century and things have changed. For a growing and younger group of users, their music does not travel on cable, but on waves, be they Bluetooth or WiFi. Therefore, we have to install an application on our mobile or tablet called MaestroUnite. This application, proprietary of the manufacturer, is used to configure any product of the group such as Monitor Audio or Roksan. Via Bluetooth it detects the products present in the room and configures them one by one. Starting with the preamp and then the power amplifier, this order must be respected. Different work zones or rooms can be created, up to a total of 64. With only one installation it took me more than half an hour to make all the settings; with 64 I would not have even started writing this article. Everything is adjustable and prone to be improved by the user if he or she takes the time to do so. In this case, we reviewers always have time against us, but I leave the warning to future owners to spare no effort to improve and adjust everything to their room millimetrically.

With the Caspian 4G Streaming Pre-Amplifier now in the system, it was the turn of the power amplifier, which can also work in mono or stereo mode. The same steps are followed from MaestroUnite for the new unit and it is configured accordingly.

One anecdote that I don't want to overlook. The aesthetics of the Caspian 4G is classic, from the 80's I dare say. As a nod to that era, the power amp lights during setup moved in the same style as those of the mythical KITT, that Pontiac Firebird with features well ahead of its time (such as artificial intelligence), from the TV series "Knight Rider". Please, gentlemen of Roksan, make that same set of lights when starting the product every time.

And let's get a little more serious and get down to business. We have to change the classic idea of a multi-input amp preamp to think of a multi-input manager. The preamp is configured as an element of the home data network and from there, it can control or be controlled by anyone who can access it. As a sign of its flexibility in this respect, it has a small web server, where a control page is created over all the parameters of the device. And you can change them from the dedicated MaestroUnite application or from accessing the web page with a browser within your home system. Finally, the modification from the device itself is the most limited and with less functions.

BluOS

There are operating systems that are integrated inside the devices as BluOS or Volumio and others that manage them from the outside as Roon OS. The Roksan Caspian 4G Streaming Pre-Amplifier has BluOS integrated and at the same time it is Roon Ready, so you can manage it with the application that is more comfortable for you, although its functionalities are different. From Roon OS you can only manage the DAC and everything related, including the boot process from Stand-by.

With BlueOS you can manage everything, absolutely everything in the device. From the active audio line, be it analog or digital, to a multitude of streaming music platforms or your local music archive. Visually this BluOS is very attractive, with the presentation of the album art, playback status, encoding data and a long etc., etc., etc..

However, in the same way that it is very valid to play your music tracks or desires, it is not as valid as Roon OS, where the offer of new music or similar to your tastes is much superior.

If you want more technical information about this firmware-integrated operating system, you can visit this link about NBM-3i.

Equipment used in testing

Sound source:
»NuprimeDAC 9X
» Roon Nucleus One
» Qobuz Studio
Power amplification:
» Roksan Caspian 4G Streaming Pre-Amplifier
» Roksan Caspian 4G Power Amplifier
Loudspeakers:
» Diapason Adamantes V mod. 2025
Cables:
» Wires4Music in wiring:
    » Horus Hybrid RCA interconnection
    » Evolution in loudspeakers and mains
HiFi rack:
» Artesania Audio Exoteryc Rack PRO

Details to fall in love with

I don't go on. At the same time, I think you have all understood why I tell you that something more than a line preamp with built-in streaming.

Sound of the Roksan Caspian 4G preamp plus power amplifier combo

When faced with a system so versatile, so configurable and with so many options, I always feel vulnerable when it comes to defining its characteristics. Can a small mistake on my part make a big difference in my perception of it? The answer is difficult and I hope you understand my doubts as a desire to do my job well.

My readers have a high level of wisdom and knowledge in high fidelity and that is why my work is more approachable. Throughout my hours with different types of music and with very different sonority and characteristics between them, a seal of quality or sound profile prevails all the time: that mark of British sound that oozes from every pore. The way of understanding the music and its reproduction in the room is presented in all its most recognizable nuances. For me, the treatment given to the middle zone, which fills the whole room, is so recognizable that it cannot have any other stamp. It is so present in all its facets that it makes me feel in the UK. All the detail of the voices, mainly the female ones; the musical instruments, mainly the winds and the top end, to embellish the sonorous pieces like cherries on cakes. Those symphony orchestra cymbals, with three types: the Viennese, the French and the Germans. I have recognized the French ones with this combination, which are the lightest and with a sharper and crisper sound.

Visiting Paul McCartney when you're with equipment from "his house" is almost a reviewer's obligation. And I did. Understanding the environment in order to understand his music is an exercise in integration and appreciation of other people's work. "Wanderlust" in the 1993 remastered version is a gem that must be listened to with this system to discover that it is the piano and his voice. Mind you, there are sad, very sad versions, like one that appears on "Pure Paul McCartney" remix of 2015. I'm willing to withdraw the greeting and the word to anyone who likes this version. It sounds like a cat version.

If we pay attention to the track "Hope of deliverance" we understand, with a practical sound class, what the English sound is and in what parameters it moves. If necessary, we listen to it repeatedly and pay attention to the instruments and their harmonic combination to understand what they do and how they live it on the big island.

In "Asylum" by Supertramp, in his mythical concert in Paris, he summarizes all the music and its sound range in a magnificent way. With that characteristic tone that imprints its products with the authentic British DNA. Because at a time when the big audio companies have completely lost their original seal, in order to have a more international or neutral sound, to stay in a primordial idea and not to leave it has a special merit. From here my recognition.

Final conclusions

The modularity that gives you the Caspian 4G series allows you to build your own system according to your needs or taste. At the same time, it allows you to upgrade a previous music system with its Streaming Pre-Amp to our days. A real musical brain that manages the whole installation.

It maintains an elegant and neutral aesthetic, which allows it to look in any domestic space, without the need to be the source of attention. No visual elements that make it an overly flashy device. Many large screens attract attention on the first day and become annoying from the second.

A myriad of details that show, clearly, that it is a product designed and developed by music enthusiasts who at the same time manufacture them. None of them is a decisive element of purchase, although the sum of all of them can win the game.

From a reviewer's point of view, having a set of preamp plus power amplifier with a clear and identifiable sound personality is a gift.

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