Roksan Audio

Infobox Company
company_name = ROKSAN AUDIO LIMITED
company_
company_type = private limited company
foundation = August 9, 1995
location = Alperton, England, UK
key_people = Touraj Moghaddam & Tufan Hashemi
industry = Manufacture TV & radio, sound or video
products = Hi-fi equipment, Audio-visual equipment
homepage = http://www.roksan.co.uk
footnotes =

Roksan is a British manufacturer of high fidelity audio products for domestic use, based in Alperton, Middlesex, United Kingdom, was formed in 1985 by Touraj Moghaddam & Tufan Hashemi, graduates of University of London, Imperial College & Queen Mary College. Roksan's first product, an audio turntable named Xerxes, was swiftly acknowledged as a contender to the LP12 manufactured by Linn Products.

The name Roksan itself is derived from the name of the wife of Alexander the Great, Roxana who was a daughter of a Persian nobleman. This closely reflects the Persian heritage and roots of both Touraj and Tufan. Not surprisingly many of Roksan's product names have references to names of cities,places and famous people of Persia (now Iran).

Products

Turntables

The "Xerxes", named after the Persian king who "went around having a good time", has been acclaimed by a number of hi-fi reviewers as one of the best sounding record players in the world. This belt-drive turntable without a sprung sub-chassis challenged conventional suspension designs for build and sound quality. [Geoff Husband, [http://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/xerxes_e.html Xerxes X Turntable, Artemiz Arm] , TNT, November, 2002] It succeeded in finding favour with British "flat-earthers" who, up until then, had almost exclusively been devout followers of the Linn Sondek LP12.

The design was attacked the "high-ground" which had been "won" by suspended sub-chassis designs such as the LP12 by eschewing the spring isolation, which was then regarded as a major strength. Instead, it addressed the issues of Groove drag and lateral rigidity, the ultimate objective of which was to stabilise the relationship between cartridge stylus and the spinning record groove. Springs were not considered sufficiently rigid in the lateral plane, and permitted too much rotation of the suspended parts relative to the motor. [Art Dudley, [http://www.stereophile.com/artdudleylistening/107listen/index.html Listening #49 : Page 1 of 2] , Stereophile, Vol.30 No.1 January, 2007]

"Groove- or stylus-drag" is said to be one of the causes of the undesirable torsional modes in the turntable sub-chassis. While most other designs relied on inertia (through platter mass) to attenuate the problem, Roksan retained a light platter, but addressed drag by mounting the motor on its own bearing and restricted its long-range movement by a small spring, so that the revolving armature could still drive the system. Momentary increases in drag would be absorbed by the motor itself, and changes in platter acceleration were mitigated. "Xerxes" was named #53 "Hot Product by Stereophile in 2002. [John Atkinson, [http://www.stereophile.com/features/709/index3.html 40 years of Stereophile: The Hot 100 Products] , Stereophile, Page 4 of 7, Vol.25 No.11 November, 2002]

In 1991, Roksan launched the flagship "Touraj Moghaddam Signature" (TMS) turntable, named after the company’s chief designer and founder, offered in black piano lacquer finish, with mirror chrome details. In 2002, the TMS2 replaced the TMS turntable.

Loudspeakers

Roksan continued to make its mark in the radical designs of hi-fi products for the domestic consumer. Roksan was the first company ever to mechanically isolate the speaker tweeter from the bass unit using springs, in their "Darius" loudspeaker. This design concept has since been followed by other high end speaker manufacturers. Their "Hotcakes" loudspeakers, launched in a variety of lacquered colours, set a trend for the design and manufacture of lifestyle products in the specialist audio industry; with its wooden multiple plinths and Art Deco looks, the "ROK DP1" CD player became an immediate classic.

Other products

Roksan now has over 30 different products which include analogue and digital sources, electronics amplification and loudspeakers for audio as well as home cinema.

Milestones

*1985, introduction of the "Xerxes" turntable.
*1986, launched the "Darius" loudspeaker
*1987, introduced the "Artemiz" tonearm
*1987, their first moving coil phono cartridge, the "Shiraz", was launched.
*1988, Roksan's first lifestyle product, the "Hot Cake" loudspeakers introduced.
*1989, introduced their first phono amplifier, "Artaxerxes", fitted inside the "Xerxes", into which plugged directly the tonearm cable.
*1989, launched the budget "Radius" record player, "Tabriz arm" and "Corus" moving magnet cartridge.
*1990, first range of electronics, the "ROK S1" stereo amplifier and "M1" mono amplifier with matching pre amplifiers and power supplies.
*1991, Roksan's first CD player, the "ROK DP1" introduced
*1991, launched top of the range "TMS" record player.
*1992, Roksan replaced the "ROK DP1" with the "Attessa" CD playing system consisting of CD transport, DAC and power supply.
*1993, production of the new "Ojan 3" and "3X" loudspeakers started.
*1994, "Rokone" loudspeaker was released in a variety of real wood veneers.
*1994, "Attessa" and the "ROK" series of products were fully upgraded to DP3 and "ROK 1.5" versions.
*1995, the 3 plinth 10th anniversary "Xerxes.X", implementing design ideas from the "TMS", replaced the original "Xerxes" turntable.
*1998, the four piece "Caspian Audio System" (Integrated amplifier, CD player, and FM Tuner) was launched.
*1999, a digital surround sound processor (DSP), a five-channel AV amplifier and DVD player were added to the "Caspian system".
*2000, Introduction of the new "Kandy" line, lifestyle starter Audio System.
*2001, the "Caspian" phono amplifiers were released.
*2002, "TMS2" replaced the original "TMS".
*2003, release of the "Radius 5 turntable" and "Nima tonearm", and the Roksan set-up LP for record players.
*2003, "Kandy MKIII" system, ("Kandy" integrated amplifier, stereo amplifier, Three channel amplifier, CD player and AM/FM Tuner) released.
*2004, "Caspian M-series" (Pre amplifier, mono amplifier, integrated amplifier, stereo power amplifier, phono amplifier, CD player, FM tuner and dedicated Xerxes speed control).
*2004, released "ALTITUDE", its first ever recording of a collection of some very special music from some very talented musicians.
*2005, 20th anniversary "Xerxes.20" replaced the "Xerxes.X", incorporated the new improved "TMS2" bearing ball and the new Rmat-5 sub-plinth for record players; reference "R-series7" mono block, pre amplifier
*2007, "Platinum" pre amplifier and stereo amplifier
*2008, "TMS3" record player

References

External links

* [http://www.roksan.co.uk/ Official Roksan website]