Roksan Audio are constantly striving to push the boundaries of high-fidelity audio. Their established product ranges of Kandy, Caspian and Oxygene products aim to satisfy a variety of music tastes, budgets and technical requirements; and each is highly regarded in its own category. Now the London-based company are planning to introduce an exciting new assortment to their portfolio.
The blak series is being introduced as an entirely new design for Roksan – both in terms of sound performance and visual appeal. Featuring a robust, industrial design that still manages to look modern and elegant; the blak series is the audiophile solution for those seeking superlative performance and features within a ‘statement product’ aesthetic, but without the esoteric high-end audio price tag.
Handmade in the UK and at a specialised facility in Germany, the range is initially launching with an integrated amplifier and a CD player. These will be followed over time by further audiophile solutions to create a flexible and comprehensive range of products that will offer the same performance-for-cost ratio that Roksan are highly renowned for. With thirty years of iconic products and enviable experiences before them, Roksan are sure to quickly make blak a new must-audition range for any high-end audiophile.
Like the K3 range before it, all blak products will be available in three stylish finishes – Anthracite, Charcoal and Opium – and all will be supplied with a stylish and intuitive system remote.
blak Integrated Amplifier
The blak Integrated Amplifier combines a high-end amplifier with a highly-specified USB DAC, a Bluetooth receiver and a dedicated headphone amplifier; all in one sleek chassis. The innovative, technically advanced internal design allows it to perform superlatively at all of these tasks without breaking a sweat.
The amplifier section of the blak Integrated Amplifier uses handselected audiophile components throughout its circuitry, including highquality relays that ensure an accurate performance regardless of the selected input. The chosen transformers are also expertly tuned to ensure the best possible sound quality and current power available. This sophisticated internal design allows the amplifier to deliver a weighty > 150W (8Ω) output, while retaining the detail and soundstaging demanded by audiophiles.
The blak Integrated Amplifier boasts sufficient inputs to cater for almost any high-end audio system. Alongside three RCA pairs, there’s also a balanced XLR pair input for superior source devices. Roksan have also transferred their expansive knowledge of analogue audio to integrate a premium Moving Magnet-compatible phono stage inside. However, where the blak shows real versatility is in the way it accommodates digital audio sources.
For ease of use, the blak Integrated Amplifier supports wireless music playback via its built-in aptX® Bluetooth module. This allows for up-to CD-quality wireless streaming from compatible laptops and smart devices. For more advanced digital media, the amplifier also boasts a USB (Type-B) digital input for playback from a computer or laptop. The advanced DAC design allows for playback of audio files up to 24-bit/192kHz (PCM) or DSD128, offering an exceptional high-resolution performance. Finally, whereas many other products include headphone inputs as an “extra”, Roksan have gone one step further with blak. Here the headphone amplifier sits within its own dedicated section, with an independent power supply and toggle switch. So now if listening through speakers is not an option, you don’t have to suffer with inferior sound or source a dedicated headphone amplifier. By turning the headphone switch on, the blak transforms itself into a dedicated headphone amplifier – switching off the speaker outputs and dedicating all resources to driving the connected headphones as well as possible.
Operation of the blak Integrated Amplifier is effortlessly simple either via the supplied system remote or through the front panel. The large, clear to read (yet dimmable) LED display shows the selected input and the smooth, over-sized volume knob has a stylish visual indicator around its circumference to indicate the volume level.
The blak Integrated Amplifier is a high-performing and musically involving audio device, which caters to the needs of most audio enthusiasts. The sophisticated internal design allows it to deliver ample power, with plenty of headroom to ensure accurate detail when it’s driven. Bass is quick, deep and exceptionally tight, ensuring a sense of speed and immediacy, which is combined with an ultraspacious and detailed midrange and treble. The blak effectively combines the scale and dynamics of the coveted K3 range with the musicality and refinement of M2, all in one higher end package.
SRP £2,750.00
The blak Integrated Amplifier is available now in Anthracite, Charcoal or Opium finish.
blak CD Player
Roksan have a long and proud history of producing some of the world’s leading CD players. The M2 CD Player is a multi-award winner, as are previous incarnations of the Kandy range. With blak, Roksan have focused all of their accumulated experience into a new CD player that performs at a whole new level.
Housed within the same chassis-type as the integrated amplifier, the blak CD Player delivers a firstclass audio performance and effortless ease of-use. Internally the blak CD Player uses a totally isolated high-performance disc mechanism to eliminate vibration. So in partnership with the blak series’ solid, anti-resonant chassis all the necessary detail for a high-end performance is retrieved from the playing disc. Once extracted from the disc, the digital signal is managed by an audiophile standard DAC chip-set for bit-perfect conversion and an advanced digital clock for optimal performance.
Connecting the blak CD Player to a wider system is simple. For connecting to an external DAC there are three digital outputs available (S/PDIF, Optical or AES/EBU), or for connecting straight to an amplifier – like the blak Integrated Amplifier – there’s the choice of either unbalanced RCA or balanced XLR outputs. Once connected, the whole player is controlled easily with the supplied system remote or via the front panel; additional handy information is displayed on the dimmable LED display during playback.
The blak CD Player is a true audiophile CD player, which puts audio performance first. The result is a device that delivers micro-details and a depth of soundstage that defies belief. Add to that the exceptional warmth and musicality of the overall tone and you have a device that communicates directly with the listener like only the best equipment in the world can.
SRP £2,500.00
The blak CD Player is available now in Anthracite, Charcoal or Opium finish.
Technical Information
blak Integrated Amplifier
Inputs: 3 x RCA (pair)
1 x XLR (pair)
1 x MM Phono RCA (pair)
1 x aptX® Bluetooth (wireless)
1 x USB Type-B
Phono Stage: MM Input
Gain: 76.75dB @ 1kHz
Impedance: 47kΩ
Capacitance: 150pF
Line-Level Input Impedance: 24kΩ (XLR)
40kΩ (RCA)
Gain (at 1kHz, 8Ω): 37dB
THD: (at 1W, 8Ω, 5kHz): <0.02%
THD: (at 12W, 8Ω, 5kHz): <0.035%
Power Output (at 1kHz): 150W (8Ω)
230W (4Ω)
Frequency Response (at -3dB, 8Ω, 12W): <20Hz – >80kHz
Channel Balance (at 1kHz, 8Ω): Better than 0.3dB
Cross-Talk (at 1kHz, 8Ω): <-104dB
Signal-Noise Ratio (at 1kHz, 8Ω): >76dB
blak CD Player
Outputs: 3 x Digital (Coaxial, Optical, XLR)
2 x Analogue Pairs (RCA or XLR)
Peak Output: 2.5V
THD (at 1kHz, 0dB): <0.001%
Linearity at 1kHz: >89dB
Jitter: <135ps
Signal-Noise Ratio (A-Weighted): >108dB
Stop-band rejection: >100dB
