cullypants
New member
The old Caspian gear had a long run and a lot of goodwill behind it, so a fourth generation was always going to get read closely. The pairing is a streaming preamplifier at $4,500 and a power amplifier at $3,750, with an integrated sitting underneath at $5,000 with the streaming module or $3,750 without it. No CD player, no standalone streamer in the range yet, which for a brand with that particular history is a bit of a gap.
Streaming comes from BluOS, capped at 24-bit/192kHz PCM, and there is no DSD playback at all. That last one is going to annoy a specific slice of buyers and be completely irrelevant to everyone else. What bothers me more is the principle: you are paying $4,500 for a preamplifier whose network capability is decided by a module Roksan does not control, and other BluOS products do handle DSD. So it is not a platform limit, it is an implementation one, and it could presumably be fixed and might never be.
The review reads warm on the amplification and the phono stage, and distinctly cooler on the streaming and DAC side. That is a familiar pattern with built-in streamers at this level, and it points at the obvious move. Buy the amplification, feed it from whatever source you actually want, and let the digital front end be something you can replace in four years when it is dated. The amplifier will still be fine then.
Anyone running the previous generation Caspian? Curious whether the new one is a real step forward on sound or mostly a features and connectivity refresh with a modern chassis.
Streaming comes from BluOS, capped at 24-bit/192kHz PCM, and there is no DSD playback at all. That last one is going to annoy a specific slice of buyers and be completely irrelevant to everyone else. What bothers me more is the principle: you are paying $4,500 for a preamplifier whose network capability is decided by a module Roksan does not control, and other BluOS products do handle DSD. So it is not a platform limit, it is an implementation one, and it could presumably be fixed and might never be.
The review reads warm on the amplification and the phono stage, and distinctly cooler on the streaming and DAC side. That is a familiar pattern with built-in streamers at this level, and it points at the obvious move. Buy the amplification, feed it from whatever source you actually want, and let the digital front end be something you can replace in four years when it is dated. The amplifier will still be fine then.
Anyone running the previous generation Caspian? Curious whether the new one is a real step forward on sound or mostly a features and connectivity refresh with a modern chassis.
