Roksan Attessa is the best amp you can buy in 2025/ vs (Arcam, Musical Fidelity, Audiolab...)

I know I know...

That is a bold title isn't it. Well I am here to try to explain that title, and to lay out my reasoning and proof for that.

Explaining the title, criteria and competition

What I will do is I will try to justify the value of this device, as a competitive piece against similar devices in this price range. And how much do you actually get with this device value-wise, and that in broad spectrum of devices this lays at cross section of value per pound.

So this is not a best amp sonically you can buy, but a best value amp you can buy that you will get as much as sonics, as much you have paid.

I will try to tackle this: Value, Sonics, Versatility and Build Quality.

 Build Quality/Design/Features/Inputs and Outputs/DAC

And I think let’s look at this device, it comes in black and silver. And personally I prefer silver, and to be honest I kinda hated this design at first. It was too modern, too industrial, and the volume indicators are being displayed with these lines rather than numbers. But when I started to interact with this device in shop, and when I actually got to feel it, and touch it, and see all the interface elements glowing up nicely.

I started kinda to like this device. The volume knob had this really smooth operation to it, it is not a large device, the color indicators are actually adjustable to disappear after some time, so not intrusive at all.

The sharp angles, the OLED screen that seamlessly goes from one end to other, feels like there has been a lot of thought being put into designing this device. Now I think this with my Marantz is my favourite looking device I owned.

And the remote follows the same design language, of industrial brushed metal. It is nice, maybe a bit too small.

And let me tell you I also in store tried Caspian, the Attessa's older brother, and that device is perfect. That clicky sound when you rotate the volume knob and that texture under your fingers is so good.

So yeah I really enjoy the looks, and that was certainly one of the points that I considered when I was thinking what device to purchase, as it is for review, but also it is supposed to be a looking piece in my room.

The back of device is not the most spectacular, but it has enough of inputs and outputs to satisfy many people. There is a Moving Magnet phono, two analog inputs, one pre and sub out, two digital optical and coaxial inputs to use device's DAC and 12v trigger and Bluetooth.

As I said nothing special, but more than enough.

Now few words on DAC, it is there and it is okay. But this is nothing new, in this price range of integrated amps, DACs are always serviceable and okay, they never like super impress or something.

But it can decode 24bit audio via optical 96khz and coaxial 192khz. Which is great, so that your 24bit Flacs can be played through this device.

The same thing can be said for Moving Magnet phono, it is good. I like it, it helped my turntable to show off details and soundstages. But nothing like my own personally dedicated phono preamp that truly unlocked my turntables. But as all-in-one with DAC and phono they all do a great job, of being all-in-one and enhancing your transports or turntables. They were as good as I expected.

Inside we have A/B amplification. And this is truly a strong point of this device. As you get 80 W in 8ohms and 130W in 4ohms. Just great juice for your speakers. A power amplifier has two main sections that interact with each other – yet have quite different characteristics. One increases the voltage of the signal up to the required level to drive the speaker, and the other increases the current to drive a speaker’s low impedance.

They also remained very stable, having clean signal with none or very little distortion.

Sonic Signature

And that is a good segue into sonic character of this device. It is a balanced sonic signature, it will have its deeps and highs in bass and treble, but not a noticeable V curve here.

Which is great, as this amp gives very masculine, firm and commanding sound. That is if there is one thing that kinda curves higher it is a bass. As I was shocked how commanding and present the bass output is.

And I like that as it gives music more grounding but also a galloping, pulsing quality. It is great for rock, and electronic music. And its transparency into showing listeners a space between the notes, but also even-handedly present details. Is how I will best explain the sound character, before going into details.

Bass

And let’s start with aforementioned highlight for me, and that is Bass.

It gives such a great foundation for sound. Great thing about bass is how it helps all frequencies seem better, how it helps soundstage seem wider, it makes synths seem like encompassing, and rhythm to have this pulsing quality.

I noticed that kick drum to be really alive, and with proper music it has so much insight in property and material of instruments, that is your neutral firm sound.

And if you like synth pop from 80s, like Depeche Mode, Talk Talk, the Human League or that that have accents in lot of texture and layering in music. Oh yes this is the one, all that Vangelis deep ambient textures are going to seem big and just showering you with sonics.

While not smooth and big as a warm amps like Denon or Marantz, it still does a great job into telling stories and exposing details and texture, maybe more than those warm amps.

Especially how amp allows bass to have its space and lane.

Listening Example: Dire Straits - Tunnel of Love

The song Tunnel of Love is a great example. To me Dire Straits are produced hit and miss, but you cannot tell me that you can not feel passion and playing of these people, and the song while not beaming with details in top end that much. It had a great passion into giving energy from top down. And when the song falls into piano softer parts, and even just a percussions part of song, it still holds its composure.

The vocals were so firm and present in the middle, and had weight and presence. And when song returns to pulsing rock song it again forces you to tap your hands and feet. While you as listener are in absolute control of hearing and understanding the song’s fine details and just enjoy the ride. And when that cymbal hits you really feel it.

Mids

And while I was surprised how well and good is Bass, one thing which I expected to be good is here is actually mids and all surrounding good mids.

The vocals were so firm, and present in the middle. It truly helped all my speakers that I tested this with, that includes speakers from Monitor Audio, Dali, Triangle, Wharfedale and little bit Fyne Audio.

I wouldn’t call it the richest in details, like there is not that super premium feeling to it. And when I say there is no super premium feeling to it, I don’t mean like it is garbage it is great, just some amps do this better.

But the presentation of darkness of background, instrument sounding very present and big on soundstage. Vocals have this deep detailed sound to it, and yet so uncluttered from others makes this such a great amp for variety of listen. And is beautiful.

It is well covered by that bass we discussed already, and sonic scapes were really mature, it is that sound you can say it is there for you it will understand, maybe not do something groundbreaking but will understand.

It is not sound that will create this forward presentation, or very intimate close-to-you performance of music, but it is also not a pulled back reserved. It lacks a bit that passion and richness of just flourishing with dynamics and details. But unless you experienced large variety of amps, you might not miss that. And also the color tonality was great, and real.

Soundstage was good, not the most airy and encompassing in this class. But really good, with good synergy and speakers that open a lot, I don’t see why it would not create amazing soundscapes.

Listening Examples - Hubert Sumlin - Blues Guitar boss

I listened to some Blues guitar boss for this, and it bought me. It thoroughly bought me to buy this amp. And why you ask, while not an acoustic music, it does have a lot of space between timings and instruments. And Blues itself is always played severely downtuned, through bluesy amps, so it does by itself carry a lot of gravitas.

And that space, how it felt transparent and clear, the voice of Sublin, how much it moved, I was just yes this is right thing to do.

Listening Example - Flaming Lips - A Spoonful weighs a Ton

The other thing might not be an audiophile favorite, but I use this album to test how does amp deal with a lot of layering, and complexity in production. And the record is Flaming Lips The Soft Bulletin, and it did a great job to remain composed in this chaos, and to have enough of clarity and separation for me to hear, voices, synths, drums, guitar, bass all of them clashing, but still vivid enough for me to track on soundstage.

Listening Example - Fish - Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors

And the last thing is my big surprise from past year, and that is Fish Vigil in the Wilderness of Mirrors. Now this is not an album from 2024, but it was remixed and remastered, but the album is from 1990. Now I love remasters, there are some awful like Berlin Trilogy of David Bowie from 1990. But this shocked me how album instantly became better by just properly mixing and mastering it.

It is a fantastic job, and just shows how important the quality production and mastering is for HIFI listening. It is also a record that you can test bass, mids and treble as it is very versatile prog rock record. But to me it is important to feel emotion of this record, but what caught me by surprise is how beautifully I could hear everything from bass, which was amazingly good, to emotions of Fish vocals, to every piano, guitar and bass. Just amazing clarity but yet remains interesting and emotional. It lacked a bit punch and showmanship but later on that.

Treble

And we come to last part of me explaining the sound quality, and that is treble. And there is not much to say here, if for example you come from Rega Elex and expect punchy, very dynamically open sound, you might be a bit disappointed. As treble goes it is a bit reserved, it is good, it opens nicely, but not best in class.

Just don’t have too much expectations that you will hear every texture and detail in percussions, guitar solos, pianos and violins. But it does a good job of handling and shaving if it goes too high, giving more grounded feel to them. It is not a bad thing for everyone, lot of systems struggle with pianos and violins, if they are too brightly mixed and presented.

Some issues and Problems

But let’s speak what I personally did not like. I think it is 2025 and we need in amps above 1000 euros to start seeing XLR input. Chinese brands are delivering this, and so should Western ones as well. The only amp that does deliver this in this price range is Audiolab 8300. But definitely it should be given XLR.

Second thing is volume. So when you start the amp it will automatically lower the volume, and you have to raise it to preferred loudness. So if you have a perfect spot, a 11 o’clock knob rotation, forget about it. You will always have to raise the volume when starting an amp.

And I am not still bought for lines, to show volume over numbers. I think they look cool, but would still prefer numbers, because my brain has already been adjusted to numbers to recognize loudness of volume. Even though I really love pictograms, and icons on panel it looks really good and easy to see. But you cannot manually switch them, to switch source for example you need remote always. If you lose remote, I honestly don’t know how you would change sources. That could be an issue.

And there are some issues in sonic presentation, which I already spoke about in sound quality, but that will be subjective from listener to listener.

Synergy and Pairing suggestions

There should not be a problem, pairing this with other gear. Its more neutral balanced nature will work well with many different gears. It is one of those amps that will allow all the special thing, all the talent of your other gear to shine through.

So if your speakers are bright, warm or neutral it will do a fine job. Maybe the worst synergy is with more neutral speakers, as it will lack excitement a bit.

I think great partners are Monitor Audio Silver 100 or Gold 50, as it is a bit bright, but also have a size and big bass reflex for more attackier bass. So all the talents will shine through this amp, or something like Triangle Comete 40th edition, which have aluminum tweeter, and two bass reflex holes. So you know my review not such a great mids, a bit amazing bass and treble. This will allow that kind of gear to shine.

But I loved mostly this amp with Dalis, specifically with Menuet and Rubicon. It’s lush and rich mids were complementing perfectly a bit reserved mids of Attessa. And it’s a bit more masculine sound added great to a bit shy bass of Dalis. So it was a perfect synergy and harmony.

So bright and warm speakers are a great idea, neutral good but a bit less flair and excitement there.

Alternatives

I will go now through my second pick, close alternative and great cheap alternative. The reviews for these devices are going to be in link of video description.

Great Cheap Alternative - Advanced Paris x-i75

First great cheap alternative is definitely Advance Paris x-i75. This 650-700 euros 110w in 4 ohms amp is super amazing. It is much cheaper than Attessa, and while it does not have power, details, clarity of Attessa, it brings amazing warm sound. With great bass, smooth presentation imaging and really a lot power in this price range. It delivers incredible value, it has decent DAC, great phono stage, Bluetooth... I highly recommend that you guys go and check it out.

I was amazed that this sound came out from the amp in this price range. And it looks cool, to me. If you want class A/B and in this price range there is this amp that you have to check out. It is just great value.

Close Alternative - Musical Fidelity M3si

Honorable mention, is definitely Musical Fidelity M3si. Oh yes 11 years in and this amp still delivers. It just shows that we definitely need M3si 2nd gen or something. To me Sound of Musical Fidelity and Roksan is similar in sonic character. Both are neutral, with emphasis on bass and grounded sound. But I just think there are few things that goes in favor of Roksan, and that is a better DAC, better phono stage, more clarity and precision in tonality. Roksan unravels more details, while giving more space around instruments.

Musical Fidelity is still mighty fine, they are similar in power, and if you find it on some discounts it is a great great catch. As it does everything so good, it is just that I find Roksan a bit better in all corners, not much better but better.

Second Pick - Arcam A15

To me closest alternative is Arcam A15. Now if you choose Arcam over Roksan it all great, I would not have any issues as I think they are super close in quality, power, price everything. Honestly you should consider design here we are that close, Attessa comes in black and white, while Arcam only in black. Arcam is a bigger box, with these big numbers on display etc. It has this cool yellow accents which I really like.

But sound wise there are things that are different. And this is a moment where I can consider one or other, depending on my mood and music I listen. I feel that Arcam can extract more details in top end, and can also open more in top end. It also creates a perception of larger soundstage.

But as both of them being on a more balanced side of things, they both have nice transparency and background. But this is where Roksan takes points, the clarity of vocals and just blackness of background is in favor of Roksan, also the texture and insight in production is better with Roksan. Again very close to Arcam, but this is better.

Arcam also has this a bit darkness to him, but Roksan again had more push and scope of bass. Just showing and opening more and having more that pulsing, grounded feeling to it.

So I think they are both fantastic amps, but my prize goes to Roksan only because I just enjoyed listening music with it a bit more. A bit more, insight, clarity and presence was that which tipped the scale in Roksan’s direction. Even though, who knows maybe for you it is Arcam that delivers better sound, if you like more drive and punch. Just try them both, and choose which one is more for you.

Conclusion/More Alternatives

So we have come to the end of this long review, is this an end game amp for me? No, I think one of the amps I mentioned in this review are end game. I said the cheapest end game amp is certainly Musical Fidelity M5si, but personally I gravitate toward Primare and Hegel. Does this amp do everything best in its class? No. It does not. Audiolab 7000a for example does more expensive and larger, and richer soundstages. Rega Elex is a monster in detail extraction. Unfortunately I have not heard Cambridge Audio new 81, so I leave that opinion for some future time.

Marantz model 50, Denon PMA 1700 have bigger, richer bass and smooth sound, and are generally great for bright speakers. But this is the one which I found that value corresponds to bring a lot of audiophile goodies in package that I like in great value. It has most of checkboxes crossed, and those that it does not it does good.

It is a very firm, very focused mature sound. That brings best of all instruments, making listening music an enjoyable experience that feeds you enough information, that are greatly spaced out and vivid on soundstage. A great and muscular backdrop of detailed bass, with enough drive to put some gas in the fuel of excitement.

I truly recommend this, and this might not be your best this year, but it is mine. And I would love to hear your opinions, maybe someone will inspire me to go to listen some new amp, and who knows buy it and review it.

All the best guys,

Keep daydreaming

And see you on the next video.

✅ Pros

⚙️ Build Quality & Design

• Sleek, modern design in black or silver.

• High-quality volume knob with smooth operation.

• Attractive OLED display and discreet interface.

• Industrial brushed-metal remote matches design.

• Compact form factor with thoughtful design language.

🔌 Features & Connectivity

• Includes MM phono input, DAC, Bluetooth, analog and digital inputs, sub/pre-out.

• 80W into 8 ohms / 130W into 4 ohms—powerful for its size and price.

• Built-in DAC supports 24-bit/96kHz (optical) and 192kHz (coaxial).

• Built-in phono stage performs well enough for casual vinyl listeners.

• A/B amplification provides stability and low distortion.

🎵 Sound Quality

• Balanced sonic signature—not too warm or too bright.

• Excellent bass: strong, punchy, grounded, and rhythmically engaging.

• Good midrange: vocals are firm, detailed, and well-positioned.

• Transparent presentation with good layering and spacing between instruments.

• Handles complex, layered music (like Flaming Lips or Fish) with composure.

• Soundstage is solid with decent width and instrument separation.

• Pairs well with a wide range of speakers—especially warm or bright models (e.g. Dali, Monitor Audio, Triangle).

💰 Value

• Described as possibly best value-per-pound amp in its class.

• Offers solid sonic and feature performance for the price.

• Versatile enough to satisfy beginners and seasoned audiophiles on a budget.

❌ Cons

🔈 Sound Limitations

• Treble is a bit reserved—lacks the airiness and sparkle of higher-end amps.

• Not the richest in micro-detail or dynamics compared to amps like Rega Elex or Audiolab 7000A.

• Lacks some excitement or “flair” with neutral speakers.

• Not a forward or intimate sound presentation—some may find it emotionally restrained.

  
  

🧩 Features & UX Drawbacks

• No XLR balanced inputs, which is expected at this price in 2025.

• Volume resets every time the unit powers on—you must manually readjust.

• Volume display uses lines instead of numbers—may confuse users used to numerical levels.

• Requires remote to switch inputs—no manual override on the unit.

• Remote is a bit too small.