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Short listen to stock Roksan Attessa TT and Rega Planar 3 with Exact MM

Rosewind

Rosewind

Lost in Translation
Today I went across Aarhus to pick up two vinyl records by Baxter Dury (New vinyl: Prince of Tears) and Ian Dury (S/H vinyl ex+: New Boots and Panties!!). Since I was just 2 kilometers away from the dealer, "Tape Connection mk. ii" (there was an mk i), I decided to drop in to have a look at their turntables. I knew that they had to return an Attessa TT because of a fault, so I hoped that they would have a new one in. Which they had, so I watched the unpacking of a white Roksan Attessa TT, which was very easy to set up.

We just needed to adjust the height of the arm rest, check the cartridge alignments and make sure that the anti-skate left enough clearance for the arm to finish playback. Then we listened to two songs from Baxter Dury's "Prince of Tears," - "Miami" and the title track. I know both tracks well from listening on Qobuz, and played through the onboard MM riaa of a Rega Brio and some Monitor Audio speakers, the sound was finely etched and clear - a bit on the dry side with distinct "T"s. Bass was as controlled as the rest of the sound spectrum. After listening to the two tracks, I asked if we could listen to "Miami" on a Rega P3. It was duly moved next to the Roksan Attessa and we listened to "Miami" all through.

The Rega P3 with Exact MM cartridge sounded rounder, fuller with more loosely defined bass. Still very much enjoyable. Then we returned to a 1 minute re-listen to the beginning of the track on the Roksan Attessa TT. The brief re-listen confirmed that I prefferred the Roksan Attessa's better defined and - to me - more neutral or faithful rendition of the track.

Before we listened, the salesman said that he was sure that a Rega P6 would be much, much better than the Roksan Attessa TT, and suggested the Rega P3 as a more even comparison. On the basis of what I heard, I am not sure I agree. This is my subjective impression.

We did not use the onboard Roksan Attessa MM Riaa.
 
As to the build quality of the Roksan Attessa TT, I have one comment:
The tonearm itself looks a bit cheap on close inspection but it makes nice music. However, the arm rest doesn't hold the arm - it simply doesn't fit (!!) - and the whole arm rest part of the tonearm wobbles and feels flimsy when you grab it. It ought to have been made more solid.
 
Considering that Attessa has what Roksan describe as a "built in high precision digitally synthesised AC signal generator with high current low distortion output", perhaps a fairer comparison could have been had with Neo on the Planar 3.
 
and the whole arm rest part of the tonearm wobbles ( Unipivots can wobble )

The Unipivot tonearm is lighter and simpler to use, thanks to a composite construction and glass jewel pivot
 
Rosewind said:
The brief re-listen confirmed that I prefferred the Roksan Attessa's better defined and - to me - more neutral or faithful rendition of the track.
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Interesting. I sometimes wonder what I would do if my faithful but ancient Xerxes gave up. Get it fixed, probably! Sound is still fabulous.

Tim
 
daytona600 said:
and the whole arm rest part of the tonearm wobbles ( Unipivots can wobble )

The Unipivot tonearm is lighter and simpler to use, thanks to a composite construction and glass jewel pivot
Click to expand...

I owned a Morch UP4 for 35 years and that tonearm was wobblier than the Attessa tonearm. It is not the tonearm itself I am concerned about. It handles well. It is a matter of how sturdy the arm rest extension feels when you touch it. Also the tonearm doesn’t fit down into the arm rest holder. It lies on top of the prongs.
 
per flemming said:
It is not clear to me which cartridge fitted on Atessa to compare with Exact on Rega ?

Maybe I missed something ?
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The supplied cart is a Roksan Dana (Eliptical Stylus on Alu Cant 6.4g - RRP £250), presumably it would have been that the shop used. HiFi World mag just reviewed the Atessa and also mentioned the lack of a secure arm clip as a negative.
 
I saw Baxter dury at a family friendly festival, he was on halfway through the afternoon. Within 5 minutes every family with children had hurriedly gotten up and decamped elsewhere. It’s amazing what a few well chosen expletives can do!
 
FWIW, I reviewed the Attessa last year and was very impressed with it, albeit with two small caveats - firstly the internal phono stage is very much a get-you-started unit only and it sounds far better if you use something else.

Also, the arm is quite a high mass design and I'm still not convinced the Dana cartridge is a really good match for it. A DL103 worked like a dream on it!
 
In Denmark the Attessa TT costs £140 more than the Rega P3. The Neo Psu will make the P3 more expensive than the Attessa.

The Attessa tonearm looks like a clever design but the Rega P3 tonearm gave a much more solid impression.
 
Amber Audio said:
The supplied cart is a Roksan Dana (Eliptical Stylus on Alu Cant 6.4g - RRP £250), presumably it would have been that the shop used. HiFi World mag just reviewed the Atessa and also mentioned the lack of a secure arm clip as a negative.
Click to expand...

Roksan Dana...
Is that based on a Audio technica ?
 
Beobloke said:
FWIW, I reviewed the Attessa last year and was very impressed with it, albeit with two small caveats - firstly the internal phono stage is very much a get-you-started unit only and it sounds far better if you use something else.

Also, the arm is quite a high mass design and I'm still not convinced the Dana cartridge is a really good match for it. A DL103 worked like a dream on it!
Click to expand...
I was just reading that review, Adam. Nice work!

The lack of a ground terminal seems a shocking omission, especially so, with an internal phono stage that can be bypassed via switch. Perhaps Roksan assumed that the tonearm's ABS construction would somehow circumvent any potential issues.
 
Rosewind said:
In Denmark the Attessa TT costs £140 more than the Rega P3.
Click to expand...

Never seen the Attessa in flesh but noticed its on sale now at half price, at least for those lucky UK customers, not seen it in EU.

Maybe a hint they have a revised deck upcoming, above comments seem to point out the weak issues very well.
 
Nice track selection. I seen him live in Nottingham UK supporting noel Gallagher's HFB. The set was literally the prince of tears. At the start I was WTF is this but I got the CD the day after.

"I'm a shipping tycoon"
 
pfbaat said:
Never seen the Attessa in flesh but noticed its on sale now at half price, at least for those lucky UK customers, not seen it in EU.

Maybe a hint they have a revised deck upcoming, above comments seem to point out the weak issues very well.
Click to expand...
Available for £399 at the Richer Sounds!
 
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