Delicate performance

The way the system handles bass guitar demonstrates how it can both separate and combine elements: while the bass line coheres and drives the songs along perfectly, it would be easy for someone who was learning that instrument to listen exclusively to that part of the arrangement and in appreciable detail, too.

The same delicacy and openness is apparent on the beautifully recorded Renata Youngblood CD The Side Effects of Owning Skin, where the predominantly acoustic instruments exhibit rich timbre and substance to match the expressive and dynamic range of the young singer/songwriter's wonderfully communicative voice.

Impressing the enthusiasts

Continuing to play independent, minor label discs, the system also manages to display instrumental timbre with fine acuity when differentiating between the characters of the various electric and electro-acoustic guitars on the eponymous Nils Lofgren Band Live CD.

This double album is not spoiled by banks of studio electronics processing all the life and vitality out of the music. The Roksan pairing delights in such recordings, burying itself deeply in the wealth of musical detail they present. It seizes hold of timing subtleties just as eagerly and delivers the sort of performance that will satisfy both the music aficionado and the hi-fi enthusiast.

It's fascinating, having heard Lofgren talk about the problems that he and many other guitarists encounter reining in their enthusiasm and playing in strict time, to hear him getting 'out of the pocket' and pushing subtly ahead of the beat.

And in the track 'Message', the forceful and graphic way the K2 components reveal the contrast between the effects-laden guitar and the pristine cleanliness of the drum-kit and bass is breath-taking: the distortion and delay on the guitar muddying the leading edges and decay of notes while the drums, in particular, punch through the mix with absolute clarity leaving you in doubt about how or exactly when they are being hit.

Even the constant fizz of Timm Biery's ride cymbal reveals distinct pulses that show when it is being struck.

Understated CD player

And playing at front-row SPLs, the K2 amplifier maintains its grip on the Momentums, right across their extensive bandwidth, whether it's Wade Matthews' bass or Timm Biery's drums exercising the isobaric bass drivers or Lofgren's bouncing guitar harmonics working the tweeters.

Similarly the system allows the Naim CD Hands on Heart, of Tim Hugh playing a selection of works on his cello to reveal the wide range of expression, dynamics and tone that skilled hands and a bow can wrest from four strings.

This K2 impresses with the sheer breadth of tonal colour it reveals in his powerful, but understated playing, along with the realistic, appropriately scaled portrayal it creates of the piano accompaniment. Even the Wigmore hall applause sounds completely true-to-life!

In short, the Roksan Kandy K2 system delivers musical delicacy and drama in flawlessly balanced proportion… and for a very reasonable outlay. That it looks so polished and presentable is an added bonus.