Roksan Kandy 2 amplifier for a turntable based system?

[peter312]

I am looking to set up a turntable based system in my home office and would appreciate some feedback and thoughts.

I have not bought any equipment yet, but the turntable will likely be a Pro-ject or Rega up to about £400 or so. I also have yet to decide on speakers, but they will need to be smaller stand, shelf or wall mounted.

I seen a Roksan Kandy 2 amplifier at a really good price and would appreciate peoples thoughts on it.

I mostly listen to 70's and 80's pop (e.g. ELO, Queen, Fleetwood Mac, Ultravox) and classical music (although not opera).

Many thanks

 

[Tel]

For an office system it will probably be fine, it has a phono stage built in and will run any speakers you are likely to put in an office.

If the price is right you could do a lot worse.

I would be careful what speakers you use though, Roksan can sound pretty harsh when badly partnered.

 

[peter312]

Thanks for your reply, Kevin

 

[smegger68]

Yup. The Kandy 2 can be rather ear piercing to say the least. Warm speakers a must!

 

[budgetblown]

Totally agree with James. I kept my Kandy amp for... a month. If you don't have slushy speakers, it'll give you a right headache. Ruarks tend to work well with them...

 

[KeithL]

The Kandy must be the complete opposite to my Caspian MK2 (not M2). My Caspian is smooth and detailed without a hint of harshness.

 

[budgetblown]

The Caspian is a bit of a step up in price, I would hope there's an improvement! The Kandy CD was a good transport and player for the money, but the amp? Never again.

 

[smegger68]

Yeah, The Caspian is very different tonally to the Kandy. I remember listening to a Caspian many years ago and rather liking it. Didn't have the cash at the time so when the Kandy range came out I set my sights at one of those. Eventually had the money around the time the Kandy 2 was new to market and went for a listen. Lovely detailed sound but it seemed to echo round inside your head and became tiring very quickly. I went with an Exposure amp instead.

A mate bought a Kandy 3 a few years later and it was better than the 2 but still quite bright overall. He had some huge Dali Ikon 6 speakers on the end of it and there seemed to be very little in the way of bass for some reason. Very much an amp to audition first!