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4/17/08

New Sandbags 32 inch custom sand fill-able stand for the Sampan FTL and Skiff

3/6/08
Coming:

The Sampan-DTL

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2/9/08

Some comments from an owner of the Enterprise:

What is startling is how neutral and revealing the speakers are. As an illustration of this point, I had been struggling with choosing between three tonearm cables and two phono stages. With the Enterprises in the system their differences were easily discerned, the shortcomings of the losers being clearly revealed. The system they are in is: Allaerts MCI MkII cartridge, Morch DP-6 tonearm, Merrill Heirloom turntable with Anniversary Ringmat, tonearm cable: solid-core single-stranded pure silver, preamp Klimo Merlin and Argo both heavily modified by Roger Sheker of Audience, amplifier Border Patrol SE300B with cryo'ed transformers, upgraded caps, and Ko-On stepped attenuator, Audience Au24 speaker cables with silver banana plugs, and a McIntosh MR71 FM tuner upgraded by Richard Modafferi. I tried many different CD players but I just can't listen to CD's - there is no emotional connection of digits to music. My room is large - about 15x20 with 9 foot ceilings. If I play the speakers very loudly I can tell that they have small drivers and they start to get a little congested, but at normal human listening levels they are very satisfying with the 10 beautiful watts I have to give them. Anyway, I'm a happy customer - these are even better than I expected!
Gene S. (New York)

More comments from the same owner:
The overall presentation of the Enterprises is that they truly "disappear" in the best sense of the word. From the shimmery strings, triangles, and cymbals to the slam of the kettle drums the sound does not appear to come from the speakers or drivers themselves, but to emanate from a seamless soundstage. Voice reproduction is beautiful - full-bodied yet realistic, without any graininess or false "edge" to it. I listen to a lot of choral and operatic stuff, besides chamber and orchestral music. Vocal timbres on my favorite-the Karajan La Boheme with Pavarotti and Freni, are perfectly rendered, as is the huge soundstage. On LP's of Fiedler and the Boston Pops, the ambience of the hall as well as the robustness of the brass and slam of the percussion are the best I have heard them rendered. I can't say enough positive about the Enterprises - they just sound "right".

As they used to say on Star Trek, Live Long and Prosper!
Gene S. (New York)

1/2008

The Role Audio Sampan FTL faces off with the Bose Companion II Series 2
"The Sampan FTLs reveal what the Bose hides and then some. They will play at ridiculously high volumes without strain and plumb the low frequency depths in a way that makes their tiny footprint nothing short of unbelievable.

More than that, the Sampan FTLs breathe life into music the way a music lovers speaker should. You can again hear subtle differences in recordings that were lost with the Bose....

Do the Role Audio Sampan FTLs win the title of world’s greatest computer speaker? I can only say that I have yet to hear better. ...There’s no way I can convey just how well these tiny speakers play. ...They are truly some of the most amazing dynamic speakers that I have ever used. You really owe to yourself to try a pair. If you’re like me, you’ll find yourself listening to them more than you ever imagined and in far larger rooms than you might believe possible."

Fall 2007
Russ Gates of Stereo Mojo reviews the Kayak

"I sat at near ear level with the speakers, 9 feet away. Speakers were placed 8 feet apart, with no toe in. That’s when it happened. That’s when the magic happened. It’s funny, I hear a lot of people talking about how speakers disappeared when they started listening, and Role Audio Kayak did just that - and more. It wasn’t just the speakers that seemed to vanish, I vanished - everything seemed to vanish. There was only the music, and that friend is a real treat."

"Role Audio has done the acoustic suspension design right on the Kayak. I like sealed boxes (done right). You trade off a bit in the efficiency, but the natural 6db per octave roll off on the bottom gives you ‘more’ useable bottom end. They could have ported it for a little more thump and made it a tad easier to drive – but it would lose a lot if it’s character with the typical ported ‘waterfall’ drop at the tuning point".

"Bass is fast and articulate... There is a decent amount of dynamic range..."

"Male and Female vocals shine, and do I mean shine."

"Fiona Apple’s ‘Criminal’ off the Tidal CD sounds like it was made to be listened to on the Kayak. Subtleties on the drum kit, the smacking of her lips as she is forming words – a very involving listening experience to say the least. The voicing is fantastic – the timber and tonal balance was very natural and real."

"The soundstage had good width AND depth, and the over image was very impressive. The Kayak doesn’t sound like a small speaker, but still retains that point source persona. A great CD for soundstage, and more importantly imaging and placement within that soundstage is the undeniable greatness of Creedence Clearwater Revival – especially on limited edition K2 20Bit Super Coding. Fogerty was in the room. So was his Rickenbacker 325. I found myself hearing the tube amps – not mine, but his. There was a lot of air and very good layering."

"The Kayak is one of the most relaxed, non fatiguing speakers I’ve ever heard."

Moreover, their measurements showed that the frequency response of the Kayak was +/- 2 dB from 200 Hz to 20,000 kHz, a testament to the Kayak's neutrality.

The Kayak gets compared to the the RAW HT-2 ???
And although the Raw HT-2 has two 4.5 inch woofers and twin ports and is five (5) times larger than the Kayak, the editor notes, "Everyone thought the Kayak’s virtues, other than the lack of bass and weight, were better than the HT-2’s."

9/12/2007

The Windjammer and Sampan are now available in beautiful all-wood Russian white baltic birch plywood and red birch cabinets.

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9/1/2007

The Sampan wins Enjoythemusic.com Best of 2007 Award

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NSM 15EXP Subwoofer gets rave review

NSM 15EXP Sub
(click for more information)

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8/1/2007

In the latest review the Sampan FTLs go up against the Magnepan 1.6QR speakers. The reviewers conclusion?

The Sampan FTLs, "...are absolute champs when it comes to soundstage portrayal, tonal accuracy, and coherence from top to bottom and musicality. I even found myself reconsidering my own listening preferences and questioning the performance of my Magnepans in several areas when compared to the Sampan FTL (in particular overall musicality, soundstage depth and micro detail). Consider it strong praise indeed for these little overachievers."
(Craig Johnson in the August 2008 issue of Affordable$$Audio)

7/23/07

The Sampan is now available in beautiful all wood cabinet made from white Baltic birch plywood (front, top, and back panels) and red birch real veneer covered MDF (side panels).

Sampan all-wood

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6/11/07
Sampan FTL available in white Baltic birch plywood, Trends Amp.
 

The Sampan FTL is now available in Russian white Baltic birch plywood cabinets. White Baltic birch is highly regarded for its excellent sonic and asthetic qualities. This is partly because it is a very dense and rigid plywood, although this makes it difficult to work with. The price for this optional all-wood white birch plywood finish is $1195 per pair. 

A few days ago I received a Trends amp from  Hifi Logic. I have done some casual listening, using the Trends amp to drive the Sampan FTL, the Sampan and the Enterprise. The sound? Magical. The Trends amp is unbelievably good. Whereas the other digital amps I have heard tend to sound, well, digital, the Trends amp sounds tubelike. I was quite surprised by its performance, particularly by how well it played the Enterprise.  The Trends hard to believe magical performance, considering  it's price, makes it very much like the Roles. It is a great match for the Sampan FTL both with regard to performance and portability. More on my experience with the Trends amp soon. ER.

6/1/07
We are very pleased to welcome Hifi Logic in Maplewood, New Jersey, USA as a new dealer. Koby of Hifi Logic is extremely knowledgeable and a pioneer in seeking out and introducing innovative products. His introduction of the innovative Trend amp to audiophiles is a case in point.

5/19/07
Our website has been upgraded to allow you to purchase all items directly  from us using Goggle checkout. Remember you may also purchase through our dealers.

5/11/07
The Sampan FTL is now available in a creamy white finish. All Sampans FTLs are now outfitted with a receptacle for no-fuss attachment to Omnimount series 10 brackets.

4/25/07

"The [Amphion] Ion has it’s own strengths and appeal. but doesn’t possess the addictive coherency and flow, the magic of the FTL."
First full review of the new Sampan FTL compares it with the Amphion Ion.

4/10/07
THE SAMPAN FTL GETS NOTICED

John Acton of Positive Feedback comments on the Sampan FTL at AudioKarma Fest 2008 in Michigan.
"In the Audio Two room, I discovered what may perhaps be the smallest loudspeaker I've seen since Radio Shack's Realistic Minimus 7 of the 1980's. The Role Audio Sampan FTL ($900 per pair) contains a single full-range 3.5" aluminum driver [sic] with underhung voice coil, measures just 8" tall, 4" wide and 9" deep, and yet is rated to deliver 40 Hz - 20 kHz response. How does the Sampan FTL deign to make such claims? Well, for starters, the diminutive speaker incorporates a genuine folded transmission line for extended bass response. Driven by a Connoisseur CD-1 CD player ($3900 Canadian with 6H30 output tubes) and SE-2 single-ended tube amplifier good for 9 watts per channel of 300B goodness, the little Sampan FTLs were dynamic and surprisingly extended at both ends of the frequency spectrum. Playing Rebecca Pidgeon, the speakers sounded much bigger than they looked. Piano transients were just slightly anemic compared to larger speakers, but vocals and acoustic guitar sounded full-bodied and robust."

4/5/07
Affordable Audio comment on the Sampan FTL AudioKarma Fest 2008 "Audio Two (Windsor, Ontario) surprised many listeners with the sound, size and price of the Role Sampan FTL speakers ($995). affordableaudio.org, Issue 16, April 2008 report on AudioKarma Fest ‘07

2/23/07
Please note that we recently reduced the prices for Skiff, Kayak, Sampan, Discovery and Windjammer.

1/13/07
Special promotional sale of the new Sampan FTL ends. If you missed it, you missed getting the most amazing micro loudspeaker at an incredible price.

12/12/06
Special get acquainted sale on the new Skiff and Sampan FTL. Special sale on bi-wireable red birch Kayaks

12/04/06

We have introduced the Sampan FTL, a tiny bookshelf version of the Sampan, to be used as high end personal speakers, is now available direct or through our dealers.
If we haven't defied the laws of physics, we have come pretty close!
If you have been looking for a small full spectrum speaker, we have packed the performance of our amazing 37 X 4 X 4 inch Sampan into an incredible 8 X 4 X 9.5 inch loudspeaker that produces flat 40Hz to 20 kHz frequency response. (That is not a typo).


Listeners wanted, all amplifiers welcome.
The Sampan FTL can be driven by any amplifier from an iPod to the most exotic high end amplifier.

Be among the first to experience this incredible loudspeaker.

Email or call if you have questions.



No subwoofer needed!
Frequency response: 40 Hz to 20,000 Hz +/- 3 dB
-6 dB reference to 1 kHz: 35 Hz
Dimensions: 8 X 4 X 9.5 inches (H X W X D) roughly the size of two Skiffs
Color: satin black with non-removable grill
Minimum impedance: 7.2 ohms
Rated impedance: 8 ohms
Nominal impedance: 9 ohms
Sensitivity: 87 dB 1 watt/m

Sampan-FTL - personal music therapy

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12/04/06

SKIFF IMPROVED


As of today, the Skiff will ship with a new neodymium driver that is an improved version of the previous driver. As a result, we are happy to report that we have significantly improved the bass extension, and high frequency response of the Skiff.

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11/16/06
New Review of the Windjammer by Soundstage A/V:
"they "image like lasers." They looked very attractive like that -- not only did my wife not complain, she asked that they not leave.."
Doug Schnider Soundstageav.com

11/1/06
A new review of the Enterprise, Sampans, Discovery, and NSM Audio 15EXP subwoofer has been published by enjoythemusic.com

10/28/06

New testimonial about the Skiff, Kayak and Sampan from David Ogden Stiers the actor, and conductor added to our main page.

10/13/06

We are pleased to announce a new all wood custom finish for Enterprise. (shown with standard plinth)

Enjoy peace of mind with our new five-year no fault original driver replacement policy. Free one time replacement of all drivers on all Role Audio loudspeakers. See our new driver replacement policy.

6/29/06

The first review of the Sampans by enjoythemusic.com establishes it as a phenomenal performer:  "The Greatest Disappearing Act Since Houdini "

"I heard through the Sampan's music and, let me say it, imaging to die for, and a speaker disappearing act that I wouldn't have believed possible."

" ... a transmission line speaker in an unfeasibly narrow cabinet that does one of the best disappearing acts I have ever had the pleasure of enjoying..."

"I used the Sampans in three systems, with six different amplifiers, in three different situations and they never ceased to amaze me or my guests who heard them in action. For a while, I had the pair of them next to a very much larger pair of speakers and would ask people to point to the speaker that was playing and I would conservatively guess only one out of three people correctly identified the Sampans as playing and no one commented on an absence of bass."

"Even a respected Lowther cabinet builder in these parts ... said he could not believe the quantity and quality of bass that was being reproduced from such a slim little cabinet."

6/8/06

New Review of the Skiffs by enjoythemusic.com

The Skiff continues to distinguish itself as the true high-end mini speaker.

"...the Skiffs produce a remarkably linear frequency response over their entire range."

02/11/06

One of the best compact 5.1 home theater and music systems combines the skiffs with NSM Audio's 15EXP subwoofer. The system is available from audioexcitement.com. Email for price of 6.1 and 7.1 systems.

NEW Follow-up review of Windjammer by Bound for Sound's Marc Yun.
"Sibilants are perfect,...completely neutral..."

"What I like about the Jammer's bass is how it airs out the lower frequencies, and frees the bass from the confines of the speaker cabinets."

"Bass drum wacks resonate from extreme corners of the stage, while plucks from the string bass section of an orchestra originate from the outer parts of the stage, i.e., to the right of the cellos and well outside the lateral bounds of the speaker."

12/1/05

We are pleased to announce the opening of our parent company NSM Audio's online store audioexcitement.com where you may purchase Role Audio products directly.

9/30/05

Review of Kayak and Discovery loudspeakers in the section on nearfield monitors in enjoythemusic.com. The review of the Kayaks is right on. While readers of the review of the Discovery should keep in mind that while the review is accurate the Discovery will perform less well than the Kayak in extreme nearfield situations because the Discovery uses two woofers and the listener will not be equidistant from the woofers unless the loudspeaker is placed vertically and the listener is exactly on the tweeter axis.

The New Sampan

9/10/05
Skiff in-wall and skiff on-wall loudspeakers are temporarily out of production due to a problem with the supplier of the grills.

9/1/05
New reviews of the Kayak and Discovery will by published by Enjoythemusic.com on 9/15/05. Price drop prices will expire 9/15/05.

6/7/05

The IW3.5 and the OW3.5 speaker are now part of the Innovations Series Audiophile Decorator Loudspeakers sold by our parent company NSM Audio

10/17/04

We have made changes to the transmission lines and changed the dampening as well as fine tune the crossover. With these changes, we feel we have created the loudspeaker to beat under $3,000.

10/15/04

In a recent review of the Windjammer, Marc Yun of Bound for Sound magazine described the Windjammer as, "his speaker to beat at the price point." We did not rest on our laurels. Instead we redesigned the Windjammer to make it even better. Although we retained the internal volume of the Windjammer, we narrowed the baffle from 5.5 to 5 inches. We made the cabinet more rigid. Why? Because we wanted to make one of the best imaging loudspeakers image even better and we wanted to make the bass even more neutral. And we designed a new optional larger base (12 X 14 X 1, W X D X H) that is very stable and may be used without spikes on wood by attaching rubber bumpers to the bottom of the base.

9/1/04

The Enterprise: New review by Audiophile Auditions, www.audaud.com
"I was astonished by what a big sound came from these rather compact towers - like a much larger and taller speaker with more drivers - at least a true three-way design....

I was impressed by the high quality fit and finish of the black lacquer and birch cabinets of the speakers. Sophisticated lock-miter construction is used and corners are rounded throughout. The two-tone design is very striking and makes the thin towers appear even thinner....

One thing I quickly noticed was the excellent imaging with the Roles..."
John Sunier, Audiophile Auditions, www.audaud.com, September 2004

6/15/04

Please note our new fax number: 206-339-9034

1/7/04

11/20/02
Windjammer Upgraded.

The Windjammer now has a full-length grill, upgraded crossover, it is also bi-wireable, and it has a new plinth. The new base price is $1,195 per pair

Kayak and Discovery Response Improved.

The response of the Kayak and Discovery have been tweaked to provide smoother frequency and better reproduction of micro dynamics.

10/28/02

Skiff Significantly Improved

Although the Skiff was introduced only in April' 2002, we have made a significant modification to its design in order to make the Skiff's frequency response more linear and accurate. As a result the Skiffs frequency response is now 135 Hz to 20,000 Hz +/- 4 dB!. Because this performance comes from a single 3.5 inch driver, the skiff has no driver integration problems, it is a true point source, perfectly time coherent, and has no phase anomalies. It can also play loud, has adequate bass, and it will replay music with a level of accuracy that you have not heard. Skiffs that are shipped after 11/01/02 will have the new improved design. The new price is $495 per pair.