COMING!The new Sampan Bar audiophile sound bar.
Combining the superb performance of the Sampan and Skiff loudspeakers. There is a pair of Sampans and a Skiff in every one.Hybrid dual folded transmission line and acoustic suspension loudspeakers. Suitable for front and rear loudspeakers in home theater systems and for use as two-channel stereo loudspeakers in desktop and on-wall systems.
Free of toxic materials and formaldehyde.
PRODUCTS
SKIFF SERIESskiff sampan-FTL sampan sampan-DTL
KAYAK SERIESkayak discovery windjammer enterprise
OTHERsubwoofers kayak armada home-theater brochures finishes dealers buy direct home
6/22/2010
The best desktop loudspeaker should be formaldehyde-free, small, acoustic suspension, a point source or close to it, and crossover-less or 6 dB per octave.
Read our blog.
6/7/2010
We now offer all our loudspeakers formaldehyde-free. We manufacture formaldehyde-free loudspeakers to protect your health and the global environment.
Plywood, Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF), paints and glues, that are widely used to manufacture loudspeaker cabinets, are made with formaldehyde. Research shows formaldehyde is an allergen and carcinogen. Formaldehyde is particularly a problem because it is a volatile organic compound (VOC), which is a compound that vaporizes under normal conditions (also called "off-gas") into the environment. Formaldehyde residues are major components of smog and thus have a broad impact on health. Because of its widespread use, volatility, and toxicity, formaldehyde is a serious threat to human and environmental health. Formaldehyde off-gassing is a significant and growing concern for consumers who want healthy products in their homes and in their working and leisure environments and who want to protect the global environment. The threat to health and the environment is so serious that the US state of California has passed regulation restricting formaldehyde emissions from any materials or products (including loudspeakers) sold in California after Dec 31, 2010. Other states and nations are expected to enact similar regulations.
In small loudspeakers formaldehyde off-gassing is not that much of an issue. All things being equal, the smaller the loudspeaker the less the off-gassing. And off-gassing decays over time. That "new" smell you notice when you buy new speakers, furniture, and carpeting, for example, is a result of off-gassing. And it is most often hazardous. The paint on the outside of loudspeakers seals the formaldehyde in to some extent. The problem is that the paints, even lacquer paints intended for indoor use also off-gas.
Off-gassing from a vented speaker is a bigger issue because you are exposed to off-gassing from the outside of the loudspeakers as well as off-gassing from the raw, unpainted inner panels that seeps out through the ports. When you play a vented loudspeaker, the driver essentially acts as a fan blowing the accumulated off-gasses through the loudspeaker port into indoor air.
Although formaldehyde-free boards and paints are becoming more available, they are very expensive, more difficult to work with, and the variety is quite limited. There is no absolute solution. Even certified green paints and lumber may contain minute quantities of formaldehyde. Indeed, minute quantities of formaldehyde can naturally occur in wood.
There are only two solutions to prevent formaldehyde off-gassing. (1) Seal the lumber with special non-toxic sealers. Or, (2) Use lumber that does not have formaldehyde. We are making our loudspeakers more health-friendly and more environmentally-friendly by painting the outside surfaces with environmentally-friendly (certified green) paints and we are using environmentally-friendly (certified green) sealers to coat the unfinished inside panels of our vented transmission Line loudspeakers to help to prevent off-gassing. We are also offering loudspeakers made with formaldehyde-free boards and painted with certified "green" or environmentally friendly paints as options.
We are proud to be the first loudspeaker company to manufacture formaldehyde-free loudspeakers. We hope our pioneering efforts will make listening to music more healthful and help to protect the environment. Most of all, we hope our efforts will encourage other loudspeaker manufacturers to follow our example.
4/7/10
We are creating a Facebook page. We hope you will help us make it useful and informative.
3/1/10
We have added a share this link at the top right side corner of our pages to make it easy for you to share information from our website via social networks and email.
2/23/09
We have reorganized our website to make it easier to navigate and simpler to make purchases. Purchases are now made directly from the bottom panel of the product pages. If you have any questions, please let us know. email
2/5/10
New You Tube video overview of the Sampan by Todd Whitesel
1/15/10
Ultralinear.net the web magazine that reviewed the Enterprise and Sampan FTL speakers is no longer online. Therefore we have deactivated our links to their web site.12/14/09
We have begun to use Eco-friendly "honeycomb," a paper product, to package our loudspeakers. In cases where we use foam we are using foam that has zero ozone depletion quotient.11/23/09
First review (11/23/09) of "all green" Kayaks by Audio VIdeo Revolution's Todd Whitesel"Cymbals and other transients were laser-quick through the Kayaks; imaging was mesmerizing...Feed them watts, sit back and prepare to be amazed. They sound great and look great; that the Kayaks are better for the environment than their predecessors ices the cake....the “all green” version of Role's Kayak, which comes covered in a lovely birch plywood finish ... is available direct from Role for $995/pair."
11/11/09
We now provide Omnimount 10.0 series wall/ceiling brackets (the same bracket works for mounting on a wall or ceiling) for the Skiff, Sampan FTL, and Kayak loudspeakers. The Skiff and Sampan FTL are shipped with the retainer for the 10.0 series bracket installed (see Skiff and Sampan FTL pages). To attach the Skiff and Sampan FTL to the brackets, you simply remove the sealing screw with a coin, thread the stem of the bracket into the receptacle on the back of the loudspeaker, and lock it in place with the included whizzer nut. For the Kayak, we will install the retainers at your request free of charge. The caveat is that, for the Kayak, the speakers are not returnable for full refund if we install the bracket retainers. The cost for each bracket is $35 and includes shipping charges for the Continental United States. Email us if you would like to purchase brackets.
11/2/09
We are making our loudspeakers more health-friendly and more environmentally-friendly by limiting formaldehyde off-gassing!(SEE OUR PRICE PAGE FOR SPECIFICS)
We are manufacturing "green" or Eco-friendly loudspeakers to protect the global environment and to address the concerns of our customers who are sensitive to chemicals present in Plywood, Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF), paints, and other materials that are commonly used to manufacture loudspeakers.
Plywood, MDF, paints and glues, that are widely used to manufacture loudspeaker cabinets, are made with formaldehyde. Research shows formaldehyde is an allergen and carcinogen. Formaldehyde is particularly a problem because it is a volatile organic compound (VOC), which is a compound that vaporizes under normal conditions (also called "off-gas") into the environment. Formaldehyde residues are major components of smog and thus have a broad impact on health. Because of its widespread use, volatility, and toxicity, formaldehyde is a serious threat to human and environmental health. Formaldehyde off-gassing is a significant and growing concern for consumers who want healthy products in their homes and in their working and leisure environments and who want to protect the global environment.
In small loudspeakers formaldehyde off-gassing is not that much of an issue. All things being equal, the smaller the loudspeaker the less the off-gassing. And off-gassing decays over time. That "new" smell you notice when you buy new speakers, furniture, and carpeting, for example, is a result of off-gassing. And it is most often hazardous. The paint on the outside of loudspeakers seals the formaldehyde in to some extent. The problem is that the paints, even lacquer paints intended for indoor use, such as those we use, also off-gas.
Off-gassing from a vented speaker is a bigger issue because you are exposed to off-gassing from the outside of the loudspeakers as well as off-gassing from the raw, unpainted inner panels that seeps out through the ports. When you play a vented loudspeaker, the driver essentially acts as a fan blowing the accumulated off-gasses through the loudspeaker port into indoor air.
Although formaldehyde-free boards and paints are becoming more available, they are very expensive, more difficult to work with, and the variety is quite limited. There is no absolute solution. Even certified green paints and lumber may contain minute quantities of formaldehyde. Indeed, minute quantities of formaldehyde can naturally occur in wood.
We are making our loudspeakers more health-friendly and more environmentally-friendly by painting the outside surfaces with environmentally-friendly (certified green) paints and we are using environmentally-friendly (certified green) sealers to coat the unfinished inside panels of our vented (TL) loudspeakers to help to prevent off-gassing. We are also offering loudspeakers made with formaldehyde-free boards and painted with certified "green" or environmentally friendly paints as options.
We hope our efforts will make listening to music more healthful and help to protect the environment. Most of all, we hope our efforts will encourage other loudspeaker manufacturers to follow our example.
10/20/09
PRESS RELEASE (click to read)
20 October 2009FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Role Audio introduces environmentally friendly "green" (Formaldehyde-free) options for all its loudspeakers.
10/02/09
HIFI STATEMENT Review of the Sampan now available in english (click logo to read)
"Few loudspeakers on the planet can create as much excitement as the tiny, unassuming Sampan..."
"Few loudspeakers on the planet can create as much excitement as the tiny, unassuming Sampan, which is able to pull off the rare trick of disappearing completely as a sound source within the room whilst at the same time giving the impression that music is coming from a speaker many times larger than itself. Thanks in particular to the enormous and detailed soundstage that a pair of Sampans is capable of creating - and despite possessing an unobtrusive appearance likely to make the wives of audiophiles happy - these speakers acquit themselves well by audiophile standards." (Reinhold Martin, HIFI STATEMENT)
"We set two Sampans up in our listening room next to a pair of 'normal size' floorstanders (my Triangle Cellos) but did not tell anyone wishing to listen to the system which speaker was actually playing. If fact, it is unlikely that any of our visitors even realized that the Sampans were loudspeakers. I then began the demo with the system playing through the Sampans. None of the visitors who were subjected to this 'trick' suspected that the music was coming from the two Sampans rather than the largish pair of Triangle Cellos. Indeed, everyone thought that the sound they were listening to was quite appropriate for the (much larger) Cellos. These observations do credit to the full-range capabilities of the elegant Sampans. The fact that this deception was successful even when the Sampans were positioned well away from the Cellos shows how completely the sound decouples itself from the slim towers to produce a soundstage of almost palpable depth and width." (Reinhold Martin, HIFI STATEMENT)2/27/09
New! Rave Review of the ENTERPRISE by MusikMike Peshkin, Stereo Mojo
Here are some comments from Mike Peshkin's review of the Enterprise in stereomojo.com.
They do the sound pressure into your chest thing so many speakers are incapable of doing. My Infinity speakers do it, but the authority the Roles possess is mind-numbing!
The soundstage was deep and wide with just the Nightingale amp, as it was with just the Monarchy monoblocks. It is so immense with this configuration that my jaw drops every time I listen to a recording. It doesn't matter whether it's a CD or an LP, the depth is such that I have no rear wall, the width revealing I have no side walls!
I knew the Role speakers were something special when John Rich and I opened the boxes and saw how they were packed; an awful lot of thought went into protecting those speakers from the vagaries of shipping. But even more thought went into the owner's manual.
I really can't imagine asking for much more than these speakers are able to give. I'm enthralled with every recording I've put on since it was bi-amped. The Enterprise would be welcomed by me to replace my Infinity speakers if I could afford to do so. I am shocked at how beautiful, how real the music is; every recording, every one!
It is marvelous. I want this speaker!
The Roles do strings!...Strayaway Child is a hand grenade of treble info and the Role Enterprise speakers handle the attack with aplomb.
Along with the fabulous imaging these speakers are capable of producing, listening to music (not sound) is where these speakers sparkle.
...real bass, down below 40 Hz, is definitely there.
The Roles allowed me to hear Bill Evans' piano crying along with Miles' angst almost too deeply, affecting me as I'd never been before. I've listened to that record a few million times (well, close, but you get it, right?).
The Roles do a great job of bringing you close to reality.
2/16/2009
The Sampan DTL builds on the amazing performance of the Sampan. The Sampan DTL offers riveting, articulate, bass performance you would not think possible in a speaker this size.
Riveting dynamic bass performance from a speaker 4 inches wide, 6.25 inches deep and 42 inches high How do we do it?
With novel and new approaches to loudspeaker design. The incredible dynamic performance of the Sampan DTL's is achieved with Role Audio's proprietary dual transmission line design -- the same technology used in the Enterprise.To avoid the use of crossovers in order to linearize the overall frequency response, we use two full range drivers with individual frequency responses that compensate for irregularities in each other's response. In addition we use Zobel circuits that flatten and extend the high frequency response of the drivers. The result is amazing overall frequency response that is flat from 35 Hz to 20kHz +/- 3 dB.
Frequency Response: 35 Hz to 20, 000 Hz
Sensitivity: 92 dB
Finishes: Satin black
Shipping Weight: 38 pounds per pairIntroductory price: $2,295 per pair.
9/29/08
Click to see pictures of some of our finishes.9/20/08
NEW REVIEW OF THE WINDJAMMER BY STEREOMOJO.COM
"I am amazed by the tonal balance of these speakers...they look as nice as they sound!...just correct bass, correct midrange, correct highs....and that decay...OH MY GOD, that decay!"
(MusikMike Peshkin, stereomojo.com)
7/1/08New review of the Role Enterprise by Bound for Sound's Marty DeWulf:
"...I drove the Enterprise hard, and on some occasions, very hard. Never did I experience driver break-up or power distortions that I could associate with the low order crossover or the small woofers....the dynamic capabilities of the Enterprise surprised me. And while the air moving capabilities of a speaker such as the VMPS RM40 has its benefits, the Role, at least on paper, does nearly as well in the bass department." "I found the "old world" fit and finish of the Enterprise to be in stark contrast with the industrial visage of the Gallo [Nucleus Reference 3.1]...With the Merlin VSM and the Gallo, this is some of the finest cabinet work I've seen..." "... the strength of the Enterprise is one of focus and leading edge precision. String instruments particularly benefit from the transient acuity of the Enterprise."
Marty DeWulf, Bound for Sound #186
R O L E : T H E R E V E L A T I O N O F S O U N D ...
Email: roleaudio@roleaudio.com Phone: 919-399-0477 Fax: 206-339-9034P.O. Box 13396, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA 27709-3396 copyright 2010 Role Audio Company
