Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: Roman Audio Centurion Speakers by Philto

Model:	Centurion
Category:	Speakers
Suggested Retail Price:	$6000
Description:	two way floorstanding
Manufacturer URL:	Roman Audio
Manufacturer URL:	Roman Audio

Review by Philto ( A ) on April 01, 2003 at 10:24:39
IP Address: 68.21.215.148

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Roman Audio is a small high-end company based in Texas. They are not very well known but they sure make some excellent speakers (based on Cabasse drivers - the owner is also Cabasse distributor in the U.S.). I decided to buy the Centurions after falling in love with them at two separate audio shows. Each time they performed consistently well even though rooms and electronics were totally different (tube vs solid state). Roman always had one of the best sounding rooms, bettering many systems costing way more. They could cary the musical message across - ability that's often lost in high end-audio.

At the time I decided to buy the Centurions, I already had already owned a few excellent designs like Sonus Faber Electa Amator I, II, JM Lab Mini Utopia and at the time in my system I had Merlin VSM-M's (upgraded from SE). I kept both for about a month but decided the Merlins had to go. The Centurions had many of the strenghts of the VSMs and in many areas were much better.

Centurions' bass seemed to go a couple of cycles lower and had the dynamic impact and slam that the Merlins couldn't deliver. The drums had great "kick" and sounded so well defined and dynamic without being overblown and in your face.
Midrange was another area where the Centurions excelled: rich, full of color and refinement. The voices had more presence and body and the piano was simply the best I ever heard, it just sounded so real and natural. The VSM's have a gorgeous midrange too, but is seems to be just a touch less palpable and somewhat leaner.
The treble was nice and smooth, very refined and delicate but definately darker than the Merlins'. At times, it seemed a little rolled off and could use just a touch more sparkle. Still, this can be corrected with the right electonics and cables and is a much easier problem to tackle than fighting brightness (a problem that I had struggled with a lot with my VSM's). For example: smooth and rich sounding cables like Cardas Golden Cross helped tame the brightness considerably with the Merlins, but made the Romans sound too polite and dark. Then I tried Nordost SPM and recently Valhallas and the top end nicely opened up, gaining all the sparkle that I wished for. When I tried the SPMs with the Merlins, the sound was simply ear shredding - way too bright and aggressive.
Another reason I love my Centurions is their superb imaging. Perhaps it's the DiAural crossover, perhaps the excellent drivers and inert cabinet, but the Centurions cast a truly holographic soundstage, with beautifully focused images and very, very wide sweet spot.

A note on equipment matching: the Centurions are quite easy to drive and will pair well with a lot of tube and solid state designs. However, unless your front end is on the leaner and brighter side, I would avoid amps that are very warm and dark sounding as the Centurions need some added sparkle in the treble. I heave heard them with Cary V12 (in the triode mode - 50 watts/per channel)as well as Conrah Johnson Premier 12's and like them a lot. Plinius solid state amps match very well too (at the show the Centurions were driven by a cheap integrated and the combination was very good: dynamic, fast and very well balanced). I am currently using Audio Research VT200 monoblocks and this pairing is absolutely fabulous (the Audio Research amps are known for their superb treble extension and imaging that simply brings out the best in these speakers). The only problem with the Audio Research monos is the sheer amount of heat these monsters put out. Because of that I may look into trying something else. Tenor Audio OTL's could be a great match, I wish they were a little more affordable...

The Centurions are fabulous. I am yet to find anything below 10K than sounds so lifelike and is so musically pleasing. I'll keep you posted once I replace my AR monos with something smaller. 40 or 50 watts should be enough and there are so many great designs out there... Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Product Weakness: High end seems a little rolled off and polite.
Product Strengths: Very well balanced sound, bass has great impact midrange is rich and palpable with female voices to die for. Holographic imaging and very wide sweet spot. Match well with a variety of solid state and tube amps.

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Audio Research VT200, Conrad Johnson Premier 12
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Joule Electra LA-100 MkIII
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	CEC TL-1X/Electrocompaniet ECD-1 DAC, Walker Audio tuning kit
Speakers:	Roman Audio Centurions
Cables/Interconnects:	Nordost Valhalla speaker cables, Cardas Golden Cross interconnects and Cardas Lightning digital ic
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Jazz, Rock, some classical
Room Size (LxWxH):	24 x 18 x 8
Room Comments/Treatments:	Heavy velvet curtains, thick carpeting, no special treatments
Time Period/Length of Audition:	8 months
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Sound Appication XE-12
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	High end seems a little rolled off and polite.
Product Strengths:	Very well balanced sound, bass has great impact midrange is rich and palpable with female voices to die for. Holographic imaging and very wide sweet spot. Match well with a variety of solid state and tube amps.