Tonearm
STUB ENTRY: factory-fitted on Roksan Attessa Turntable. Composite ABS+aluminium unipivot with glass jewel pivot. Hi-Fi News measured eff mass 14.5g (above-average). Roksan tradition (founder Touraj Moghaddam → moved on to Vertere) — unipivots have been Roksan's house preference since Xerxes era.
Assessed against 14 rivals across the sixty systems: it takes the slot in none of its 63 head-to-heads.
The dimension the engine names as the weakest link, counted across every head-to-head it lost.
17 lost · Anchored, Artisan, BBC Sound, Cavity-Native, Characterful, Intimate, PRaT, Reference, Romantic, Silent Path
Against the Anchored brief, the Vertere Groove Runner X keeps the slot decisively.
With the Vertere DG-X Sabre Lite Pack, the pairing gives up most on mechanical hush.
On its own merits the Roksan Attessa Unipivot tonearm is the weaker tonearm for that brief.
competentOEM/bundled-arm consensus
15 lost · Anchored, BBC Sound, Cavity-Native, Intimate, PRaT, Reference, Romantic, Silent Path
Against the Romantic brief, the Technics S-shape magnesium tonearm (SL-1200G) keeps the slot clearly.
With the Technics SL-1200G, the pairing gives up most on mechanical hush.
On its own merits the Roksan Attessa Unipivot tonearm is the stronger tonearm — but it loses here on fit: the pairing with the Technics SL-1200G gives up mechanical hush under the Romantic weighting.
competentOEM/bundled-arm consensus
10 lost · Anchored, Artisan, BBC Sound, Cavity-Native, Characterful, Intimate, PRaT, Reference, Romantic, Twin Arms
Against the Anchored brief, the ProJect Tonearm 8.6 Carbon (Debut PRO) keeps the slot decisively.
With the Hana EL MC, the pairing gives up most on speed stability.
With the Pro-Ject Debut Pro (with cart), the pairing gives up most on mechanical hush.
On its own merits the Roksan Attessa Unipivot tonearm is the stronger tonearm — but it loses here on fit: the pairing with the Hana EL MC gives up speed stability under the Anchored weighting.
adequateOEM arm inference
competentOEM/bundled-arm consensus
6 lost · Silent Path, Twin Arms, Vocals-First
Against the Twin Arms brief, the Origin Live Encounter Mk5 keeps the slot by a whisker.
On its own merits the Roksan Attessa Unipivot tonearm is the weaker tonearm for that brief.
competentOEM/bundled-arm consensus
6 lost · Anchored, Artisan, Cavity-Native, PRaT, Reference, Silent Path
Against the Silent Path brief, the Michell TecnoArm 2 keeps the slot by a whisker.
With the Michell Gyro 2025, the pairing gives up most on mechanical hush.
On its own merits the Roksan Attessa Unipivot tonearm is the weaker tonearm for that brief.
competentOEM/bundled-arm consensus
1 lost · Twin Arms
Against the Twin Arms brief, the Origin Live Silver Mk5 keeps the slot by a whisker.
On its own merits the Roksan Attessa Unipivot tonearm is the stronger tonearm — but it loses here on fit: the way it sits with the rest of this system under the Twin Arms weighting.
1 lost · Twin Arms
Against the Twin Arms brief, the Origin Live Illustrious Mk5 keeps the slot by a whisker.
On its own merits the Roksan Attessa Unipivot tonearm is the stronger tonearm — but it loses here on fit: the way it sits with the rest of this system under the Twin Arms weighting.
1 lost · PRaT
Against the PRaT brief, the Michell T8 keeps the slot by a whisker.
With the Michell Gyro 2025, the pairing gives up most on mechanical hush.
On its own merits the Roksan Attessa Unipivot tonearm is the stronger tonearm — but it loses here on fit: the pairing with the Michell Gyro 2025 gives up mechanical hush under the PRaT weighting.
competentOEM/bundled-arm consensus
1 lost · Twin Arms
Against the Twin Arms brief, the Origin Live Onyx Mk5 keeps the slot by a whisker.
On its own merits the Roksan Attessa Unipivot tonearm is the weaker tonearm for that brief.
1 lost · Twin Arms
Against the Twin Arms brief, the Origin Live Alliance Mk5 keeps the slot by a whisker.
On its own merits the Roksan Attessa Unipivot tonearm is the weaker tonearm for that brief.
1 lost · Vocals-First
Against the Vocals-First brief, the Rega RB330 keeps the slot by a whisker.
On its own merits the Roksan Attessa Unipivot tonearm is the weaker tonearm for that brief.
1 lost · Silent Path
Against the Silent Path brief, the Technics S-shape aluminium tonearm (SL-1500C/CS) keeps the slot clearly.
With the Technics SL-1500CS (with cart), the pairing gives up most on mechanical hush.
On its own merits the Roksan Attessa Unipivot tonearm is the stronger tonearm — but it loses here on fit: the pairing with the Technics SL-1500CS (with cart) gives up mechanical hush under the Silent Path weighting.
competentOEM/bundled-arm consensus
1 lost · Twin Arms
Against the Twin Arms brief, the ProJect Tonearm 9" Carbon/Alu (X2 B) keeps the slot by a whisker.
On its own merits the Roksan Attessa Unipivot tonearm is the weaker tonearm for that brief.
1 lost · Vocals-First
Against the Vocals-First brief, the Rega RB880 keeps the slot by a whisker.
On its own merits the Roksan Attessa Unipivot tonearm is the weaker tonearm for that brief.
competent OEM/bundled-arm consensus· Mechanical noise floor
adequate OEM arm inference· Timing precision
precision in placement, performers finely etched Hi-Fi News (Smith), 2021 (arm-attributed)· Spatial resolution
uni-pivot sense of air and space Hi-Fi News (Smith), 2021 (arm-attributed)· Spatial naturalness
the standout feature has to be its midband Hi-Fi News (Smith), 2021 (arm-attributed)· Presence & articulation
| effective length mm | 228.6 |
|---|---|
| effective mass g | 14.5 |
| bearing type | unipivot (glass jewel) |
| cartridge mass range g | 6/14 |
| output connector | captive RCA + ground |
| notes |